The Blue Nile: C or D?

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.