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.

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.