Model, actress, part-time folk singer, icon, heroin addict. So reads the life of Christa Päffgen, better known to the public as Nico.

Déjà vu? Yes, the first part of this review is quite similar to the one below about Zouzou. What is it about models and drugs, right? Still, if you hanged around The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol like Nico did in the 60's, I guess that wasn't so strange as it at first may seem. Not at all, really. But let's talk about the music instead.

Chelsea Girl was her debut album and it's a keeper. Filled with wonderful songs, mostly covers and a few originals, the main ingredient of this folky affair (the songs all are acoustic guitar-based) is her voice. And what a peculiar voice. Hitting very low notes for a woman singer and sounding quite detached, as if in a world of her own creation, this particular magic is woven with quite unique materials that still manage to beguile and bemuse to this day.

These Days is one of her most easily recognizable songs and the one that made people alert to her when it was prominently featured in a classic scene of Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums. You never forget it. Just like Nico.