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[csccat!larry@texbell.swbt.com (Larry Spence)]

IED writes:

> Here is an important bit of news for anyone interested in Bill
> Nelson: He has just released a completely new four-CD box set called
> _Demonstrations_of_Affection_. The box contains _Nudity_, _Details_,
> _Chimes_and_Rings_ and _Heartbreakland_. And get this: all four are
> _vocal_ albums.

I've gotten some email from folks in the UK who have just picked this up.
Has anyone in the US seen it yet?  I've been looking for it to no avail.
I was warned that the price was nearly $80 US!  If IED has any info on
where I can locate a copy, I would be grateful.

> In the brief liner notes Nelson explains that the four collections
> of tracks (the box contains no fewer than 68 new, full-fledged songs in
> total--plus a t-shirt) were all recorded in 1989, in direct reaction
> to an unexpected emotional crisis (unspecified, but judging from the
> lyrics, obviously a stormy romance, probably abortive). 

...and Bill was happily (?) married with three kids, last I had heard.
I'll have to check out the Enquirer when I pick up groceries tonight.

> all are highly polished, and sound like very
> full productions--Nelson's Echo Observatory Studio (at his home) has
> clearly progressed lightyears since the days of _Sounding_the_Ritual_
> _Echo_ and _Das_Kabinett_. In fact, this new collection is a stunning
> general proof that the days of the old-fashioned, tinny-sounding four-track
> demo are gone. 

There's an interview with BN in the same issue of International Musician 
that has Kate on the cover.  He mentions that he used an advance from CBS
(for "On a Blue Wing"?) in 1983 to upgrade the studio.  He's using more
modern gear, like Emax and DX7s, as opposed to Casiotones and the like.
If you listen to stuff like the Orchestra Arcana albums, you'll notice
that the Echo Observatory's abilities have been up to snuff for a few
years now.

> As for the songs--the quality is amazingly high, even by
> Bill Nelson standards. (Not to be confused with Kate Bush standards, of
> course: in comparison, even Nelson's very best work--which in IED's opinion
> is _Getting_the_Holy_Ghost_Across_/_Living_For_the_Spangled_Moment_--
> would score very low indeed. But that should go without saying...)

Remember to switch hands every now and then!  The biceps on that right arm
are looking mighty pumped up!

> And there is also an Enigma CD
> called _Simplex_, which IED assumes is an altered, abridged version
> of _Duplex_, though he has not found a copy so he can't say for sure.

You can order Simplex through Enigma's mail order.  A track from Simplex
is on the Strangest Things compilation, and it sounds like a successor
to Chance Encounters (i.e., ambient and spacy).  It's listed on Strangest
Things as "from Simplex," so Simplex probably isn't a compilation.

> OK, that's enough of that for now. IED promises his next posting
> will mark a return to the proper subject of this group: Kate Bush.
> Sorry for this aberrational digression.

Bill had a great comment in the IM interview.  He said "Any artist who
can't release an album a month is messing about."  True, he's not QUITE
that prolific, but I'm sure he's aghast at Kate taking years to do an
album, and her comments about having to let the tapes "ferment" on the
shelves, etc.!

Larry Spence
larry@csccat
...{texbell,texsun,attctc}!csccat!larry