{"id":78813,"date":"2022-11-23T23:06:24","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T22:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=78813"},"modified":"2022-11-24T12:28:31","modified_gmt":"2022-11-24T11:28:31","slug":"review-of-eulogy-to-christa-a-tribute-to-the-music-and-mystique-of-nico-by-chris-connelly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2022\/11\/review-of-eulogy-to-christa-a-tribute-to-the-music-and-mystique-of-nico-by-chris-connelly\/","title":{"rendered":"FEMME FATALE – Revolting Cocks’ Chris Connelly Sets The Life of Velvet Underground Chanteuse Nico To Music On ‘Eulogy To Christa’ Album"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Perhaps the most beautiful and enigmatic of Andy Warhol<\/strong>‘s Factory Superstars, Nico<\/strong>‘s life and tragic death holds an enduring fascination.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Her story has been told in several books and films, but now Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist Chris Connelly<\/strong> brings you his interpretation in the form of an extraordinary double album.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Best known for his involvement in the industrial music scene with the likes of The Revolting Cocks<\/strong> and Ministry<\/strong>, the shape-shifting Connelly assumes a variety of personas and styles to create an enthralling musical biography of the difficult and deeply troubled Velvet Underground <\/strong>chanteuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning with Ripcord,Ripcord, <\/em><\/strong>a disturbing account of her German origins and alleged rape by an American soldier, Eulogy To Christa<\/em><\/strong> follows her nomadic ramblings around Europe and New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s all here, including her time in Prestwich, Manchester, working with acolytes of another Factory, Tony<\/strong> Wilson<\/strong>‘s iconic record label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cover
Cover art for Eulogy to Christa album – based on picture of Nico taken by Alastair MacKay (Edinburgh Nite Club, August 1981)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

About half the tracks are Nico cover versions, starting with her debut recording of Jimmy Page<\/strong>‘s song The Last Mile<\/em><\/strong>, but these are punctuated by Connelly’s own compositions tracking significant moments in her life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nico’s songs are for the most part treated with the utmost respect, particularly Sixty Forty<\/em><\/strong> with Connelly adopting a Scott Walker<\/strong>-ish croon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The poignant Eulogy for Lenny Bruce<\/strong> a lament for the pioneering comic by Tim Hardin<\/strong>, who would himself succumb to an overdose, is also beautifully sung and played by Connelly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only Lou Reed<\/strong>‘s Femme Fatale<\/strong> – one of three songs Nico sings on The Velvet Underground And Nico <\/em><\/strong>– gets ripped apart, mangled and reassembled by Connelly as a kind of perverse prayer, all church bells and squelchy synths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s almost as if Connelly is taking revenge for Reed’s treatment of NIco – the singer foisted upon him by arch puppet master Andy Warhol<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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