Bill Nelson - Prolific genius or charlatan?

Bill Nelson's Red Noise - Sound on Sound: super classic enough said.

Vistamix: compilation of early 80's electropop -- similar production to the later YMO records, but perhaps weirder, more emphasis on blazing psychotic guitar leads. very overlooked record, catchy songs, always liked 'burning desire'.

Summer of God's Piano - my favorite of the mellower sketchbook home studio ambient records, of which there were many.

Oh, and 'Vistamix' is his best album (compilation). His work with Mick Karn is wonderful.

Musically, I've heard one Red Noise track that was awesome, and one Bebop Deluxe track that was horribly cheesy and disappointing.

also, when I mention 'guitar leads' -- most of those sounds are actually synths of course, but his textural lead synth work is definitely a strong point, his solos are screamers

Seive definitely required for Be Bop Deluxe, although they certainly have their moments; and increasingly so for his later solo recordings as sadly he seems to have become increasingly focused on the tricky task of circumnavigating his own belly-button fluff.

Revive! Digging into his solo stuff this past week beginning with his early '80s albums and comps. Clanging drum machines, wild synth textures and chorus-y echoed out guitars? Absolutely my kind of sh--! Magnificent.

Not to mention he is newly the hipster’s choice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqERlwta1oc

yuk

"contemplation" is flat out one of the best songs by anyone, i love the 80s stuff but could use a guide to the later blizzard of releases

I haven't heard much post-Red Noise except On a Blue Wing and an Orchestra Arcana record, I should get around to that.
I read his blog a little while ago when his mother was ill and dying, and he himself was having problems with his sight, he came across as quite unguarded.

i've got a whole pile of his eighties records - quit dreaming, love that whirls, chimera, holy ghost - and there's good things to be found on all of them. well worth finding the 'twofold aspect of everything' comp too, which collects b-sides etc from the same period, songs like this gem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV39fX56emc

heard some be-bop deluxe and wasn't mad keen, but their last album (drastic plastic) has some track that are more interesting to me. i like the opening song, which sounds like a cross between eno and tom verlaine's solo work circa 'cover':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmXsrP2ZzTc

was actually listening to this one yesterday, a b-side from 1989 and it might be a bit too much for some people but there's a bit of an 80s hosono vibe going, i quite like it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33gX2AMzsTg

drastic plastic is pretty good. I think the main thing keeping me from liking BBD more is the way the vocals are recorded and mixed. these albums all sound kind of shitty to me.

I bought the 2-CD Chance Encounters in the Garden of Light in 1980-something hoping for fragments of mystery and beauty in a Budd/Eno mood, and a lot of it became part of my bedtime ambient repertoire.

I later glommed free promos of 4 earlier instrumental albums when Enigma re-released them in 1989, but too many drum machines rhythms kind of sap the life from them. Tracks in search of a movie to accompany.

turns out that 40 years on i still think it's funny and clever to say BILL NELSON'S RED NOSE

Really cool to hear current artists covering Bill. In fact, that cover really shows just how weird his music can be - herky-jerky rhythms matched with unusual sounds and interesting lyrics.

I love his 70s and 80s work, which has very distinct periods:
71-77: The early glam of Bebop until the last album, at which point he got tired of the rock star lifestyle.
78-83: He then dove headfirst into the emerging synth & DIY scene, making perfect new wave albums full of experimentation and energy.
84-89: Made one album for a major label otherwise was 1) making ambient and otherwise non-rock albums and 2) guesting for folks like YMO, David Sylvian, Cabaret Voltaire and Gary Numan.

His vocal style changed all along the way, from a sort of cool crooner with BBD to a spazzy new waver (both of which I liked) until finally by 1990 he arrived at a style he's mostly used ever since, one that I didn't care. I've got the "Practice Of Everyday Life" box which covers the highlights from his career up through 2010. I like some of the later stuff fine but it doesn't worm it's way into my head like his earlier material.

He's incredibly prolific, even more so since he's become a one-man artist and label. He's needed a producer or manager for years in the same way that Bob Pollard does to tell him, "Release one great album, instead of 5 mixed batches!"

Last year he released a compilation of his fanclub singles, the last reissue from his golden period. Highly recommended.

"Release one great album, instead of 5 mixed batches!"

I skimmed a Bill Nelson biography in the reference library; this was David Sylvian's answer to the question why Nelson hadn't had greater success (that and a lack of "business sense").

I bought the 2-CD Chance Encounters in the Garden of Light in 1980-something hoping for fragments of mystery and beauty in a Budd/Eno mood, and a lot of it became part of my bedtime ambient repertoire.

I have always been Bill Nelson curious, have made a few cursory investigations and never really clicked - but this is great, kind of short attention span ambient, appreciate how it keeps moving to the next idea once it has explored the possibilities - early mornings i like my ambient really loooong and minimal but this is great for evening listening

The man is brilliant and I'm kicking myself for not diving into his solo work earlier. I knew him from guest appearances on records I've loved. Be-Bop Deluxe never appealed to me but his solo stuff up through the mid-90s - so far - is slaying me.

Love his use of drum machines and synths - a really innovative programmer when he wanted to be. Kinda reminds me of John Foxx but perhaps a bit more kooky and esoteric.

I mean...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjjqNh9ommw

Capitaine, do you know/like YMO and their solo records? There's a lot of crossover with that track you posted.

Yes, big fan of YMO and its members for years. Same with Japan. So I recognized Nelson from his work with Yukihiro Takahashi and Sylvian, for example. Just never bothered to dive into his solo work. So the sonic parallels between Takahashi's "Neuromantic" and Nelson's " Quit Dreaming...". for example, just knocked me out. As I said upthread it's a sound I really love.

Actually was thinking of his "Chimera" rather than "Quit Dreaming..." reminding me of the Takahashi album.

I wonder if it's a byproduct of the - then brand new - equipment that they were using sounding so distinctive, that threads these records together.

I was thinking more in the songwriting and production styles. It could be that Nelson was just influenced by YMO and other things in the air at the time. I don't see it as the gear itself causing the similarities.