Icehouse - The Berlin Tapes (1995)

Berlin Tapes collected Icehouse's most recent new recordings, although why it is credited to Iva Davies & Icehouse is a mystery, as they are effectively one in the same (even Davies has difficulty differentiating the two). Like Boxes from ten years previous, this is a ballet score, but in a very different way. Boxes comprised new work; these are covers of Bowie and Ferry yes, but more surprisingly perhaps, also of Killing Joke, PiL, Frank Sinatra, and the Cure. Berlin can also claim to be an unplugged album. "Heaven" (the Talking Heads song) is, as the title suggests, just that. XTC's "Complicated Game" remains faithful to the original, but it's the darker, menacing powers of "Disappointed" and the baroque "All Tomorrow's Parties" that are striking. The band's subsequent release also drew on this period, featuring collaborations with Andy Partridge and 808 State.