Re: Bill Nelson

[Larry Spence <csccat!larry@texbell.sbc.com>]

In article <11055@odin.corp.sgi.com> jice%echo.esd@sgi.com (John Eisenman)
writes:
>
>I've heard a great deal about Bill Nelson -- so when I saw a bunch of
>his cds in the Noteworthy catalogue, I ordered one called Iconography. 
>I don't like it much.  I may want to try another, but I don't know which
>one.  Some folks told me that his guitar playing is reminiscent of Roxy
>Music -- that sound good. 

Try these out for size:

     Bill Nelson's Red Noise - Sound on Sound (1979?) 
     Bill Nelson - Quit Dreaming and Get On The Beam (1981?)

The former is more similar to the later Be Bop Deluxe (e.g. "Drastic Plastic"),
while the latter is a little less cacophonous.  Both have loads of excellent
guitar and synths; more guitar on SoS, more keyboards on QD.  Both are very
definitely song-oriented, as opposed to the mutant instrumental style that
you didn't like.  Both are out in the US on Enigma CDs.  The SoS CD _adds_ a 
single track and two live tracks that were previously only available on a UK 
EP.  The QD CD inexplicably _replaces_ two good tracks from the original album 
with two other tracks.

BN newcomers might try either of these two albums, along with the "Strangest
Things" sampler, which gives a slightly uneven overview of various BN from
1979-1989, including some of the more recent (mid and late 80s) "ambient"
and "found vocals" stuff.  A lot of people like _some_ BN a lot, but hate
other releases.  

UK persons (or those willing to shell out for imports from the UK) might
want to get "Duplex," a two-CD compilation of solo (post  Be Bop Deluxe)
BN.  However, it is rather difficult to find in the US, so you might have
to order it ($$).  One disc is instrumental-only, the other has vocals.

>I have also seen an ep of his that included
>Mick Karn on bass -- a good sign.  Can anyone tell me what this ep is
>called, and which cd it would be on. 

That's the "Chimera" EP, which is outstanding, too; it's among my favorite
BN.  Unfortunately, it's only available on UK import CD (along with the
"Savage Gestures" EP).  In the US, the "Gestures" EP is on CD all by itself,
for unknown reasons. 

Another good BN release is "On A Blue Wing" (in the UK, "Getting the Holy
Ghost Across," with slightly different tracks and order), which came out
on vinyl in '86 ('85?).  I guess I'd say that my favorite BN in chronological
order would be 

  Sound on Sound
  Quit Dreaming
  Chimera
  Blue Wing

There's a recent (late '89) four-CD boxed set (individual CDs now available)
called "Demonstrations of Affection," which consists entirely of well-produced
demos.  It's the first BN "song" album since "Blue Wing," but should probably
be approached by newcomers with caution.  There is about one and a half CDs
of superb material, and maybe two and a half of OK-but-not-the-best stuff.  If
you buy one disc out of the set, I would recommend the last one.  I can never
get the four titles right, but it's the one with "Letting It All Pass You By"
as the last track.  These CDs are only out on Cocteau (UK import).

>My description of Iconography would be, "lots
>of sampled speech over a repetative beat."  Maybe this was unique at the
>time the album came out, but it does not seem to hold up.

It has its moments, but on the whole I would have to agree.

-- 
Larry Spence
larry@csccat
...{texbell,texsun}!csccat!larry
Internet: larry@csccat.lonestar.org
---
Larry Spence
larry@csccat
...{texbell,texsun}!csccat!larry
Internet: larry@csccat.lonestar.org