The Blue Nile: C or D?

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