The Blue Nile: C or D?

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.

just gave the vinyl reissue of Hats a spin and fuck me if it's not the best sounding record I own; I mean it's always been reference quality but this pressing sounds even better than the CD I had by a mile. Kicking myself for not getting the other two now even though I'm not a big fan of Peace at Last and I have an original Walk Across the Rooftops. Unfortunately the severely limited run of these seems to have made them hard to locate.

I ordered all three from Amazon UK and all three arrived in the USA mangled. One wasn't even in a box, just a plastic sleeve. Thankfully the vinyl is in good shape, but the covers are trashed. This was my first time listening to them, I bought 'em based on all of the praise on this thread. Indeed, they are lovely. Thanks ILX! I howled at Amazon and they refunded me and let me keep the records. Still pissed about it tho.

does anyone know if that radio 6 hats special is available anywhere now? I wasn’t able to listen to the whole thing before it disappeared :(

Lovers walking down the highway
In the hope of crying to the streetlights, yeah

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.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, January 17, 2002 2:00 AM (eighteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

oh it is lovely, and the next song, "Childhood", plays as an extended outro. I can barely stand the beauty.

"the most shocking mid-performance weeping I've ever heard." what was this regarding?

May as well post the sequel to the above-linked mix that's heavily inspired by/in the vibe of the Blue Nile:

https://musicophilia.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/post-post-punk-evensong-1985-1995/

https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/musicophilia_00_various_-_evensong_1985-1995_2017_cover.jpg?w=1024

Various – ‘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]

That It's Immaterial track "New Brighton" is the best Blue Nile track that isn't by Blue Nile...

And the last one in the trilogy:

https://musicophilia.wordpress.com/2019/07/20/the-liminal-1985-1992/

https://musicophilia.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/musicophilia_00_various_-_liminal_1985-1992_cover-1.jpg?w=1024

Various – ‘Liminal’
1985-1992
Part I

01 [0:00:00] The Blue Nile – “The Wires Are Down” (‘The Downtown Lights’ Single 1989)
02 [0:05:25] Haruomi Hosono – “Pleocene” (‘Omni Sight Seeing’ 1989)
03 [0:11:30] Massive Attack – “Unfinished Sympathy” (‘Blue Lines’ 1991)
04 [0:16:30] Jansen & Barbieri – “The Night Gives Birth” (‘Stories Across Borders’ 1991)
05 [0:20:00] Bryan Ferry – “Boys and Girls” (‘Boys and Girls’ 1985)
06 [0:25:10] AM 4 – “Streets and Rivers” (‘And She Answered’ 1989)
07 [0:29:20] Bill Nelson – “Contemplation” (‘Getting the Holy Ghost Across’ 1986)
08 [0:38:10] Sinead O’Connor – “I Am Stretched On Your Grave” (‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’ 1990)
09 [0:43:40] Cocteau Twins – “Blue Bell Knoll” (‘Blue Bell Knoll’ 1988)
10 [0:47:00] Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus – “Shadowlands” (‘Mirror’ 1991)
11 [0:51:15] Martin Dupont – “Inside Out” (‘Hot Paradox’ 1987)
12 [0:55:35] David Darling – “In November” (‘Cello’ 1992)
13 [0:59:40] Colin Newman – “But I…” (‘Commercial Suicide’ 1986)

Part II

14 [1:04:20] Icehouse – “Man of Colours” (‘Man of Colours’ 1987)
15 [1:09:25] Brian Eno – “Some Words” (‘My Squelchy Life’ 1991)
16 [1:13:45] Lonely Universe – “Passenger” (‘Lonely Universe’ 1990)
17 [1:18:10] Gigi Masin – “Mother Afrik” (Unreleased ‘Wind’ Track 1988)
18 [1:22:10] A Certain Ratio – “Fever 103” (‘Force’ 1986)
19 [1:27:15] Depeche Mode – “Halo” (‘Violator’ 1990)
20 [1:31:40] Ryuichi Sakamoto – “Asadoya Yunta” (‘Beauty’ 1989)
21 [1:36:10] Hector Zazou – “Tanis a Tunis” (‘Geologies’ 1989)
22 [1:40:40] Midge Ure – “Remembrance Day” (‘Answers to Nothing’ 1988)
23 [1:45:05] O Yuki Conjugate – “Out of Nothing” (‘Into Dark Water’ 1987)
24 [1:49:20] The Cure – “Fear of Ghosts” (‘Lovesong’ Single 1989)
25 [1:55:55] Bel Canto – “Picnic on the Moon” (‘Birds of Passage’ 1989)
26 [2:00:20] Xymox – “Tonight” (‘Twist of Shadows’ 1989)
27 [2:05:40] Warren Sampson – “Sweetly” (‘Traveller’ 1987)

[Total Time: 2:09:30]

looking forward to listening to these. “new brighton” is one of my favorite songs you’ve hipped me to

i really enjoyed listening to hats this week-end. it took about 20 years. guess i am getting old. maybe it was the ricard...

one of us!

but i still haven't gotten into "across the rooftops"!

anyone listen to the new songs yet?

Yes, I thought they were pretty good.

New songs?!?

They’re previously unreleased songs that have been made available on the second CD of the ‘High’ reissue.

I don't know if I will continue to love "i" but hearing it for the first time is so thrilling. the greatest band

the trombone is fucking absurd!!

where the nile pile at

Still waiting on my copy to arrive.

yeah those extra unreleased tracks are as good as anything else, really bites that there hasn't been a new BN album since. Also High is really good. I remember people being kind of cool on it at the time because it bewilderingly sounded too much like the Blue Nile. Yeah well what do you want? This Blue Niles all over the fucking place.

Stay Close is the best non Hats Blue Nils song

that's "heatwave" but "stay close" is up there

I was delighted by “I” on first listen.

I’m just sitting here listening to “here come the bluebirds” and trying to keep it together

wow @ "big town". love these!

^^^^ that song and the two remixes of album tracks seem to pick on a specific vibe of steve reich disco that they otherwise never really revisited after "Rags to Riches", and I'm loving this unexpected gift.

Mail delivered. Listening to disc 2 now. "Here Comes the Bluebirds" is beautiful. Reminds me of PAL's b-sides, "O Lolita", "Wish Me Well" and "New York Man".

I'm really appreciating this reissue, it's made me reconnect with High which, if you asked me right now, I'd say is my second favorite after Hats; plus, these new songs are amazing, particularly Wasted (is that new? or was it a b-side I'd just never heard?). I've ordered the vinyl but I wish they'd pull together the bonus tracks from all of these and put that out by itself.

that remix of Days of Our Lives turns it into a Security-era Peter Gabriel track

I’m struggling to find antecedents for “bluebirds” and, especially, “i”, parts of which almost seem closer to 70s singer-songwriter stuff than anything they’ve done. other parts remind me a little of “christmas” and “from a late night train”

Thank you for turning me into 'It's Immaterial'! It's a shame the Song album is not in Spotify. This is probably the closest thing I've heard to the Blue Nile. Not as elegant and missing some of the great synth work but still pretty close.

It might be recency bias but I'd even say this 'Song' album is better than any Blue Nile album that is not Hats..

that meme format where you post one smiling image and one frowny image:

"new" unreleased blue nile songs - smile
high era - frown

shit I gotta get my act together and hear this

xpost: nothing wrong with high era!!!

also, looks like I slept too long on getting Peace at Last on vinyl since it's sold out everywhere and the few copies I can find are over $100. guess I can live without it.

pretty curious to me that “here come the bluebirds” couldn’t find a place on high, seems like a pretty perfect bridge between that record and mid air. a really fitting closer

“i” I sort of get how it doesn’t really fit, parts of it are very hats (the other one it reminds me of is “saturday night”) and the retrain is much more later-period. I’m still on the fence about whether the song really holds together — it’s bursting with really affecting moments and motifs but I just feel like it switches up a little too much to be as effective as it could be

“big town”, as tim says, is straight out of a walk across the rooftops. (tim is always right about the blue nile)

dammit you guys i have zero money to spend on recreational stuff right now and you all just keep talking this stuff up.

off to start a new thread: THE BLUE NILE RULES

I’m just sitting here listening to “here come the bluebirds” and trying to keep it together

― k3vin k., Tuesday, June 16, 2020 5:07 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

<3

'I' and 'Bluebirds' are plain amazing imo. What a gift.

i haven't gotten to the new tracks yet but man, high sure is a great album

i love how propulsive "broken loves" and "she saw the world" are, it felt new for them

yeah those are a couple of my faves. the propulsive-ness of “she saw the world” kind of anticipates “buy a motor car”

i can’t believe i have “new” blue nile music to enjoy nor can i believe it’s so good. “i” just knocked me flat today

yeah I just want to retract all my reservations about “i”

Just got the vinyl reissue of High in the mail. It sounds fantastic. The title track still kills me.

also thanks to all of this I just discovered the track Paul Buchanan wrote on Jesse Ware's Glasshouse, Last of the True Believers, which is wonderful, but I really wish he was 'featured' on more than one line repeated twice in the last 30 seconds. I guess he cowrote it though and it sounds like it.