The Blue Nile: C or D?

'Hats' consolidated the debut, practically down to the track listing, but suffered from having Phil Collins' recommendation stickered to the front. 'Saturday night' was an epic transfiguration of the commonplace, a pop Les Parapluis du Cherbourg, and the kind of song Brett Anderson would like to write in his Scott Walker moments if a) he had clue and b) a few thousand years in which to try.

The last lp - Peace at last? - is very disappointing. The cinemascope sheen was replaced with acoustic guitars, the singing had all gone a bit Michael Bolton, and yes the sleeve was terrible. Maybe this is what happens when you go out with Rosanna Arquette. It seemed to bear out all those who'd had them pegged as some MOR monstrosity, a Dire Straits in waiting. A couple of songs - 'Family Life', 'Tomorrow Morning' - might be worth downloading, but the rest of it is a bit bleh.

My favorite performance by Mr. Wossname who is the singer is actually his turn on the version of "Let's Go Out Tonight" -- I think that's the song -- on Craig Armstrong's first album.

Recommendations... A Walk Across The Rooftops has "Tinseltown In The Rain" which is one of my favourite love songs ever, but Hats is the better album, with about five perfect songs on it. Amazing how similar they are though, despite the six-year gap (there's your big difference to Talk Talk - these guys stumbled upon a vision of perfection early on and stuck with it).

the second is all concerned with the death of love/getting older/etc. eg - 'i'm tired of crying on the staiiiirs...'

it's kind of a godfather/godfather part 2 deal. and all they're bestheard back to back

(okay truthfully I can see the connection at least with Bark Psychosis, but it always seemed to me that The Blue Nile represented the "other half" of BP's source material). Hats multiplied by Spirit Of Eden = Hex.

one) You won’t like them. A Walk Across The Rooftops contains slap bass, trite lyrics on the debris of relationships, pans from (yawn) Coppola’s One From the Heart into (yawn) Paris, Texas, sung by Springsteen impersonating Sinatra. Hats has two white reggae tracks, gated snares, repeated use of the word ‘baby’, yes, is ‘lush’, ‘cinematic’ and MOR. Annie Lennox and Rod Stewart have covered their songs. Phil Collins endorses them.

two) I don’t like American Music Club, John Cale, Talking Heads, Rickie Lee Jones or The Cars either.

three) Men in American books tend to wear hats.

four) Katy (my girlfriend) was in a philosophy class and, as the hush of young students began to stifle and choke, the teacher, by way of gesture, mentioned the best class he ever had occurred when Paul Buchanan, ‘you probably haven’t heard of him’, suggested they talk about love.

five) No-one has registered the scientific unproveability of ‘love’ in song more heart-rendingly than Paul Buchanan: singing “how do I know you feel it?”, just moments from loss, or the frustrated ‘I can only tell you’ of “do I love you? YES I love you!”

six) What do you say when three years into a relationship the only things holding you together is the fear of breaking the ties you’ve built in the outside world as a unit? When an offer of tea is the only lull in the silence? “Let’s go out tonight”, one last time, meet up with the ghost of your happiness, it can be the same again, you will dance, for one night, oh to bed the same different woman every night, and leave the relationship strafed with cigarette burns and headaches in, alone.

seven) Such compassionate pop. During Hats, the band’s lives were fragmenting and none of them felt they had any support around them, it would have been so easy to become insular and dismissive of others in such a situation.

eight) Below a peat sky, her hair is scraped through with coral orange and tickles of grey, and a smell of moist pollen sewn into the webs of her fingers. Scotland’s inability to say Carl strains a last laugh out from her, smoke knuckles through our hair, as the aftertaste of other men places her lips and her eyes’ slow moulder.

nine) You will like them. A Walk Across the Rooftops is a deeply emotional water, Buchanan a child lost in the weave of a Frank O’Hara poem. Hats refuses Don Paterson’s cycnicism of romance and insists on the transcendental of the ordinary and of the journey, the pressure difference.

!) I think romanticism suggests this sense of wilfully not having it all, leaving that one bit back, the whole, the mysterious ‘last’ that can never be reached, romanticism is the journey to try and attain that that you’re purposefully denying yourself. I have never listened to their third record, I most probably never will.

or it could be a disaster too i suppose.

''(Haha, Julio, that's where I nicked my structure, but I guess it was alright cos I think he nicked the turn from the X Y Zedd post on the 'What if Punk Never Happened?' thread).''

I just thought i had seen something like that. but yr post is triffic in its own way.

Yes! "If You're Not The One" works in exactly the same way as the peerless "Tinseltown In The Rain" ie. a "generic" love song rendered strange and fascinating by the force and peculiarity of its emotional over-investment.

Although Cozen you should really check out that there new Coloma album which is almost self-consciously an update of The Blue Nile for the post-glitch generation. As with The Blue Nile it's svelte literary studio-pop that feels like all the sound-politics have been surgically removed (eg. this is click-pop only because, well, why not if it sounds good? cf. Schneider TM's "The Light 3000") so I imagine that in a decade or so it'll have that same lovely timeless-datedness as TBN's first two albums have. It's very much like A Walk Across The Rooftops in particular. Much better than their first album.

I saw him on 'today with des & mel'.

I figured out why I like Daniel Bedingfield earlier. Or one aspect. I remembered something Frank Kogan said to me about how he really liked the way that I wasn't scared to be overwrought when the usual rock-crit approach is to come across all Ed Casual (hehe, what's Frank's e-mail address again?). I suppose I see a lot of myself in Daniel. All thing considered, a juxtaposition of poets might be in order:

Everywhere he saw his own image, -
his perfect face...

When he rode out of the city, the people
gathered to admire him: a ribbon
of faces, fixed on this one face
and haunted by its indifference. They said:
'as beautiful as a painting', and we
feel a chill cast across these years
for we know there is another painting
that does not hang in any gallery

- John Ash

I like you so much I'm acting stupid
I can't play the game I'm all intense and alive
I'm losing control of my heart
I'm not supposed to be this nervous
I should play my hand all cool and calm
I can't breathe
I'm losing control of my heart

- Daniel Bedingfield

I was trying to think of more music from the eighties that fits into this area of explicitly emotional quasi-dance pop, but I couldn't get far beyond The Hounds of Love. Any ideas?

Associates surely fit this description.

But Tim is OTM regarding Tinseltown being a lost dance classic, I certainly remember hearing it in clubs in Dundee in the mid-80's. Apparently they had some of their work from Hats remixed by Oakenfold (or some other name remixer), but they nixed it on hearing it. Now that I'd like to hear.

Where did the up and happy songs go, then? Left to rot as demos?

I don't think I'd have the bare-faced gall to actually talk to the man though.

It feels a bit criminal to actually listen to the Blue Nile at this time of year though, like I'm going to shatter the mood.

1. The only track I know is 'I Love This Life', which the Nipper gave me. The Nipper is right about it.

2. Cozen's big post above is indeed good, and indeed structurally resembles one of mine. But no, I didn't take my own structure from anyone else.

3. Whether or not the Bedingfield link is apt, I don't think 'emotional overinvolvement' etc is necessarily the key to 'If You're Not The One': what woke me up to that track was simply the rare quality of its tune.

This feels terrifyingly prescient in light of recent of events. If I can be specious for a moment.

the city doesnt have to be imaginary. any city is good when the street lights are reflected in puddles on the sidewalk.

; )

still utterly classic. i only wish someone else would make music this good sometime soon, i thk i might've worn out my copies of hats and rooftops.

I fell asleep listening to Hats last night and woke up to track 6, 'Seven A.M.,' and thought this must be a precursor to Stereolab's mutation of Neu!'s motorik sound. I'm listening to it again now and not really hearing it. Maybe I was dreaming, or confused. Okay, now it's coming on.

"The Blue Nile's debut album has a rather fascinating genesis. Scotland's Linn Electronics, makers of the famous LinnDrums rhythm boxes, wanted a demo track to demonstrate the fidelity and versatility of their new digital recording console and tapped a struggling local trio, the Blue Nile, to provide it. Their effort was a deliberately disjunctive song called "A Walk Across the Rooftops." To demonstrate the recording equipment's dynamic range and clarity, the song was arranged most peculiarly, with vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, and full string and horn sections all appearing, but never at the same time. Linn liked the song so much that they formed a record label and bankrolled the recording of this full album."

I'm saving my judgment until I hear it. It'll be hard to top _Hats_ in my book, but I'm not expecting them to set a new watermark. I'm just looking forward to setting up my own vibe with the record, and replaying the earlier albums for contrast & comparison.

-- jean bowman ( ... ), April 23rd, 2003.

That's a great story.

As I lately said to JtN, I fear that the Blue Nile may actually be worse than I want them to be.

I blame RJG's car.

*wince*

Totally incorrect. Linn the hi-fi systems manufacturer has absolutely nothing to do with the long-defunct drum machine manufacturer of the same name. What lazy journalism.

wow, what a bizarro compilation that would be. i'm off to soulseek to find out...

rod stewart doing 'downtown lights'!!!

I saw those two campish, scottish "interior" "decorators", in a doorway, with a newspaper, near charing cross, earlier, today, and I said something to them and then I had to wait around, so I went into starbucks and gerard kelly and elaine c. smith were in there and so were those guys.

where is paul buchanan and has he got tuberculosis.

the two interior decorators are called justin and colin and I sat next to them one day, in tribeca, they demanded, no, they asked could their scrambled eggs be done a little more creamy, they were a 'touch' dry last time. they nattered and gossiped. scarlet, it's not her name, from river city did too.

one day jed didn't introduce me to paul buchanan but now you've told me that I'll definitely buy that single. I love this life.

I saw them and realised it was them, as I passed, and I slowed and I took a step back and the dark haired one looked up, from the newspaper they were reading, and smiled and said "hi...!" and I waggled my finger and said ""yous guys are famous" and I didn't wait for any response and I continued on my way.

it definitely could have sounded like an insult, I promise.

I should have just gone with fanny--it has never let me down, in the past.

It's a bit sad how much Daniel Bedingfield let us all down, considering the lofty points of comparison he received in this thread.

If I became a big successful crooner I would totally be on a mission to make "Saturday Night" a canonical favourite.

I bought it when it came out cuz i read a review that said that the members didn't know how to play any instruments and were just winging it. it really made me want to hear it. rufus, my three year old really digs it! i've been playing it since i bought it. that says something. i like pretty much everything they have done. even the last album.

Yes Strongo, I always want one of the guys on the Idol shows to do Blue Nile songs. But I think they're all too long and full of instrumental passages, and cutting those out would cut out the hearts of these songs (e.g. what would "The Downtown Lights" be like without that awesome Edge guitar climax?). Plus there's probably not enough obvious vocal dynamics.

But I do think it would be amazing nonetheless.

cookie & I are going to see p buchanan sing, at the end of may

Yes. It's on Medusa. The Blue Nile also worked on "Diva" with her. I remember I saw them all drinking in the Trongate with her once when they were recording together. I was thinking "Wow, I'm drinking in the same pub as The Blue Nile and ANNIE LENNOX!". Just then about 100 people came from the theatre next door and she started to get recognised, so they buggered off.

hahahaha

The Blue Nile leave me strangely cold. All the elements are there: memorable tunes, engaging electronic productions, Buchanan's sultry voice. For all intents and purposes, this is a band I ought to worship — one that clearly many people do.

Yet I don't. I haven't listened to either record in a while now, but every time I do, I sort of shrug and can't figure out the empty feeling they leave me with.

But as I think about it, I wonder if it's something's amiss with their aims. Fans rave about The Blue Nile's "passion" and "intensity." And while I can at least embrace the idea that doesn't always signify Aretha-like caterwauling, there's a def. sense that they mistake simplicity for transcendence, which has the effect of producing banality. Particularly on Hats, which trades early 80s futurism for late 80s MOR (not in and of itself an unworthy proposition), there are moments that must have made Phil Collins feel positively vindicated.

I mean, as craftsmen I respect The Blue Nile — they make a flawless, perfectly executed product. But as artists, they seem burdened by a complete lack of self-awareness.

In re: Blue Nile, dare I bring up Cousteau's first record, which I love almost as much as kittens?

on the other hand, I've listened to Peace At Last this morning and it made me weep like a child several times. I think I can say I adore that album.

Where is My Bloody Valentines band?!?

Nile US and Canadian 2007

dates just added

Feb 13 Atlanta Variety Playhouse

Feb 15 Alexandria Birchmere

Feb 16 Philadelphia World Cafe Live (WXPN Studios)

Feb 17 New York Concert Hall-NY Society/Ethical Culture

Feb 18 Boston Paradise Rock Club

Feb 20 Montreal Le National

Feb 21 Toronto Mod Club

Feb 23 Chicago Black Orchid Showroom

Feb 24 Minneapolis Fine Line Music Cafe

Feb 27 San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

Mar 01 Los Angeles Avalon

Mar 02 Anaheim House of Blues

good god how did i go this long w/o hearing this band

!!

:D

i've listened to A Walk Across Rooftops today. love them so

gff otm

Peter Gabriel should hang his head in shame

funny that both these guys dated Rosanna Arquette...

god this stuff is just amazing... jess is right, above, every element is deeply suspect but the whole thing just works and works and works

When local Hi-Fi manufacturer Linn Electronics heard their music, the company offered the band money to record a track that would showcase the sonic range of the company's high-end audio equipment.[2][3] Linn was so pleased with the result, they formed their own record label in order to release The Blue Nile's debut, A Walk Across the Rooftops, in 1984.sample (help·info) Buchanan later commented that during that time Linn was not really a record company, and The Blue Nile was not really a band.[1] Although it received positive reviews, it sold modestly.

^^ incredibly loveable

paul buchanan has a great ear for melody

do i love you??

YES I LOVE YOU!!!

All this talking - this talking - is only bravado.

SO classic. Almost envious of those just now discovering this band, and really happy that folk immediately fall for them.

Search out the b-sides, too: "New York Man", "Wish Me Well", "O Lolita", and my favorite, "Regret", which guts me every listen. "It's 3:30 and I'm thinking of you."

Is there a place
in this city
a place
to always feel this way?

Timely thread. I accidentally dragged the record needle across side B of my copy of Hats a couple of days ago. Seems mainly okay though.

Please, please, please does anyone have a copy of 'St. Katherine's Day' they could share? It's impossible to find.

"the wires are down" also a fantastic b-side. love this band so so much

actually yeah, where was this band hiding when i was in high school?

I really can't see The Blue Nile appealing to high school students in any decade!

you don't think teenagers find songs about falling in love and wanting to leave home appealing? maybe musically you have a point but i bet some of my sad-sack emo-loving friends would've liked "let's go out tonight" at the least

Please, please, please does anyone have a copy of 'St. Katherine's Day' they could share? It's impossible to find.

Original Blue Nile demo, inc. "St. Katherine's Day" is now up on slsk. *whistles*

no i was 16 when TINSELTOWN...floored me for the first time one night. perfect teenage album the debut is.

I fell in love with A Walk Across The Rooftops when I was fifteen. That was in 1998.

I have just acquired the first two LPs, at last, and have been listening to them over and over and over again all week. I feel that I am finally in a position to understand almost everything on this thread.

Though right now at this very moment I am listening to early Prefab Sprout.

Maybe it's a good thing, that Dot to Dot never did make a cover, of I Love This Life.

Simply the most amazing music ever made.
― Cozen (Cozen), Monday, March 24, 2003 7:16 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i had hats on my computer at one point but i deleted it because i never listened to it. kinda wish i had it again since everyone is raving about it

i'm listening to the samples of Hats on amazon, and i'm starting to remember why I deleted this... it sounds like bad late 80s soundtrack music! the first album sounds a lot better, based on these 30 second previews.

Some nice songs. What would you even call music of this ilk? It's pop, but like, dressed up nice.

You won’t like them. A Walk Across The Rooftops contains slap bass, trite lyrics on the debris of relationships, pans from (yawn) Coppola’s One From the Heart into (yawn) Paris, Texas, sung by Springsteen impersonating Sinatra. Hats has two white reggae tracks, gated snares, repeated use of the word ‘baby’, yes, is ‘lush’, ‘cinematic’ and MOR. Annie Lennox and Rod Stewart have covered their songs. Phil Collins endorses them.

You won't get your money back, you know.

which two tracks are "white reggae"??????

I'd have to listen and think about it.

Maybe none?

I think he meant "Considering A Move To Memphis" and "I Am The Resurrection."

Maybe.

Oh, wait a minute, those aren't on Hats.

I have to think again, now, about what I meant, to say. I don't think I meant 'Over The Hillside', 'Downtown Lights' or 'Headlights oan the Parade'.

I don't really think white people shouldn't play reggae, any more than black people, shouldn't. If Jamaicans can do it, why not Scots?

Champion Doug Veitch to thread.

Butch Cassidy Sound System to thread

WTF is wrong with 80s soundtrack music???

cozens post is great

from rags to riches is the really key song I think--"I have hope and good intentions" is their facebook about me and "I am in love... I am in love with a feeling" is sort of everything they've ever sung in just a couple words

WTF is wrong with 80s soundtrack music???

nothing; it's bad 80s soundtrack music that I don't care for. The second I heard it, it instantly reminded me of something you'd hear on those soft rock stations that they play in dentist's offices ("Downtown Lights"). it just sounded like very generic and AOR music from that era. admittedly, i haven't given this much time, but off the cuff, I'm kind of surprised by how much people like this.

ban shushtari.

Srsly though, "very generic and AOR music" is such a boring criticism it's not even worth engaging with.

Max OTM, "Rags To Riches" is a pretty amazing song. And production too! That and "Automobile Noise" are total next level, secret hidden kingdom score 1000 points god control material.

why do people advocate banning for every goddamn perceived transgression on this board? it's not a healthy discursive climate.

anyway, i already stated that i hadn't given it much time. that was my immediate impression. sorry if you didn't like it.

In defence of Tim F he only spent 3 minutes thinking about his post before suggesting you get banned.

"saturday night" is totally the AM radio staple that never was

> ["Downtown Lights"] instantly reminded me of something you'd hear on those soft rock stations that they play in dentist's offices

WTF?
(head explodes)

hey, who wants to hear a EUROBANGER cover of "tinseltown in the rain"?!

http://www.zshare.net/audio/1911867154cb309a/

I just put this up on Youtube because a) it wasn't there and b) it needed to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3vit0yatY8

Holy crap I had no idea this existed!

I've already listened to this three times. Damn.

It's really easy to just put this song on repeat and then realize an hour later you've been listening to it for an hour.

it just started raining while i was listening to "tinseltown in the rain". SPOOKY

OMG I AM LISTENING TO TINSELTOWN IN THE RAIN RIGHT NOW EVEN SPOOKIER

probably its over for you now tho

maybe there was a little overlap

Max OTM, "Rags To Riches" is a pretty amazing song. And production too! That and "Automobile Noise" are total next level, secret hidden kingdom score 1000 points god control material.

― Tim F, Monday, September 15, 2008 2:07 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

Quite fucking true.

lol i forgot i posted the eurodance cover of "tinseltown" here

I still think Ally C should do a cover of this song.

do i love youuuuu
yes i love youuuuuuu

...but it's easy come, easy go...

i love the blue nile

and i dont care who knows it

Is it a badge of dishonor or something? I love the first two albums but after that, meh...

everyone makes fun of me when i love the blue nile

I don't really listen to anything after the first two albums either, but I don't really care. Next time I have to take a long walk at night in the drizzling rain...

The second I heard it, it instantly reminded me of something you'd hear on those soft rock stations that they play in dentist's offices ("Downtown Lights").
― Shushtari (res), Monday, September 15, 2008 7:02 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark

In defense of Shushtari, I first heard "Downtown Lights" while working at a grocery store. I actually had to stop working and just walk around the store listening to it. I was floored. Muzak has some benefits.

I love the Blue Nile but I have trouble convincing certain of my friends that they don't sound like Sting. >:|

they do! kind of. and thats ok! because sting isnt as bad as all the humorless old dicks want him to be!!

'high' has good tracks on it - love "broken loves" and the title track

i cant believe i never posted about the time i was having a bad shrooms trip--well not a bad trip yet btu kind of borderline--and i went back to my house alone and turned off all the lights and listened to walk across the rooftops and had, you know, a ~~moment~~ in the cosmic sense, and totally turned myself around

probably the most comforting album i can think of for some reason

ha, when i revived this thread i was listening to it at 8pm, still in bed nursing a horrific hangover from drinking the days before it, totally comforting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arOG2_QG4ls

Wow!

Let's Go Out Tonight is unbelievable

thanks for that film. two things i like about them. they do their thing and they're scottish. i am still not crazy about the music but i don't hate it like i used to.

Exactly, they do their thing--and they seem likeable in that film.

i've got builders in replacing my bedroom window.
they've got a radio on in there, Heart FM or Radio 2 or something.
anyway its quiet enough that i can easily ignore whatever is playing.
then some small part of my brain started alerting me ... the chords changes .. so familiar yet wrong ... wtf IS that???
ugh....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaT1qKm-Jj8

That's not as bad as I had feared!

royalties for the boys, and more people driven to the sublime original--net gain

This gives me chills only because the original plays in my head while listening to it. But, agreed, this is actually a nice cover.

Simply the most amazing music ever made.
― Cozen (Cozen), Monday, March 24, 2003 7:16 PM (8 years ago)

http://www.directcurrentmusic.com/storage/album-covers/Paul%20Buchanan%20Mid%20Air%20Cover.jpg

So how's this Paul Buchanan album?

It's wonderful - the best thing he's done since Hats. My tl:dr thoughts here: http://paulbuchanan.com/reviews/

Incidentally came across this the other week - pre-Blue Nile sounding v Steely Dan:
http://vimeo.com/24108742

Was listening to a couple of tracks on youtube right before you posted that first link and damn, you have nailed the mood of it exactly.

Tom Waits is a very apt mention btw, obviously the quality of the voices is v different, but he was the first name that came to mind listening to it just now. That whole hushed feel, music to contemplate the sad dust on your shelves to.

What was up with Blue Nile announcing tour dates a few years back and then abruptly canceling?

Looking forward to hearing this. Can't believe its already been so long since High. I should listen to that album again, I loved it at the time but haven't played it in years. Peace at Last is such a frustrating album Happiness is a good opener but I don't really remember anything until the last three tracks which are all so good.

"My True Country" just popped up on WFMU. My ears pricked up in the first 2 seconds. Just beautiful.

Apparently his album is number 3 in the midweek chart, quite surprising.

It's wonderful - the best thing he's done since Hats

! This is the first I've heard of a new record!

Apparently his album is number 3 in the midweek chart, quite surprising.
― Kitchen Person, Tuesday, May 22, 2012 12:50 PM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh man, if it caught on, a little late career crossover success for paul buchanan would make me really happy (as long as the quality stays at his absurdly high level)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HGSFQo63r0

Now on spotify:
http://open.spotify.com/album/5DeXW3rwdng0YhusBGxJwC

My favourite Blue Nile moment is "Regret", so an album of Paul Buchanan b/w piano is irresistible.

His album is actually number 8 in today's midweeks. I guess that means everybody in Scotland bought it.

does anyone have any, uh, tips for how to get the Birthday Cards & Silent Music compilation?

i will never understand the appeal of this music. he seems to sing always the same, never starting and never ending, mediocre ballad. somehow the harmlessness and tediousness of it still makes me aggressive, very bizarre.

Euler, sent you a PM.

Spotify cruelly listing this as "not available in your country".

That comp doesn't have the great ones "I Love This Life" and "Saint Catherine's Day"

thanks a million, doug watson!

Doug watson, may I have a PM pls? 0_0

The record cover makes me think of when I was a kid, and me and a friend would go to the top of a 6-story parking garage, tie together a bunch of old clothes, scream at the top of our lungs and throw them over the edge. Looked just like a jumper.

Finally listened to Mid Air, completely agree it's the best thing he's done since Hats. Really stunning album all the way through.

http://thequietus.com/articles/09375-paul-buchanan-blue-nile-interview

:)

album is stunning

I'll add my voice to the chorus of "best thing since Hats". Anyone get the deluxe version?

Would someone compile "High" and "Peace At Last" for me, please. I was disappointed by both but I'd like to give the best bits another go.

reissues!

http://thebluenile.org/

ooh, is this the 1st CD issue of I Love This Life etc?

incidently i got an email the other day from my brother part of which was this - "Two weeks ago it looked like Mr Blue Nile Paul Buchanan was waving at me while I was waiting at some traffic lights. After much confusion on my part, turned out it was for an actual cab rigghhttt behind me. Strange moment." haha!

"I Love Thos Life" and its b-side were on the "I Would Never" CD single in 2004, which i think was a first appearance on CD but will ni longer be in print.

Inevitably the re-issues will be bought. Have always found my CD of '...Rooftops' incredibly quiet.

Unfortunately, as seems to be the case these days (*stink eye at Peter Gabriel*), they've left out some b-sides:

http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/the-blue-nile-deluxe-reissues/#comment-13765

Mostly remixes and instrumentals, but it looks like there's plenty of room on the bonus discs for all of it.

I'm guessing some intrepid blogger will post a comp of the missing stuff.

is this website new? looks awfully fancy. you don't think it means a new album and tour on the way, do you? (hoping against hope!)

fave b-side right now is oh lolita

the use of "let's go out tonight" in six feet under is really brilliant. the exact sort of band i'd expect in that show.

I played this at record club last week...

http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/the-blue-nile-hats-round-45-toms-selection/

i still can't stand them. and i have tried. and tried. and tried. the music is quite ok actually but the singer simply sucks. i am not sure if i should envy all you people who love their music or if i should pity you. maybe i should just accept the fact that tastes are different...

Liking or disliking a voice is such a personal thing and very hard to see past - my Achilles Heel as far as voices go is Daniel Rossen from Grizzly Bear. Pretty innocuous but sets my teeth on edge.

Do you feel similarly about Peter Gabriel's voice as Paul Buchanan's is not that dissimilar?

i have always loved peter gabriel's voice. trespass was one of my first albums. i don't think their voices are similar at all. buchanan's voice to me sounds sleepy and bored. whereas gabriel just sounds perfect, his voice is vivacious and astute.

I played this at record club last week...
http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/the-blue-nile-hats-round-45-toms-selection/
― yugi ex, Monday, February 4, 2013 4:14 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

did you write that, yugi? really excellent...blue nile and edward hopper have become so intertwined in my mind that i can't see or hear one without thinking of the other-i work in a museum that has several great hoppers and my dream concert would be blue nile playing in a room full of hoppers

Cheers. You're spot on with the Hopper reference, although I always pictured a Scottish city - US cities are just not wet enough!

are they from glasgow or edinburgh? i love blue nile enough to add scotland to list of places to visit (although i'm sure it's a great place anyway!)

glasgow. trying to get my head around PB sounding like he is "sleepy and bored". and failing.

yeah, they obv haven't heard Over the Hillside!

I get world-weary from Paul Buchannan's singing but not sleepy and bored...

I'm surprised there hasn't been any reviews of the remasters in American outlets. At least that I know of.

OK, I finally have Mid Air! First listen in progress now; I'm five tracks in. This is pretty radical stuff! We are almost in Mark Hollis / Richard Youngs territory here!

Cozen's posts halfway up the thread are some of the greatest I've ever read on here.

EASILY some of the most amazing music ever made.

"Let's WALK In The COOL EVENING NIGHT..."

...er, light. even so.

Has there ever been an album more fitting (in every sense) of a Q 5-star review than Hats?

I am trying to avoid hyperbole but this album contains some of the incredibily fucking stunningly beautiful music I have ever heard.

I was flicking through a recent copy of Uncut in an airport the other day. They had an article on these guys and graded their albums.

A Walk Across The Rooftops 10
Hats 10
Peace at Last 7
High 8
Mid Air 9

I actually think they got the ratings spot on.

it's blue nile weather

we're laughing, isn't it good to feel this way

That song just came up on shuffle earlier today, I have no problem putting it in my top ten songs of all time.

WHY IS IT ROLLING DOWN UPON THE YOUNG AND THE FOOLISH

THE

aero OTM

upon the young and foolish

:)

Your profile name is very appropriate right now.

why hasn't a country singer covered "Because of Toledo" yet?

Has someone at least identified all the missing tracks from the "deluxe" reissues?

Don't know if this is comprehensive, but here, from the Super Deluxe Edition website:

- the instrumental version of Heatwave
- Saddle The Horses, the instrumental version of Automobile Noise, which came in a standard and an extended version
- the extended single remix of Stay
- Halfway To Paradise, from The Downtown Lights single
- the Clearmountain mix of Headlights On The Parade
- Headlights On The Parade with Rickie Lee Jones
- Our Lives, from the Saturday Night single
- the live version of Seven AM, from the Saturday Night single

peace at last was reissued! the bonus disc is really interesting!

- Headlights On The Parade with Rickie Lee Jones

Surely, you meant EASTER parade — unless there's a seriously juicy b-side that I'm missing?

I'm not sure I'll ever be completely bonkers over The Blue Nile but they do have a real nice soft spot in my heart. Anyone here heard the first single I Love This Life/The Second Act? Or the track they did with trumpet player Chris Botti called "Midnight Without You"? I like these a lot.

― Bimble (bimble), Friday, August 20, 2004 3:35 PM (9 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ten years later i heard this 'midnight without you' track. really great! a great mellow evening slow jam.

I like The Blue Nile very much, but the only album I'm totally crazy about is 'Peace At Last', which puts me at odds with received wisdom on the 'canon', I guess. plus "Stay Close", the... closer from 'High'.

Stay Close and the title track are the two centrepieces of that album for me

Man I always forget how good "Sentimental Man" is.

I've been pulling out Peace At Last for the first time in a decade and realising I've always underrated it. Possibly all the MOR I've gotten into in the meantime has made its aesthetic concerns more appealing to me.

I went through a nice little Peace At Last phase recently too. "Soon" is my jam.

peace at last rules. parts of it are a little simultaneously unformed and overwrought but uh "family life" tears me apart

Easily the weakest Blue Nile album for me but still a solid album. The last three songs are all really wonderful. Just saw it's getting a vinyl reissue next week. Will probably pick it up as the original goes for crazy amounts.

_Peace at Last_ weaker than _High_? The latter feels the least cohesive of the four releases, but for me, they're all worthy of esteem. At the time, I wanted _Hats II_ and the acoustic guitar was jarring, but now I'd say it's the one I've played the most.

Also, PaL has the best b-sides. "New York Man", "Wish Me Well", "O Lolita"... fantastic. And agreed on "Family Life". On the list of songs like "This Woman's Work" that I can't listen to at work, due to watering eyes.

_Peace at Last_ weaker than _High_?

yeah i kinda think so, high is magnificent if a little disjointed

thread inspired me to listen to peace at last while walking to work this morning and it really nicely accompanies snowfall. "holy love" still truly bizarre

Always hated Holy Love. Seems like a demo that really shouldn't have made the album.

"Tomorrow Morning" is a cousin of U2's "Promenade", wispy blurs of God and other lovers

speaking of high

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qveEW3P0sfg

torn up about how beautiful that song is

Yeah "Stay Close" is definitely the main highlight of High, such a beautiful closer. Right up there as one of the best tracks of their career imo.

To me it's all about Stay Close and the title track for me with that album. Sort of exactly where I would expect the Blue Nile to be at that point.

in love we're all the same
we're walking down an empty street

Hats. The best. Just had it on an hour ago. Can't believe they left "Oh, Lolita" and "Wish Me Well" off the reissue

Let's WALK IN THE COOL EVENING LIGHT

You know what else? That constant synth hum in the background of "From A Late Night Train" Jesus fucking christ.

I don't think Q magazine will ever be more right about an album ever again.

tell everybody it's all right

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbujOtX4zuk

the peace at last b-sides that aren't on the deluxe reissue happen to be totally crushing, who knew

Yeah, I can never figure out which b-sides go with which album. I guess Oh Lolita and Wish Me Well are the Peace at Last singles. There are a couple of good bootlegs that compile all the various b-sides and unreleased stuff.

soon as i got home i looked everywhere for blue nile rarities bootlegs but they seem to have been scrubbed from the internet

Check your PMs.

doug! thank you so much! unfortunately the email associated with my ilx login is dead dead dead. try brad.david.nelson @ gmail. thank you again !!!!!

imo nothing more powerful than the last two minutes of "headlights on the parade"

Dud.

wow has there ever been a worse opinion

I like this band a lot but they also seem v hateable

Hateable? are you for real?

big fan of the balloon aisle here

I listened to Hats and it seemed cool but I've never really gotten down with that type of nu-romantic vocal style eh.

Hate

Look at it as a word

Really Turrican? We're usually on the same page, what makes you dud them? First two albums uber classic for me.

Really Turrican? We're usually on the same page, what makes you dud them? First two albums uber classic for me.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, January 28, 2015 12:02 AM (39 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think an album like Hats is produced impeccably well and I appreciate the care and attention that's been put into their music, but the material itself doesn't particularly grab me in the same way as, say, Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen, Talk Talk's The Colour of Spring, Tears For Fears' The Seeds Of Love, David Sylvian's solo work etc. It's always felt like "background music" for me, and I haven't found much in their music that helped me get past that to the point where it engages me, really.

The fact that you rate the first two albums highly does make me have another try at getting into them, since (as you say) we're usually on the same page and like a lot of the same stuff, and there are aspects to their sound that I like in other artists. It's just every time I've tried with The Blue Nile, my reaction has been pretty much the same: at first a feeling of "oh, this sounds well-produced" and then just as quickly I realise I've tuned out from it and it hasn't manged to keep my attention.

I just can't take seriously people who don't love this band.

Hateable? are you for real?

― ewar woowar (or something), Tuesday, January 27, 2015 6:43 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Idk they seem like a prime example of a particular glossy 80s sound that grates on some people's nerves. I've met people who have declared fatwa on Talk Talk & I assume those folks would hate the Blue Nile as well

I just can't take seriously people who don't love this band.

otm.
this week i've been obsessed with hats, just because.

Turrican, I think you've got the wrong musical landmarks. Not so much Sylvian or Talk Talk, moreso like Flat Earth-era Thomas Dolby covering "San Diego Serenade." The Blue Nile are heart-on-sleeve romantics, often failed and always contemplative. They're arguably at their most affecting when heard between midnight and sunrise. Or after the sudden breakup of a relationship. Try "Regret" or "Let's Go Out Tonight" or "From a Late Night Train", all are equally comforting and devastating.

People also tend to forget or downplay how genuinely odd and striving this band was, especially initially - there's not much in pop that sounds like "Rags to Riches" or "Automobile Noise" in terms of haunting found sound pop-balladry, though Kate Bush's "Mother Stands For Comfort" does come to mind (and even that that post-dates these by a couple of years).

I feel like Hats became the favorite a long time ago, or at least that's the one people always seem to mention first, but A Walk is unparalleled IMO

Hats is depressing as fuck, I can't handle it.

I just can't take seriously people who don't love this band.
― Tim F, Wednesday, January 28, 2015 1:21 AM (12 hours ago)

I can understand folk not loving The Blue Nile, but like a proselytizer, feel that's only because they haven't seen The Light. They're a band that seems to pop up often as a "hey, you guys, I GET it now..." post. For emotion communicated in a voice, Buchanan's hard to match. Most of the quotable power comes from his delivery, rather than the complexity or uniqueness of the lyrics: "It's 3:30, and I'm thinking of you.", "All this talking, this talking, is only bravado."

Looking forward to his new album, supposed to be out 3rd Q 2015. New album coming from The Apartments, as well. I'd rate Peter Milton Walsh up with Buchanan as a favorite singer.

Buchanan's ability to shift the emotional pitch just through his delivery is effortless

Turrican wrote:
at first a feeling of "oh, this sounds well-produced" and then just as quickly I realise I've tuned out from it and it hasn't managed to keep my attention.

I can understand that - that's how I feel about Talk Talk! And I've got their stuff, too, but I just sort of like it and have never gone gaga for them like many others have.

Ah well, we all have our blind spots. ;-)

Looking forward to his new album, supposed to be out 3rd Q 2015.

flakdjfl;kj;alkjwlkjlksa

Oh, wow, I didn't realize Buchanan had a first solo album, never mind an upcoming second one. There's tomorrow's listening.

His solo album is really, really, really good

From a left-side comment on PB's official Facebook page.

"The current update for Paul's new album is that more than a dozen songs have been selected for recording, which will take place during January through to March, therefore, Newsroom Records would be looking for a commercial release for late June/early July 2015."

Couldn't find a homepage for Newsroom Records, which figures as this review mentions it's his own independent label.

Keep an eye out for a pre-order opportunity, as the _Mid-Air_ ltd. edition included a second disc of music (mainly instrumental versions, but also three non-album tracks), and in a nice package.

Listening to Mid Air right now. Dumbfoundedly.

moving tomorrow. to relax ive drank a couple beers and im listening to hats in between two big speakers smoking weed amongst a room full of boxes. just the best band.

I'm apparently in the minority when I say that I find PEACE AT LAST to be terrific. Yeah, the lyrics are a bit too heavy handed and
religious for my taste, but it's just as melodic and gorgeous to my ears as its 2 predecessors. A great album to take along for a night run.

Very nice hr interview of the band by Ken Sweeney.

iirc, and i probably said this in the 1975 thread, jessie ware is the person who told matt healy to listen to the blue nile

also thank you for sharing this!!!!

there's a blue nile app?????

zuh??

well now i have to listen to The 1975 more

So welcome. Such a personal favorite band, anyone still to discover them, hope they have a similar impact.

yeah "hats" is without a doubt a top 5 record for me now and i just discoverd it a couple of months ago

my best vinyl find was a $1 copy of Hats

well now i have to listen to The 1975 more

only parts of the new record and the more shapeless songs on their initial eps really recall the blue nile—in the case of the older songs it's v much by accident, but they share a romanticism with the blue nile, a deference to a bigger feeling both melodically and lyrically, the sense that they've made room in their music for this feeling, even as the 1975 specifically describe mostly sack-of-shit anarchic hedonistic permanent teenager stuff. see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3JJxS0gNkE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMzAHUFCXmQ

wow this interview is amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q8xoRcnDC4

Matthew Ryan and Neilson Hubbard's Strays Don't Sleep track, "For Blue Skies", reflects BN influence and does them credit. His talk of fandom here has me wanting to check out his other work. Have owned the SDS album for years, but never followed him up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XRhFaYEBig

Continuing the geek flag flying, Ken Sweeney the interviewer released two fine albums as Brian. He's also been name-dropped and appeared in "Father Ted".

yeah "hats" is without a doubt a top 5 record for me now and i just discoverd it a couple of months ago

― k3vin k., donderdag 15 december 2016 20:29 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Exactly the same here. Found out through here.

Thanks for sharing the interview Scampering!

it took me two years to fall in love with "sentimental man" but wow am i ever in love with "sentimental man"

my man

Peace at Last is phenomenally underrated. Perfect music for late night jogging

i think my homework over spring break is to get into the third album

i love the blue nile and have never gone back to the third album because i suspect it is forever tainted for me by the fact that my dad is a fan of the band and bought and played the hell out of that cd when it came out and i thought it was awful and corny as hell at the time - i was 12

i mean having a refrain on the opening song of an album that is

now that I've found
peace at last
tell me jesus
will it last

is a bit much

it's very dated in a way none of the other albums are

It's definitely a step down from the first two albums, but there's some really great stuff on Peace At Last. I think the main problem is that some of it sounds a bit unfinished. Holy Love sounds like a demo that might well be the worst song they ever did. God Bless You Kid is a great tune but it goes on two minutes longer than it should. Soon, Happiness, War Is Love and Family Life are my favourites. Family Life is kind of a blueprint for Mid Air. Overall, High is a much more satisfying listen.

family life is good

Peace At Last is one of my all-time fav albums. I've never yet been able to get into any of the other albums quite at the same level. I adore PaL from my heart and soul, and am regularly moved to tears any time I choose to listen to it anew. Its imperfections are just perfect to me. A "human(e)" album, that's how I would describe its appeal to me in a nutshell.

i love "broken loves" now

my fav song on high that's not "stay close"

um...."christmas"

https://soundcloud.com/rte-radio-1/in-search-of-the-blue-nile

have we talked about this? i thought we did somewhere. matty from the 1975 apparently makes an appearance

yeah, it was posted in this thread back in december. it's a great listen

This is wonderful, thank you for sharing Kevin K. Those first two records and the singles. . . nothing else really approaches that sound and feeling.

https://m.soundcloud.com/louise-burns/downtown-lights-1

am i reaching if i say AWATR-era buchanan has some jonathan richman in him?

i was doing a facebook music quiz thing and wanted to name a walk across the rooftops as my favorite post-punk record so

god i don't know how i never fell in love with the first album til last night but it is just so perfect in its own way

it's peerless.

It's one of those albums that paints a full-color mental picture with every song.

why is it rolling down on the young and foolish

Also subtly inventive: "Rags to Riches" sounds like pop produced by Steve Reich; "Automobile Noise" makes me think of David Sylvian or Kate Bush circa Hounds of Love.

Oh yeah it's quite experimental when you get over how fucking beautiful it is.

With latter Talk Talk, they were doing truly amazing stuff on another level from 99.9% of even the other best popular music, like the Blue Nile's first two records (and singles). But I always imagine Talk Talk might've been. . . a little self-serious, even if they totally earned it like few others. So it's amazing to hear the Blue Nile guys, who, while they're not falsely modest, don't give the impression that making this higher-plane music was anything but what basically came naturally. I mean, they suffered in some way for their music, I guess; but they just seem like regular people more or less--in that audio documentary, he speaks like areal pop artist in that he felt he was (and he was) expressing the universal, only belatedly recognizing the specificity of his individual experience, too. Just wonderful.

I do kinda have to flog this mix here, because it was very much inspired by the feeling the Blue Nile give, and I think people who like them would almost surely dig the mix:

https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/musicophilia_00_various_-_the-dawning_1981-1989_cover.jpg?w=1536

Various – ‘The Dawning’
(1981-1989)

Part I

01 [00:00] The Blue Nile – “Over the Hillside” (Hats, 1989)
02 [05:00] Heaven 17 – “Let Me Go” (The Luxury Gap, 1983)
03 [09:16] Hot Gossip – “Morale” (Geisha Boys and Temple Girls, 1981)
04 [12:18] Dif Juz – “The Last Day” (Extractions, 1985)
05 [16:13] Tears for Fears – “Start of the Breakdown” (The Hurting, 1983)
06 [21:03] Mick Karn – “Tribal Dawn” (Titles, 1982)
07 [25:12] Thomas Dolby – “The Flat Earth” (The Flat Earth, 1984)
08 [31:34] Peter Gabriel – “Zaar” (Passions, 1989)
09 [35:56] Nona Hendryx – “Off the Coast of Love” (Skin Diver, 1989)
10 [40:23] Cocteau Twins – “Lazy Calm” (Victorialand, 1986)
11 [44:34] Talk Talk – “I Believe In You” (Spirit of Eden, 1988)

Part II

12 [50:40] Comsat Angels – “After the Rain” (Fiction, 1982)
13 [54:31] King Crimson – “Two Hands” (Beat, 1982)
14 [57:48] Bel Canto – “Without You” (White Out Conditions, 1987)
15 [61:43] Scott Walker – “Dealer” (Climate of Hunter, 1984)
16 [66:33] Scritti Politti – “Absolute” (Cupid & Psyche ’85, 1985)
17 [70:53] Arthur Russell – “This Is How We Walk On the Moon” (Another Thought, 1984)
18 [75:34] David Sylvian – “Orpheus” (Secrets of the Beehive, 1987)
19 [80:20] Durutti Column – “Love No More” (Vini Reilly, 1989)
20 [83:06] Kate Bush – “Never Be Mine” (The Sensual World, 1989)
21 [86:42] David Byrne – “Ghosts” (The Knee Plays, 1985)
22 [89:54] Colin Newman – “I Can Hear You” (Commercial Suicide, 1986)
23 [94:16] This Mortal Coil – “Ivy and Neet” (Filigree & Shadow, 1986)
24 [99:04] Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – “Of All The Things We’ve Made” (Dazzle Ships, 1983)

[Total Time: 1:42:27]

Download:

https://musicophilia.wordpress.com/2015/11/15/post-post-punk-the-dawning-1981-1989/

Oh I never noticed that one! That looks great and I'll totally DL it.

good stuff

That radio piece was really nice. Forgot that for a short while they were booked a show to play here, back in ... 2007? What was that all about?

The Dawning mix is now on my player, gonna listen to it the rest of my workday. psyched.

that mix looks amazing

great mix

who called this stuff "silk bathrobe music"?

Well but this is like silk bathrobe music where when you look at the embroidery on the silk it's actually pretty uncanny and disturbing

i love how "AWATR" opens the album so abruptly, like a slap in the face telling you to pay attention to the masterpiece you're about to hear

Well but this is like silk bathrobe music where when you look at the embroidery on the silk it's actually pretty uncanny and disturbing

― iris marduk (Jon not Jon), Thursday, April 20, 2017 2:12 PM (sixteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i think it was more like yuppie ennui, staring out of your luxury condo in your bathrobe, wondering why you're still sad etc

this kind of music is somewhat like Gaucho era Steely Dan, expect more romanticism and less cynicism. more staring across the river at the city by yourself in your condo, less staring across the bay next to a pair of passed out, drugged up escorts. also the bathrobe in the Dan song would be soft white cotton, imo.

so actually nothing like steely dan maybe.

no the blue nile are definitely steely dan-ish! musically they're like a new wave dan

there's certainly a lot of romanticism in their lyrics but hats has always struck me as quite bleak. or at the very least wistful and nostalgic

ugh this mix is so good. this is basically my favorite vein of music at this point in my life. this and horror film scores.

Crossfade karn-->dolby = a+

Flat earth was my favorite album in 8th grade and still blows me away

What is it about masterful 7-song albums that year? AWATR, Flat Earth...

this music has something to do with a conception of what being an adult who lived in a big city was like when i was a small child

otm and i am still that child, not knowing what the fuck to do in nyc

you're just in the wrong new york you need the old one where you could work in the mailroom and get your big break

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPuj9_94TBQ

It's the balcony and blue half light in the final scene of Local Hero.

Also that Dawning mix is terrific. Cheers, soundslike

nice to see the comsat angels on that mix - 'cutting edge' from a few albums later would work too.

some sad rain-smudged mysticism from gigi would also fit the whole 80s adult contemplary vibe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsYRfOy0J9w

I've never listened to comsat angels before this. Total bark psych precursor at least on the track included on this mix. Really like it.

the album 'sleep no more' is their real masterpiece and an early highpoint of brooding atmospheric 80s rock

just discovering the musicophilia mixes this week with 1981 being up for download, this is a wonderful one along with all the others I've nabbed. I have most of these songs and have been deeply in love with this sound since the late 80's, but the sequence for Dawning is really something else. also this: "this music has something to do with a conception of what being an adult who lived in a big city was like when i was a small child" OTM.

Listening to 'Sleep No More' and The Blue Nile was basically my life as a fifteen year old.

that was my life as a 19 year old so you had a good four years on me there

this mix is so great

it bears restating!

sequel please mr soundslike

getting stuck downloading "Dawning" (permission denied) - anyone else?

Really glad you guys are digging 'The Dawning' mix--that one has really stuck with me. I only get the time to make a couple mixes a year now, generally; but the upside has been that I spend even more time culling tracks, letting the sound I want marinate in my mind, sequencing, etc. so that I feel like the end result is as coherent and "finished" as I can get them.

Don't know if a direct sequel to 'The Dawning' is possible soon--but there are several mixes that would probably appeal. The 'Heart' mix from the '1981' box-set is the most direct post-punk/new-wave precursor to this sound (the box set features just about every artist in their earlier incarnations). I feel like the second disc of the recent 'Le Monde du Funk '85' gets into a very compatible vibe, coming from more R&B/post-disco/boogie/hip-hop-oriented spheres. Skewing more explicitly electronic and spanning the 80s to the 2010s, 'Circuits' is definitely related. I'd say that the sophistication, precision, care, emotional clarity combined with forward-leaning art is a common strand to a lot of what I mix, including the stuff that's more 70s-oriented like the 'Their Heart had Six Strings' singer-songwriter mixes, or the Musique du Monde (especially the 'Le Mystere de la Musique' and 'Le Nouveau Son') mixes of artful, international 70s music.

I've generally found that if you get the "permission denied" thing, just try again a minute later and it usually works--'The Dawning' at least isn't down right now.

Re: Steely Dan, this from their pre-Blue Nile days as Mcintyre is quite revealing https://vimeo.com/24108742

wow, that IS steely dan

Soundslike - I never really investigated the band but were there any mournful Level 42 songs? They might fit

love this thomas dolby song -- it's like the blue nile doing my life in the bush of ghosts

thanks again for this mix, soundslike

kevin you need that dolby album, it is perfect

listening now!

btw, did we know this?? (from AMG review)

The Blue Nile's debut album has a rather fascinating genesis. Scotland's Linn Electronics wanted a demo track to demonstrate the fidelity and versatility of their new recording console and tapped a struggling local trio, the Blue Nile, to provide it. Their effort was a deliberately disjunctive song called "A Walk Across the Rooftops." To demonstrate the recording equipment's dynamic range and clarity, the song was arranged most peculiarly, with vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, and full string and horn sections all appearing, but never at the same time. Linn liked the song so much that they formed a record label and bankrolled the recording of this full album

I knew that but I probably learned it from AMG

thats awesome

yes

The Blue Nile are far too rare a thing--but that mix was my best shot at gathering the closest things I know. Glad you guys are digging it!

can someone (brad?) give me a list of some blue nile rarities i'm missing out on? all i've got is pretty much what's on spotify

Look for the download comp 'birthday cards and silent music'

I got this album some years back and promptly forgot--but it's one of the few things that almost has that Blue Nile feeling (in moments, anyway):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4mFypXa-I0

Also,

sequel please mr soundslike

― iris marduk (Jon not Jon), Friday, April 21, 2017 3:55 PM (two months ago)

Working on a sequel, probably honing in on something like '86-'94. . .

Maybe this doesn't quite have the BN vibe, the drums are little too busy, but I feel like it could've come from the same era as Hats (it actually came out in 2015).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWW4wySZz8E

It's Immaterial sounds interesting, apparently they recorded in the same studio and w/ same producer as Blue Nile. And I gather from youtube comments that there was some dispute between them and Blue Nile because of some uncleared samples?

should i listen to more it's immaterial if i liked that and the blue nile?

apparently their discography is very ecclectic

'driving away from home' is perfect and a balearic classic, couldn't really get into the rest of that album.

Song is a lovely album and very much in the Blue Nile wheelhouse.

so uh......

does Mid Air not have its own thread?

It should, it is the third best album of Paul buchanan songs and a rare inhabitant of the same zone as the Mark Hollis album

Wait what, how did I miss the existence of this for five years?! And comparisons to 'Mark Holis,' which might have been my favorite Talk Talk record over the last 16 years? Oh, goodness. . .

And, at the suggestion of a couple folks upthread and your positive response, I finished a direct sequel to 'The Dawning' mix (for which The Blue Nile were the keystone and catalyst). Blue Nile isn't on there themselves, but I'd like to imagine their influence is, and certainly their spirit. Moving the period forward a few years to '85-'95, going a little deeper into the dream state--I gotta say I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I hope you guys will be, too.

https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/musicophilia_00_various_-_evensong_1985-1995_2017_cover.jpg?w=1536

'Evensong' (1985-1995)

Part I

01 [00:00] It’s Immaterial – New Brighton” (Song, 1990)
02 [05:31] Tears for Fears – “The Working Hour” (Songs From the Big Chair, 1985)
03 [12:06] Tortoise – “His Second Story Island” (Tortoise, 1994)
04 [14:14] Michael Brook & Pieter Nooten – “Searching” (Sleeps With the Fishes, 1987)
05 [17:07] Shelleyan Orphan – “One Hundred Hands” (Helleborine, 1987)
06 [21:29] Stina Nordenstam – “A Walk In the Park” (Memories of a Color, 1991)
07 [24:54] Sade – “Pearls” (Love Deluxe, 1992)
08 [29:38] Massive Attack – “Protection” (Protection, 1994)
09 [37:26] The Cure – “The Same Deep Water As You” (Disintegration, 1989)
10 [46:19] Depche Mode- “Waiting For the Night” (Violator, 1990)

Part II

11 [52:41] Evelyn Glennie – “Light in Darkness” (Light In Darkness, 1991)
12 [55:59] R.E.M. – “Sweetness Follows” (Automatic For the People, 1992)
13 [60:21] The Innocence Mission – “Medjugorje” (The Innocence Mission, 1989)
14 [61:53] Disco Inferno – “Second Language” (Second Language EP, 1994)
15 [66:52] Slowdive – “Rutti” (Pygmalion, 1995)
16 [76:53] Rain Tree Crow – “Cries and Whispers” (Rain Tree Crow, 1991)
17 [79:26] Bark Psychosis – “Pendulum Man” (Hex, 1994)
18 [82:37] Peter Gabriel – “Mercy Street” (So, 1986)
19 [88:27] Low – “Sunshine” (I Could Live In Hope, 1994)
20 [91:35] Portishead – “Roads” (Dummy, 1994)
21 [96:44] Hector Zazou & Bjork – “Visur Vatnsenda-Rosu” (Songs From the Cold Seas, 1994)

[Total Time: 1:40:43]

Download or stream it here at Musicophilia

Yeah I haven't been at a proper computer yet this weekend but I can't wait to download your new mix!

04 [14:14] Michael Brook & Pieter Nooten – “Searching” (Sleeps With the Fishes, 1987)

Love this song/album

It should, it is the third best album of Paul buchanan songs and a rare inhabitant of the same zone as the Mark Hollis album

― or at night (Jon not Jon), Saturday, July 1, 2017 3:27 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah only one listen in, but highs are extraordinarily high

title track in contention for his best song ever

Thanks for the mix and the link! Judging from the song list, you really captured a specific late-night city summer vibe

does Mid Air not have its own thread?

― k3vin k., Saturday, July 1, 2017 4:39 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It should, it is the third best album of Paul buchanan songs and a rare inhabitant of the same zone as the Mark Hollis album

― or at night (Jon not Jon), Saturday, July 1, 2017 7:27 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Done.

the third it's immaterial album got shelved by the label in the 90's but it's due for release maybe later this year. this track off it definitely has blue nile-ish qualities but there's just no way his voice is ever going to compare to paul buchanan >

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3ivUuv3D04

that's where bark psych falls a bit short for me too. His voice is nice but that's about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6XssIfW9W8

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrSherco12/search?query=paul+buchanan+OR+blue+nile

have fun with this guys

Anyone heard the Lowland Hundred? Little group out of Aberystwyth that it's just dawned on me have elements of the Blue Nile about them (stately, nostalgic - albeit nostalgia filtered through a mining of the remote past - kinda naked). Under Cambrian Sky is a brilliant record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEX9FeBmkSs

2xp
I was at that show! (Liss Ard). It was magic. Never knew there was video. Thanks for posting.

jealous! i hope he tours again at some point. i'd go anywhere to watch

Wow. Just stumbled across this duet version of Easter Parade with the great Rickie Lee Jones, followed by Buchanan and co joining in with a version of Jones's Flying Cowboys. Not a collaboration I would've ever expected, but it totally works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_172cffdDJU

^wow!!!

The Blue Nile-scored Govan Ghost Story linked in the article - for completists maybe, but I've had .wav files on my PC for years of the sound cues the three members did for this. Been interesting to hear dialogue snippets and wonder what the full scene depicted. Just an hour long.

I haven't seen appropriate love for this unreleased track, "Meanwhile": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxRc3ecDqIY.

http://thequietus.com/articles/24718-shirley-manson-garbage-interview-favourite-albums?page=13

shirley manson on a walk across the rooftops is a nice wee read

oh man she fuckin nailed it

yes

also what a great set of records she picked

That's a great read. She says lovely things about Sulk by Associates too. She has excellent taste.

I think I was the only person on ILX who fell head over heels for the first Pure Bathing Culture lp. The second one was not much cop, but now they have decided to cover the whole of Hats! Not sure I want to hear Ben Gibbard singing, but the rest of the album might be good.

https://www.stereogum.com/2000973/pure-bathing-culture-ben-gibbard-saturday-night-the-blue-nile-cover/premiere/

ben gibbard also did a bandwagonesque cover album.

ben gibbard, leave my treasured glasgow/lanarkshire music alone you vandal

By the way: one of the things that justifies file-sharing for all time is that I was finally able to get hold of a copy of their first (?) ever song 'I love this life'. And it's turned out to be my favourite song of theirs.
― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, March 25, 2003 10:45 AM (fifteen years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Fifteen years later I just heard this for the first time and think I agree: it has a vibrancy to it that they never again showed much interest in conveying. Even the Joe Jackson synth bass is excellent.

it's so good

xmas eve so you can listen to family life

Tomorrow will be Christmas
We'll be singing old songs
And light up the tree
God and all the mercy
And say all your prayers
For little old me

a truly soul-crushing song

I really love this one too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1MN94bark4

first (?) ever song 'I love this life'. And it's turned out to be my favourite song of theirs.

I honestly don't know if I can think of a single artist/band whose first single (a-side and b-side taken together) is more perfectly fully realized, and totally sui generis. I've never heard pure joy captured more wonderfully and without any mawkishness in music than with "I Love This Life," and the world-weary wisdom and old-soul sadness of "The Second Act" is so moving (and rather shocking coming from a 25-year-old). And to think--they got *better* for the next decade, seems impossible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkUl0oeYNLY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOw8SS00Pis

*sigh*

always so nice to be reminded how amazing the blue nile is after having forgotten for a month or two.

Wow. Maybe this made the rounds in 2016 and I missed it, but Paul Buchanan does a goosebumps-inducing take on Bowie's "I Can't Give Everything Away" with an orchestral arrangement that's very unusual and well executed. At 58:33:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRL3QBMBEJ0

(Also does "Ashes to Ashes" earlier)

I adore his solo album and have not heard anything about whether there will be another one. I certainly hope so

i’ve heard a lot about whether there will be another one

almost as much as i’ve heard about whether there’ll be a new scritti politti record lol

xpost i posted about that proms at the time, buchanan's performances are by miles and miles the highlight, completely amazing

i need to try to figure out how to isolate those bits from the one long track I downloaded

A friend of mine took the 2nd half of Rags to Riches and made a balearic / downtempo re-edit.

https://soundcloud.com/marshall_watson/blue-nile-rags-to-riches-marshall-watson-edit

https://thebluenilereissues.com/

1000 copies doesn’t seem like very many? Hats on vinyl is pretty in-demand on Discogs.

They might have a few left over copies of the third one though.

Prohibitively expensive to ship to the states, unfortunately, or else I'd be all over these

Cheaper through Amazon.uk.

Paul, I ordered all three of them on Amazon.co.uk to America. It came to £56.37 in total. I don't like ordering from them in general, but it seemed like the cheapest way and I really didn't want to miss out.

Thanks! That's definitely more reasonable. I'm gonna order 'em (or at least Hats and Rooftops)

this always seems to happen when i'm broke

Amazon.co.uk shows £22.99 for each of the three discs, which'd be £68.97 plus S&H to the U.S. Was there a side deal that dropped it to £56.37?

Looks like they've increased in price slightly since last night. I got them at £20.53 each. I'm not sure how it works exactly but shipping is included in that price. I just put them all in my cart again and the final total is now showing as £62.52 including the shipping. I've ordered this way from them before as it somehow comes out cheaper.

Nice! Maybe they nix the VAT from the price for U.S. folk. Thanks for the tip/reply.

ordered! they're back down to £19 and change btw

Blue Nile fans get to 6 music now (or next 30 days on catch up).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009b82

^^ Was about to post this. Not really a fan of Guy Garvey, but some really good interviews with Buchanan and Calum Malcolm.

On this 30th anniversary of 'Hats,' if you're needing more of the Blue Nile feeling, here's a mix I made a few years back that's a de facto tribute to them (and had a couple sequels):

https://musicophilia.wordpress.com/2015/11/15/post-post-punk-the-dawning-1981-1989/

https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/musicophilia_00_various_-_the-dawning_1981-1989_cover.jpg?w=1024

Various – ‘The Dawning’
(1981-1989)

Part I

01 [00:00] The Blue Nile – “Over the Hillside” (Hats, 1989)
02 [05:00] Heaven 17 – “Let Me Go” (The Luxury Gap, 1983)
03 [09:16] Hot Gossip – “Morale” (Geisha Boys and Temple Girls, 1981)
04 [12:18] Dif Juz – “The Last Day” (Extractions, 1985)
05 [16:13] Tears for Fears – “Start of the Breakdown” (The Hurting, 1983)
06 [21:03] Mick Karn – “Tribal Dawn” (Titles, 1982)
07 [25:12] Thomas Dolby – “The Flat Earth” (The Flat Earth, 1984)
08 [31:34] Peter Gabriel – “Zaar” (Passions, 1989)
09 [35:56] Nona Hendryx – “Off the Coast of Love” (Skin Diver, 1989)
10 [40:23] Cocteau Twins – “Lazy Calm” (Victorialand, 1986)
11 [44:34] Talk Talk – “I Believe In You” (Spirit of Eden, 1988)

Part II

12 [50:40] Comsat Angels – “After the Rain” (Fiction, 1982)
13 [54:31] King Crimson – “Two Hands” (Beat, 1982)
14 [57:48] Bel Canto – “Without You” (White Out Conditions, 1987)
15 [61:43] Scott Walker – “Dealer” (Climate of Hunter, 1984)
16 [66:33] Scritti Politti – “Absolute” (Cupid & Psyche ’85, 1985)
17 [70:53] Arthur Russell – “This Is How We Walk On the Moon” (Another Thought, 1984)
18 [75:34] David Sylvian – “Orpheus” (Secrets of the Beehive, 1987)
19 [80:20] Durutti Column – “Love No More” (Vini Reilly, 1989)
20 [83:06] Kate Bush – “Never Be Mine” (The Sensual World, 1989)
21 [86:42] David Byrne – “Ghosts” (The Knee Plays, 1985)
22 [89:54] Colin Newman – “I Can Hear You” (Commercial Suicide, 1986)
23 [94:16] This Mortal Coil – “Ivy and Neet” (Filigree & Shadow, 1986)
24 [99:04] Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – “Of All The Things We’ve Made” (Dazzle Ships, 1983)

[Total Time: 1:42:27]

Even that tracklist is great - and nice use of both Comsat Angels and (in particular) Bel Canto, neither of whom I think would occur to many people as points of comparison.

poo, your mediafire link no longer works

Still seems to work when I try it. . . Often when Mediafire links, if you just close the tab and click again, it works the next time. . .

"Family Life". Gets me every time.

Just finished AWAtR, now on PAL. Some bands are pilsners, The Blue Nile is a stout.

just gave the vinyl reissue of Hats a spin and fuck me if it's not the best sounding record I own; I mean it's always been reference quality but this pressing sounds even better than the CD I had by a mile. Kicking myself for not getting the other two now even though I'm not a big fan of Peace at Last and I have an original Walk Across the Rooftops. Unfortunately the severely limited run of these seems to have made them hard to locate.

I ordered all three from Amazon UK and all three arrived in the USA mangled. One wasn't even in a box, just a plastic sleeve. Thankfully the vinyl is in good shape, but the covers are trashed. This was my first time listening to them, I bought 'em based on all of the praise on this thread. Indeed, they are lovely. Thanks ILX! I howled at Amazon and they refunded me and let me keep the records. Still pissed about it tho.

does anyone know if that radio 6 hats special is available anywhere now? I wasn’t able to listen to the whole thing before it disappeared :(

Lovers walking down the highway
In the hope of crying to the streetlights, yeah

My favorite performance by Mr. Wossname who is the singer is actually his turn on the version of "Let's Go Out Tonight" -- I think that's the song -- on Craig Armstrong's first album.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, January 17, 2002 2:00 AM (eighteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

oh it is lovely, and the next song, "Childhood", plays as an extended outro. I can barely stand the beauty.

"the most shocking mid-performance weeping I've ever heard." what was this regarding?

May as well post the sequel to the above-linked mix that's heavily inspired by/in the vibe of the Blue Nile:

https://musicophilia.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/post-post-punk-evensong-1985-1995/

https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/musicophilia_00_various_-_evensong_1985-1995_2017_cover.jpg?w=1024

Various – ‘Evensong’
(1985-1995)

Part I

01 [00:00] It’s Immaterial – New Brighton” (Song, 1990)
02 [05:31] Tears for Fears – “The Working Hour” (Songs From the Big Chair, 1985)
03 [12:06] Tortoise – “His Second Story Island” (Tortoise, 1994)
04 [14:14] Michael Brook & Pieter Nooten – “Searching” (Sleeps With the Fishes, 1987)
05 [17:07] Shelleyan Orphan – “One Hundred Hands” (Helleborine, 1987)
06 [21:29] Stina Nordenstam – “A Walk In the Park” (Memories of a Color, 1991)
07 [24:54] Sade – “Pearls” (Love Deluxe, 1992)
08 [29:38] Massive Attack – “Protection” (Protection, 1994)
09 [37:26] The Cure – “The Same Deep Water As You” (Disintegration, 1989)
10 [46:19] Depche Mode- “Waiting For the Night” (Violator, 1990)

Part II

11 [52:41] Evelyn Glennie – “Light in Darkness” (Light In Darkness, 1991)
12 [55:59] R.E.M. – “Sweetness Follows” (Automatic For the People, 1992)
13 [60:21] The Innocence Mission – “Medjugorje” (The Innocence Mission, 1989)
14 [61:53] Disco Inferno – “Second Language” (Second Language EP, 1994)
15 [66:52] Slowdive – “Rutti” (Pygmalion, 1995)
16 [76:53] Rain Tree Crow – “Cries and Whispers” (Rain Tree Crow, 1991)
17 [79:26] Bark Psychosis – “Pendulum Man” (Hex, 1994)
18 [82:37] Peter Gabriel – “Mercy Street” (So, 1986)
19 [88:27] Low – “Sunshine” (I Could Live In Hope, 1994)
20 [91:35] Portishead – “Roads” (Dummy, 1994)
21 [96:44] Hector Zazou & Bjork – “Visur Vatnsenda-Rosu” (Songs From the Cold Seas, 1994)

[Total Time: 1:40:43]

That It's Immaterial track "New Brighton" is the best Blue Nile track that isn't by Blue Nile...

And the last one in the trilogy:

https://musicophilia.wordpress.com/2019/07/20/the-liminal-1985-1992/

https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/musicophilia_00_various_-_liminal_1985-1992_cover-1.jpg?w=1024

Various – ‘Liminal’
1985-1992
Part I

01 [0:00:00] The Blue Nile – “The Wires Are Down” (‘The Downtown Lights’ Single 1989)
02 [0:05:25] Haruomi Hosono – “Pleocene” (‘Omni Sight Seeing’ 1989)
03 [0:11:30] Massive Attack – “Unfinished Sympathy” (‘Blue Lines’ 1991)
04 [0:16:30] Jansen & Barbieri – “The Night Gives Birth” (‘Stories Across Borders’ 1991)
05 [0:20:00] Bryan Ferry – “Boys and Girls” (‘Boys and Girls’ 1985)
06 [0:25:10] AM 4 – “Streets and Rivers” (‘And She Answered’ 1989)
07 [0:29:20] Bill Nelson – “Contemplation” (‘Getting the Holy Ghost Across’ 1986)
08 [0:38:10] Sinead O’Connor – “I Am Stretched On Your Grave” (‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’ 1990)
09 [0:43:40] Cocteau Twins – “Blue Bell Knoll” (‘Blue Bell Knoll’ 1988)
10 [0:47:00] Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus – “Shadowlands” (‘Mirror’ 1991)
11 [0:51:15] Martin Dupont – “Inside Out” (‘Hot Paradox’ 1987)
12 [0:55:35] David Darling – “In November” (‘Cello’ 1992)
13 [0:59:40] Colin Newman – “But I…” (‘Commercial Suicide’ 1986)

Part II

14 [1:04:20] Icehouse – “Man of Colours” (‘Man of Colours’ 1987)
15 [1:09:25] Brian Eno – “Some Words” (‘My Squelchy Life’ 1991)
16 [1:13:45] Lonely Universe – “Passenger” (‘Lonely Universe’ 1990)
17 [1:18:10] Gigi Masin – “Mother Afrik” (Unreleased ‘Wind’ Track 1988)
18 [1:22:10] A Certain Ratio – “Fever 103” (‘Force’ 1986)
19 [1:27:15] Depeche Mode – “Halo” (‘Violator’ 1990)
20 [1:31:40] Ryuichi Sakamoto – “Asadoya Yunta” (‘Beauty’ 1989)
21 [1:36:10] Hector Zazou – “Tanis a Tunis” (‘Geologies’ 1989)
22 [1:40:40] Midge Ure – “Remembrance Day” (‘Answers to Nothing’ 1988)
23 [1:45:05] O Yuki Conjugate – “Out of Nothing” (‘Into Dark Water’ 1987)
24 [1:49:20] The Cure – “Fear of Ghosts” (‘Lovesong’ Single 1989)
25 [1:55:55] Bel Canto – “Picnic on the Moon” (‘Birds of Passage’ 1989)
26 [2:00:20] Xymox – “Tonight” (‘Twist of Shadows’ 1989)
27 [2:05:40] Warren Sampson – “Sweetly” (‘Traveller’ 1987)

[Total Time: 2:09:30]

looking forward to listening to these. “new brighton” is one of my favorite songs you’ve hipped me to

i really enjoyed listening to hats this week-end. it took about 20 years. guess i am getting old. maybe it was the ricard...

one of us!

but i still haven't gotten into "across the rooftops"!

anyone listen to the new songs yet?

Yes, I thought they were pretty good.

New songs?!?

They’re previously unreleased songs that have been made available on the second CD of the ‘High’ reissue.

I don't know if I will continue to love "i" but hearing it for the first time is so thrilling. the greatest band

the trombone is fucking absurd!!

where the nile pile at

Still waiting on my copy to arrive.

yeah those extra unreleased tracks are as good as anything else, really bites that there hasn't been a new BN album since. Also High is really good. I remember people being kind of cool on it at the time because it bewilderingly sounded too much like the Blue Nile. Yeah well what do you want? This Blue Niles all over the fucking place.

Stay Close is the best non Hats Blue Nils song

that's "heatwave" but "stay close" is up there

I was delighted by “I” on first listen.

I’m just sitting here listening to “here come the bluebirds” and trying to keep it together

wow @ "big town". love these!

^^^^ that song and the two remixes of album tracks seem to pick on a specific vibe of steve reich disco that they otherwise never really revisited after "Rags to Riches", and I'm loving this unexpected gift.

Mail delivered. Listening to disc 2 now. "Here Comes the Bluebirds" is beautiful. Reminds me of PAL's b-sides, "O Lolita", "Wish Me Well" and "New York Man".

I'm really appreciating this reissue, it's made me reconnect with High which, if you asked me right now, I'd say is my second favorite after Hats; plus, these new songs are amazing, particularly Wasted (is that new? or was it a b-side I'd just never heard?). I've ordered the vinyl but I wish they'd pull together the bonus tracks from all of these and put that out by itself.

that remix of Days of Our Lives turns it into a Security-era Peter Gabriel track

I’m struggling to find antecedents for “bluebirds” and, especially, “i”, parts of which almost seem closer to 70s singer-songwriter stuff than anything they’ve done. other parts remind me a little of “christmas” and “from a late night train”

Thank you for turning me into 'It's Immaterial'! It's a shame the Song album is not in Spotify. This is probably the closest thing I've heard to the Blue Nile. Not as elegant and missing some of the great synth work but still pretty close.

It might be recency bias but I'd even say this 'Song' album is better than any Blue Nile album that is not Hats..

that meme format where you post one smiling image and one frowny image:

"new" unreleased blue nile songs - smile
high era - frown

shit I gotta get my act together and hear this

xpost: nothing wrong with high era!!!

also, looks like I slept too long on getting Peace at Last on vinyl since it's sold out everywhere and the few copies I can find are over $100. guess I can live without it.

pretty curious to me that “here come the bluebirds” couldn’t find a place on high, seems like a pretty perfect bridge between that record and mid air. a really fitting closer

“i” I sort of get how it doesn’t really fit, parts of it are very hats (the other one it reminds me of is “saturday night”) and the retrain is much more later-period. I’m still on the fence about whether the song really holds together — it’s bursting with really affecting moments and motifs but I just feel like it switches up a little too much to be as effective as it could be

“big town”, as tim says, is straight out of a walk across the rooftops. (tim is always right about the blue nile)

dammit you guys i have zero money to spend on recreational stuff right now and you all just keep talking this stuff up.

off to start a new thread: THE BLUE NILE RULES

I’m just sitting here listening to “here come the bluebirds” and trying to keep it together

― k3vin k., Tuesday, June 16, 2020 5:07 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

<3

'I' and 'Bluebirds' are plain amazing imo. What a gift.

i haven't gotten to the new tracks yet but man, high sure is a great album

i love how propulsive "broken loves" and "she saw the world" are, it felt new for them

yeah those are a couple of my faves. the propulsive-ness of “she saw the world” kind of anticipates “buy a motor car”

i can’t believe i have “new” blue nile music to enjoy nor can i believe it’s so good. “i” just knocked me flat today

yeah I just want to retract all my reservations about “i”

Just got the vinyl reissue of High in the mail. It sounds fantastic. The title track still kills me.

also thanks to all of this I just discovered the track Paul Buchanan wrote on Jesse Ware's Glasshouse, Last of the True Believers, which is wonderful, but I really wish he was 'featured' on more than one line repeated twice in the last 30 seconds. I guess he cowrote it though and it sounds like it.

lol that would contradict the credits i was given when i reviewed the record but then again there were a lot of holes in those credits

It might be recency bias but I'd even say this 'Song' album is better than any Blue Nile album that is not Hats..

Sorry, who's this by?

https://www.allmusic.com/album/song-mw0000886575

Ah right, thanks. I remember that one hit single they had in 1986. Slightly strange but really good.

ok well I'm not positive he cowrote it, but in an interview i found she said she wrote it with him:

https://www.iheart.com/content/2017-11-09-interview-jessie-ware-shares-track-by-track-breakdown-of-glasshouse

"Track 11. "Last Of The True Believers" featuring Paul Buchanan

"I wrote after my first record and it was a song that I wrote this with this amazing guy called Paul Buchanan, who is from this cult band of the 80's called The Blue Nile. They're a Scottish band. I managed to get in the studio with him, and we wrote this song, and it was in demo form, and I loved it.

I started to play it when I was doing my American tour because I toured the Devotion record so much, and my last ever tour was in the States. It was a six-week tour. It was amazing, one of my favorite times, and I never do encores, because I think they're annoying, but I did do an encore and so I had to backtrack on what I'd said. I don't think we went off stage though, because I think that's naff. We started doing this, and it's nothing. I've never done that before. We had a demo. We didn't do it how the demo is and we kind of learned it, and I felt like I was in a real band. I didn't feel like I was dictated by the album track. It was just this idea, and people really liked it. Pitchfork put it up. It became this thing that was on the Internet, and people asked me, 'Are you gonna put it on your second record?' I didn't, and it didn't make sense to put it on the second record.

My sister reminded me of this song, because she adored it, so I got my friends (and) they're in a band called The Maccabees, who are really good friends of mine from school. They're massive fans of The Blue Nile. I asked Hugo if he'd like to produce it, and he did, and he brought it to life. He brought it back to life, and I'm really, really happy that it made it onto this record. It fits this record so much more than the second record."

so this doesn't mention that he sang on it, so maybe he didn't? It kind of doesn't sound like his voice.

he def sings on it

but i'll take jessie's word for it! again the credits for that album were a mess

Paul does sing on the track, but not as much as I expected based on having a feat. credit.

Does anybody know the story of "Young Club"? It haunts me. From the sound of it, I would take it to be post-'Hats' but pre-'High,' but really don't know, and kind find anything about it. But it's just so, so, so fucking good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvcd0ADqu94

Another post of it, sounds slightly differently sourced?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dmbIfI7EdU

'Young Club' is indeed a track from the Hats sessions. It's on the B-sides and Rare CDr

Damn, wish it had been included in complete/quality form with the 'Hats' deluxe, then...

still getting knocked out by "i" on a daily basis

Do I remember right that there is a collection of b-sides and whatnot that has not been rounded up on these reissues? Anybody got a link? I fell in love with this band due to seeing this thread repeatedly bumped for a while and I'm trying to hunt down everything I can.

It's weird that Peace At Last Deluxe is the CD that is hardest to find. I thought that was the one that was less loved?

not sure if this has been posted in another thread on here, but even if so deserves a repost - fantastic quality live show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fItoUZunua4&list=PLwXOGPZXptBCsQGmwc55lb5YgzZzcpAhT&index=10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fItoUZunua4

Beautiful and melancholy short film of Paul talking about Tinseltown in the Rain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFoMUAmDGCI

@KenSweeney, were you aware this track was re-mixed/re-released for download last month? You're usually my first source for anything The Blue Nile related! https://t.co/xd28FgSDtr

— Brad (@ballskwok) August 27, 2021

wowee.

absolutely lush.

PJ Moore and Co, eight track new album coming soon. Herald article here.

First track, "Need to Believe", available for download, along w/ album pre-order, at PJ Moore's site.

ooh good find!

There's obvs a hefty wodge of a-Ha in there too, but am I alone in hearing the Blue Nile's 'I Love this Life' in Harry Styles' 'As It Was'?

little piece in Tribune

Forty years ago, Glasgow band The Blue Nile released their first single. Their work was rooted in Glasgow itself, and the changes wrought by the shock of Thatcherism. https://t.co/j6VoGHLErq

— Tribune (@tribunemagazine) July 16, 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fItoUZunua4

good piece and the live recording linked is immense

yo!

if any nileheads are up for it paul buchanan is selling a remastered 2LP 10th anniversary edition of mid air https://store.paulbuchanan.com

still waiting for my preorder to arrive!

PJ Moore has a new band:

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23031729.founding-member-blue-nile-pj-moore-teams-new-project-album/

Interestingly, only the single is available on streaming (Apple Music, anyway). It sounds good--very Blue Nile, as one would expect.

You can listen to another track on their website (and buy the album there)

https://www.pjmooreandco.com/music-1

this song from last year by Nigel's project Quiet City featuring vocals by Pat was incredible

Quiet City - Due North (Remix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuYDC2zY3wM

I honestly don't know if I can think of a single artist/band whose first single (a-side and b-side taken together) is more perfectly fully realized, and totally sui generis. I've never heard pure joy captured more wonderfully and without any mawkishness in music than with "I Love This Life," and the world-weary wisdom and old-soul sadness of "The Second Act" is so moving (and rather shocking coming from a 25-year-old). And to think--they got *better* for the next decade, seems impossible.

OTM, I just fell hard for this single, "The Second Act" even more than the A-side. It's so elegantly sad and makes me wish they had spent more time using a more primitive drum machine.

“Drownin’ in The Blue Nile
You sent me ’The Downtown Lights’
I hadn’t heard it in a while”

(Rumoured to be a new Taylor Swift lyric)

the rumors are true

Taylor Swift brought me here

You scenester

CAMEL graciously acknowledging their influence on the BLUE NILE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD7JwGvGtYk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7r2EM-NsMo

matty did it 🥹

ill camel jawns thanks qualmsley

i was checking out a 12-inch copy of "The Downtown Lights" and there was a numbered print inside! who knew? i have a new tiny barren cubbyhole of an office in back at the store and i've been in there for months waiting to put the first perfect thing on the wall. found it.

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/460939002_10162212155282137_3722122987487721913_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=tA1pjD999dQQ7kNvgHl639v&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=00_AYCR7bYeDyvgWid3nURutiyiskovransxAGegiH47hhXdA&oe=66F77DB7

https://scontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/461163334_10162212155417137_1730920487847883112_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=WsRKO3P6BjwQ7kNvgFAYkDH&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-2.xx&_nc_gid=A7SE3h15Vt2zFy7Q7YUoctY&oh=00_AYDQEV0GFZV11v9d97fWAKP7QQ0I1p2T01jzz8QigGtioQ&oe=66F7A099

hell yes

whoa

gorgeous

need!!!

man that is so sick

I love it when I'm browsing through vinyl and find a bargain 12" with a promotional poster in it!

skot which pressing do you have? you’ve inspired me to go discogs shopping

u.k. limited edition

https://www.discogs.com/release/2145656-The-Blue-Nile-The-Downtown-Lights

I hear The Blue Nile all over this excellent album and am wondering if the whole thing is made from processed loops of them? https://somewherepress.bandcamp.com/album/spool

i played one track and it was clearly remixed blue nile, it's pretty weird that isn't credited anywhere.

Incidentally, a whole album of Blue Nile interpretations by Colin Steele is out on Marina next month and works beautifully

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiT9oMPPsmI

wow that’s great!

if i could time travel i would go back to 1989 become Santa Claus and put Hats into my teenage selves stocking