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Classic Album Review: Velma | Cyclique

Imagine The Velvet Underground scoring one of David Lynch's quiet, quirky dramas.

This came out in 2000 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


Ever wonder what The Velvet Underground and Nico might sound like if they were still around? Ponder no longer; Nordic ensemble / multi-media collective Velma provides the answer to that musical question on Cyclique.

Featuring androgynous vocals so icy-cool you can practically see the singer’s breath steaming out of your speakers, these minimalist musos create glacially paced, repetitively lulling dreamscapes from ambient swirls of sound, snatches of insectile noise and samples from old movies. Some tracks are so cinematically arty they should be subtitled — Vitamine, for instance, ends with a gentle grand piano tinkling and a blood-curdling scream. Fittingly, Cyclique could be the score for one of David Lynch’s quieter, quirkier dramas. Which is probably what The Velvet Underground would be writing if they were still around.