8 Tracks – Nick Nicely

Hmm a psychrock/pophead on a dancehead site. Oh well. Try this as a siren call from another world. Play very loud til the end. Made well before computers, some of the most incredible instrument playing ever heard… but even more important is the pure emotional shock and awe.

What an achievement… 22 mins of psych electronics superbly laid out, wonderfully creative, AA told me later that the wilder side of my work had had a strong impact on this. Very flattered, though I only half believe it. For me the music between 13 and 20 mins is a lull. Ravens at the end though, you can’t beat a good raven.

From his early diy phase. This is my favourite Ariel, it has a slight 60s overtone and a cool tune. I like the performance art side to the vid too. Charismatic is the word to describe the man, I’ve been lucky enough to meet a few times and this track/vid is him to a tee.

So a beautiful girl asks me to teach her her favourite tune on guitar… I know nothing about this artist, but am now truly hooked on this track and its vid. The life portrayed is one I have lived from time to time, though in S Europe… and it has appeal. Sometimes we get too in control of things as we get richer/older, we start planning things ahead and lose a quality to life. Nothing is more random than a solo hitching holiday in the sun, full of surprises and contrasting emotions and new people. The lifestyle has bad and good parts of course, but rarely boring ones. Great track that speaks to me.

On the travelling tip, I’ve hitched a few Autobahns. Taking into consideration it was made in mid 70s, this is an incredible piece. I’m influenced by Kraftwerk, electronics seep into my psych, much to the annoyance of the retro gatekeepers! I need Kraftwerk with a tune though and this fits the bill.

This is a Joe Meek production, written within 20 mins of a dream they say. A journo called Tom Ewing commented in 2012 that this is the ‘weirdest and most gripping British no 1’ ever. Completely brilliant and a heavy influence on me. I’ve found that pre mid 60s pop backing tracks often had something in common with the computer productions of the dance era. This track is almost trancelike in its repetitiveness, but is 15 years before the advent of electronics into the mainstream (see no 5 ). ‘Johnny’ has a wonderful pulse, a peak of supernatural mainstream pop.

Talking of trancelike repetition in old trax, this is something that can’t be left out. Stories change but its my belief that the drums are looped… in 1966. Futuristic or what? Utterly fantastic, then and now too. While massively influential (me for sure) its never been bettered. I’ve heard some of the earlier versions and demos.. all shit. That’s recording for you.

Shit, where the fuck do I go after that? I keep it quiet from psych aficionados but ever since a SE Asia beach um… experience, my brain was re-hardwired to love trance (in some guises). This version is a tad short but the only one of the original I could find on YT. Supreme…