Sunday 4 March 2007

Blind Melon - Nico

Named for the late Shannon Hoon's infant daughter, NICO is a collection of outtakes, previously-unreleased originals and a pair of covers. Blind Melon was regularly pegged as a happy-go-lucky, hippie throwback act, but this collection exposes a band that bristled with creativity. Among the discoveries here that show Blind Melon to be more than a back-up band for the Bee Girl are "Glitch," a hypnotic percussive song that evokes the Master Musicians Of Jajouka. Blind Melon's creative spark was surely a restless one. "Letters From A Porcupine" is a musical message left by singer Hoon on guitarist Christopher Thorn's answering machine. An impromptu session in Hoon's hotel room toward the end of a 19-month tour produced "Life Ain't So Shitty." The band's version of John Lennon's protest song "John Sinclair" shows off a major influence; a Steppenwolf cover ("The Pusher") provides some eerie foreshadowing.(BF)