The Nits - Nescio (live from urk album, 1989)

#ArtRock #PopRock #Progressive If you have any problem, or question about this upload please write to me in this email: panagiotisbo@gmail.com The "urk" album recorded live in Amsterdam, Utrecht and Moscow in the winter of 1988-1989. Lyrics --------- Nescio Questo paradiso Nescio Nella bocca del lupo Nescio Lo straniero è morto Nescio Questo paradiso I jumped off a bridge And went swimming for hours And nobody Nobody's looking I came to a hotel With double rooms and showers And nobody Nobody's knocking The phone rings on a nightstand Somebody whispers hello I don't know Too many words after so many miles Somebody whispers 'hello' I don't know I don't know Nescio Questo paradi Questo paradiso Nescio Questo quadro è bello There seems to be little doubt that were they not so geographically challenged, the Nits would be one of the most widely respected bands in the world today -- at least on par with whip-smart types like XTC and Prefab Sprout. Certainly, few can match their sheer creative stamina: how many other bands can claim to be still reinventing themselves after 40 years and more than 20 albums? But the Nits come from Holland. Furthermore, the occasional tour of the U.S. and Canada aside, they quickly made it clear that their only concession to the big outside world, where real rock stars wear shades indoors, would be to sing in English. That aside, anyone wanting them to tailor their unique brand of art pop to the demands of a broader audience could go hang. In particular, the Nits specialize in making their latest album sound as little like the last as possible -- a marketing man's nightmare. This has simultaneously guaranteed them a modest degree of success across continental Europe, where fans appreciate their fierce integrity and commitment to playing intimate venues, and denied a lot of people in Britain and America some wonderfully inventive -- and very accessible -- music. In retrospect, one can only wonder what was on the members' minds in 1974 when they formed the band in Amsterdam and decided to call themselves the Nits. (Apparently, they felt it suggested an insectoid link to the Beatles.) Initially, the band consisted of Henk Hofstede (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Rob Kloet (drums), Michiel Peters (guitar, vocals), and Alex Roelofs (bass), and it was this lineup that recorded the independently released single "Yes or No" in 1975 and their eponymous debut album in 1978. Omsk On this and the next three albums -- Tent (1979), New Flat (1980), and Work (1981) -- the Nits carved themselves a slice of the new wave action that spawned bands like XTC and Talking Heads. Indeed, Hofstede has conceded that both were big influences on the band in those early days, along with the literary approach of Leonard Cohen. Although Hofstede's melodies had often betrayed the odd Beatles influence, this only came to the fore on the Nits' 1983 album Omsk. Where before the band's reluctance to conform had often resulted in a self-conscious quirkiness, suddenly it showed signs of blossoming into something with genuine depth and distinctiveness. Something moreover that drew as much on European traditions like chanson and musical theater as it did on British and American pop. It was also no accident that the album marked the arrival of keyboard player Robert Jan Stips. Having previously worked with the band as a producer, the one-time Golden Earring and Supersister member gave the Nits a whole new orchestral dimension with his rich array of individually tailored samples. Omsk and the mini-album that followed it six months later -- Kilo -- also established Hofstede as a genuinely gifted singer. Most listeners instantly picked up on his voice's John Lennon-ish edge, but there was also a touch of Elvis Costello -- without the ever-looming threat of a sneer -- in the way Hofstede nailed a ballad like "Dapper Street" or "Mask." He was also a powerful presence on-stage, simultaneously charismatic and affable. In the years that followed Omsk, the Nits always seemed to be on a mission never to retrace their own musical footsteps. Adieu, Sweet Bahnhof in 1984, helmed by Stars on 45 producer Jaap Eggermont, was the closest they'd come to courting commercial success to that point, though it included two of their most memorable songs in "Mask" and the title track. Henk followed in 1986, an album whose heavy reliance on sampled sounds and surrealistic songs like "Port of Amsterdam" and "Bike in Head" contrasted sharply with both its glossy predecessor and the altogether more sober 1987 album In the Dutch Mountains, whose title track gave the band their biggest hit to date. That in turn was followed in 1990 by the kaleidoscopic Giant Normal Dwarf, conceived by Hofstede as a kind of fairy tale for his newborn child, but sounding more than anything like a joyous expedition to the candy-striped psychedelia of "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Glass Onion." see more at: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/nits-...