bluenile
We're off to Manchester. The Manchester Music Festival had the good sense to book the Blue Nile as Saturday's headliners, culminating the festival with a once-in-a-decade event. Paul Buchanan, their lead singer, toured a while back, and did lots of Nile tunes, and I believe they had either Robert Bell or Paul Joseph Moore, but not both. And there was lots of other material as well. So it wasn't the Blue Nile.
This is. My beautiful wife, who knows how I feel about these things, gave me a truly spectacular fortieth birthday present: second row, center.
They've had a couple of top-twenty hits and one top-ten over the course of their long career, but many folks just don't know them. Fans of Six Feet Under get a nice dose of Blue Nile every now and then, though, on the soundtrack.
Perhaps, while we tour Northern England, you should tour the Nile. I'll include links to some copyrighted material, copied from my own personal collection, which I'll share with you via my website. They'll be up for at least a few days. Listen, and, if you like what you hear, get onto iTunes and do some real exploring.
And now, the Blue Nile, Cliff's Notes version.
Their first album, A Walk Across The Rooftops, came out in 83. They were classified as New Wave, mainly because of their first single, which didn't appear on any album. But Walk was much more experimental than most New Wave. Interesting instrumentations, unusual textures, a dryness to the production, and a melancholy vein through even the happiest songs.
Walk Across The Rooftops
Their big hit off that one was "Tinseltown In The Rain":
Tinseltown
In 90 came Hats. Most people consider it to be their best. It's a satisfying song cycle, with shimmering synth orchestration that evokes city lights. Their biggies were "Headlights On The Parade" and "The Downtown Lights."
Downtown Lights
Headlights
In 96 came Peace At Last, which puzzled some people who had only thought of The Blue Nile as a Manchestery pop group ("Headlights" was one of the defining tunes of the "Manchester sound" in the early 90s), and would have been content with Hats all over again. But on Peace they pared down their sound and used more of Paul Buchanan's acoustic guitar, brilliantly well-recorded. Though a bit uneven, it's a great album.
Happiness
Tomorrow Morning
Then in 2004, when many had given up hope, they came out with High, in my opinion better than Peace. All the classic elements are there: the slightly irritating machine drums, the dated-yet-perfect synths, the solo trumpet, the sad voice, the deceptively simple lyrics.
High
There's also a large catalog of non-album stuff. One of their B-sides, "The Wires Are Down," captures just about every element of the Blue Nile that I love. An amazing production, composed and arranged practically perfectly. I just love those swelling strings that just pop like a giant balloon.
The Wires Are Down
Dreamboat trumpeter Chris Botti apparently heard himself in their signature solo trumpet, and asked for a collaboration or two. "Midnight Without You" is one of my favorite songs of theirs, though I count points off for an excessively noodly trumpet — you can tell that's the one element that was out of their control.
Midnight Without You
He also did another Blue Nile song but had Jonatha Brooke sing it. Quite a few of Paul's songs refer to his Christian faith, in a refreshingly organic, non-propagandizing way.
Forgiven
Saturday night. Yeah.
This is. My beautiful wife, who knows how I feel about these things, gave me a truly spectacular fortieth birthday present: second row, center.
They've had a couple of top-twenty hits and one top-ten over the course of their long career, but many folks just don't know them. Fans of Six Feet Under get a nice dose of Blue Nile every now and then, though, on the soundtrack.
Perhaps, while we tour Northern England, you should tour the Nile. I'll include links to some copyrighted material, copied from my own personal collection, which I'll share with you via my website. They'll be up for at least a few days. Listen, and, if you like what you hear, get onto iTunes and do some real exploring.
And now, the Blue Nile, Cliff's Notes version.
Their first album, A Walk Across The Rooftops, came out in 83. They were classified as New Wave, mainly because of their first single, which didn't appear on any album. But Walk was much more experimental than most New Wave. Interesting instrumentations, unusual textures, a dryness to the production, and a melancholy vein through even the happiest songs.
Walk Across The Rooftops
Their big hit off that one was "Tinseltown In The Rain":
Tinseltown
In 90 came Hats. Most people consider it to be their best. It's a satisfying song cycle, with shimmering synth orchestration that evokes city lights. Their biggies were "Headlights On The Parade" and "The Downtown Lights."
Downtown Lights
Headlights
In 96 came Peace At Last, which puzzled some people who had only thought of The Blue Nile as a Manchestery pop group ("Headlights" was one of the defining tunes of the "Manchester sound" in the early 90s), and would have been content with Hats all over again. But on Peace they pared down their sound and used more of Paul Buchanan's acoustic guitar, brilliantly well-recorded. Though a bit uneven, it's a great album.
Happiness
Tomorrow Morning
Then in 2004, when many had given up hope, they came out with High, in my opinion better than Peace. All the classic elements are there: the slightly irritating machine drums, the dated-yet-perfect synths, the solo trumpet, the sad voice, the deceptively simple lyrics.
High
There's also a large catalog of non-album stuff. One of their B-sides, "The Wires Are Down," captures just about every element of the Blue Nile that I love. An amazing production, composed and arranged practically perfectly. I just love those swelling strings that just pop like a giant balloon.
The Wires Are Down
Dreamboat trumpeter Chris Botti apparently heard himself in their signature solo trumpet, and asked for a collaboration or two. "Midnight Without You" is one of my favorite songs of theirs, though I count points off for an excessively noodly trumpet — you can tell that's the one element that was out of their control.
Midnight Without You
He also did another Blue Nile song but had Jonatha Brooke sing it. Quite a few of Paul's songs refer to his Christian faith, in a refreshingly organic, non-propagandizing way.
Forgiven
Saturday night. Yeah.
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