it may shock Brad that I still haven't finished a second listen.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 14 October 2016 00:51 (seven years ago) link
Alfred between this and Lovesexy you are seriously letting down 1989
― Tim F, Friday, 14 October 2016 01:25 (seven years ago) link
Do Blue Nile fans enjoy David Cassidy's "Romance"?
― Tim F, Friday, 14 October 2016 01:27 (seven years ago) link
alfred get it together
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Friday, 14 October 2016 01:45 (seven years ago) link
Sorry -- too busy listening to It's Better to Travel.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 14 October 2016 01:57 (seven years ago) link
We listened to the first two tracks of this last night after I told him "I think I'm falling in love with you" and he said the same thing. He loves "Saturday Night". Also I found a copy of the first record on this trip.
― The times they are a changing, perhaps (map), Monday, 31 October 2016 19:13 (seven years ago) link
<3
― harold melvin and the bluetones (jim in vancouver), Monday, 31 October 2016 19:15 (seven years ago) link
awwww....love that!
― Iago Galdston, Monday, 31 October 2016 19:41 (seven years ago) link
aw
― k3vin k., Monday, 31 October 2016 20:01 (seven years ago) link
that is so extremely sweet map
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 31 October 2016 22:06 (seven years ago) link
beautiful!
― art baengels (monotony), Monday, 31 October 2016 23:19 (seven years ago) link
đ
― The times they are a changing, perhaps (map), Monday, 31 October 2016 23:38 (seven years ago) link
<333
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 1 November 2016 09:57 (seven years ago) link
This album is like a grand expression of tenderness without having the release of touching
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Tuesday, 1 November 2016 16:27 (seven years ago) link
it is the sound of longing buds
― harold melvin and the bluetones (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 1 November 2016 16:44 (seven years ago) link
"From A Late Night Train" is imo as sublime as it gets
â Master of Treacle, Monday, October 3, 2016 3:03 PM (nine months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i am beginning to realize this
― k3vin k., Monday, 24 July 2017 01:36 (six years ago) link
I've probably said this before in any number of ILX posts over the years, but one thing that really stands out about The Blue Nile is the reverent or hymnal quality of their songwriting and production, the sense that the songs are gesturing toward something much larger than the band and their private concerns; certainly these songs never feel autobiographical (regardless of whether they in fact are or not, and notwithstanding the recurrent sonic and lyrical motifs which form the group's indelible imprint).
It's rare to find music so personal, so singular, that is not also idiosyncratic in the strong sense of that word, not irrevocably bound up with the personality of its creator(s). Certainly when I think about 80s pop it feels like a lot of material falls on either side of that line, either deeply personal or thoroughly universal; The Blue Nile's songs feel like a communication from one frame of reference to the other.
Kate Bush produced two songs which also walk this tightrope, I think ("Running Up That Hill", "This Woman's Work"). But only two.
With The Blue Nile it's just what they do.
Which is one reason why the band is so routinely covered by other artists relative to their general obscurity.
â Tim F, Monday, October 3, 2016 6:27 PM (nine months ago)
this is a characteristically amazing post but i have to say that after reading (part of) that paul buchanan interview with the quietus after mid air came out made me realize that all of their songs are very much painfully autobiographical
― k3vin k., Monday, 24 July 2017 01:59 (six years ago) link
"From a Late Night Train" is one of the best songs on the album but it's not the kind of song that I could picture anyone saying is "the best one," hence it's ranking here. it's beautiful but too subtle to completely steal the show
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Monday, 24 July 2017 02:04 (six years ago) link
â harold melvin and the bluetones (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, November 1, 2016 12:44 PM (eight months ago
btw this is otm -- every blue nile/paul buchanan song is about longing
― k3vin k., Monday, 24 July 2017 02:08 (six years ago) link
I need to own my own copy.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 24 July 2017 02:10 (six years ago) link
Booming post Tim
That reverent spirit is probably what triggers thoughts of a kinship with talk talk.
Also the feeling of longing which is so distilled it becomes religious and romantic at the same time
â I wish you could see my home. It's... it's so... exciting (Jon not Jon), Monday, October 3, 2016 6:41 PM (nine months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
yep, and it's romance of a religious order, something you walk through with its own weather and texture, a weighted experience. every feeling almost having an architectural significance, as if they were individual buildings in a city you're walking through
a lot of this is in the form of address of buchanan's lyrics; it's never really a monologue, it mostly seems to be one end of a conversation, whether he's having that conversation with a person or the feeling of that person
â who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, October 3, 2016 7:01 PM (nine months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
wow these posts speak to my soul
― k3vin k., Monday, 24 July 2017 03:36 (six years ago) link
nice piece
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-blue-nile-hats/?mbid=social_twitter
― piscesx, Tuesday, 9 January 2018 18:10 (six years ago) link
Has this been reissued again?
― henry s, Tuesday, 9 January 2018 18:54 (six years ago) link
fucking perfect essay man
― k3vin k., Tuesday, 9 January 2018 19:00 (six years ago) link
there's a gord downie lyric, "bigger dreams, bigger screens, bigger feelings are planned," that i think about a lot whenever i play this album
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 9 January 2018 19:10 (six years ago) link
(been discussed on the pitchfork is dumb thread as well fyi)
― â« very clever with maracas.jpg â« (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 9 January 2018 19:23 (six years ago) link
poll results sound about right, front loaded album, if there's a bad song on it it's probably Seven AM.
Let's Go Out Tonight is of course the song to cry to, so vulnerable, their best imo
― niels, Wednesday, 10 January 2018 19:56 (six years ago) link
7 AM is a great song!!
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 20:42 (six years ago) link
whats crazy is the sound of that song could be like ... a 2017 rap song
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 20:43 (six years ago) link
Ha! Future could prob rap his way through a lot of Blue Nile songs. I can see that.
― â« very clever with maracas.jpg â« (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 20:46 (six years ago) link
"seven am" is awesome, "each time i fall for you / it hurts me a little bit more / than i want it to" is a central moment on the record
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 20:51 (six years ago) link
Yeah. The repeated "than I want it to" echoing off in the mist seems quintessential to the record.
― â« very clever with maracas.jpg â« (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 20:53 (six years ago) link
haha, maybe I'll get around to it someday - don't particularly like the bass sound
― niels, Wednesday, 10 January 2018 20:56 (six years ago) link
âseven AMâ is probably the only song from their first two records that I donât truly love. but that doesnât mean it isnât good, or that I wonât love it some day
âfrom a late night trainâ has with some time emerged for me as the real tearjerker and centerpiece of the album
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 10 January 2018 21:29 (six years ago) link
I'm going through a relationship break-up right now and this album is just on constant repeat*. just perfect.
*i also listen to this album a decent amount when I'm not going through a break-up to be fair.
let's go out tonight and from a late night train are my 2 faves on the record, 7am my least favourite but it's still p great. i really like the baseline but I'm not so keen on some of the keys
― khat person (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 21:35 (six years ago) link
Shit got real... I'm sorry to hear that Jim, and I truly hope you'll be ok.
Having said that, yeah, it's probably the best break-up music out there. But especially when you're not experiencing one.
― â« very clever with maracas.jpg â« (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 21:37 (six years ago) link
yeah I was in the middle of a breakup when I got into this band, itâs really the perfect music for that. for better or worse...
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 10 January 2018 21:40 (six years ago) link
7 am is top 2 song from the album to me & the one that best transcends its setting
bass sound makes it!!
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 21:40 (six years ago) link
other being âsaturday nightâ?
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 10 January 2018 21:42 (six years ago) link
Blue Nile could've done me a world of... something, if it had been around when I had my break-ups. Only discovered them 5, 6 idk years ago (in true 'where have you been all my life' fashion)
― â« very clever with maracas.jpg â« (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 21:46 (six years ago) link
â â« very clever with maracas.jpg â« (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, January 10, 2018 1:37 PM (ten minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
thanks for the kind words, I'm doing well, it's been a slow-motion breakup so I've been through the whole 7 stages of grief thing and it's ending amicably.
back to the topic actually saturday night actually might be in my top 2, not sure which song it would usurp though
― khat person (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 21:50 (six years ago) link
sending good vibes your way, jim
âsaturday nightâ, âlets go out tonightâ, and âfrom a late night trainâ are in my top 10 paul buchanan songs
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 10 January 2018 21:57 (six years ago) link
hats is the record to listen to during and following a breakup. mid air is revisiting those feelings years later
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 10 January 2018 21:58 (six years ago) link
Good to hear it is somewhat amicable, god speed Jim <3
â k3vin k., Wednesday, January 10, 2018 9:57 PM (sixteen seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Ha yeah, same here! Don't think we've ever done a Blue Nile POX (would be extremely hard)
― â« very clever with maracas.jpg â« (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 21:58 (six years ago) link
High from 96 is pretty great, they did a pretty remarkable job of sticking to their lane and not getting bogged down in 90s stuff
― Keak da Sneaky Dianne (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 22:16 (six years ago) link
my paul buchanan POX is pretty heavily weighted toward the first 2 albums and mid air, and Iâm not including non-album tracks, even though things like âI love this lifeâ and âregretsâ and âchristmasâ and âst catherineâs dayâ etc etc etc are right up there
from rags to richeseaster parade heat waveletâs go out tonight from a late night train saturday night family life mid airhalf the worldcars in the garden
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 10 January 2018 22:44 (six years ago) link
It's an infallible selection. Kudos for including Half the World.
Mid Air is a masterpiece. I'll have a good long think about my POX.
― â« very clever with maracas.jpg â« (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 22:50 (six years ago) link
Because of Toledo is great
― Keak da Sneaky Dianne (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 22:54 (six years ago) link
yeah high is a good record. I know itâs only a matter of time until I totally fall for it. âtoledoâ, broken love, she saw the world, stay close, all really good
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 10 January 2018 23:15 (six years ago) link
"Seven AM" is my least favorite song on the album. :(
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 10 January 2018 23:30 (six years ago) link