markrushton's Full Review: Blue Moons & Laughing Guitars by Bill Nelson
For most of the 1980's, guitarist Bill Nelson produced instrumental/ambient recordings from his home studio, The Echo Observatory, in Yorkshire, England. After coming off the more traditional 1970's rock band Be Bop Deluxe, Nelson wanted to explore different styles and textures of music. He disliked being pigeon-holed as a rock guitar god and took to mutating his music with guitar synthesizers, e-bows, and drum machines.
By the end of the 1980's his marriage and career management were falling apart. His indie vanity label, Cocteau Records, failed. His US distributor, Enigma Records, also failed. He had recorded numerous pop/rock songs in the late 1980's and early 1990's to resurrect his finances with the possibility of major-label interest, but there were few takers.
Nelson's ambition in the early 1990's was to either bring back the name Be Bop Deluxe, or, as indicated in the liner notes of "Blue Moons and Laughing Guitars", start a new band called "Perfect Serpents", featuring numerous guitarists and multiple drummers. The tracks on "Blue Moons" were demos for the Perfect Serpents project that never got off the ground.
Virgin Records expressed interest in releasing the tapes on its Venture label in 1992. A single "The Dead We Wake With Upstairs Drums" was released in the UK briefly, then pulled.
While the recording itself shows some glaring technical problems front-and-center (the drum machines in particular, the mix in other places), the overall release is amazing considering Nelson was working with what was even then ancient equipment and Nelson was probably doing most, if not all, recording by himself.
Nelson finds a way to pack multiple-layered guitars into many of the songs. Others feature samples from his Emu Emax and keyboards from his Yamaha DX7. Singing is mostly in the "talking tenor" of Nelson's range.
Standout tracks include, "Ancient Guitars" (the most rocking Nelson has done in years), "Spinning Around", "New Moon Rising", "Angel In My System", "Boat To Forever", "Invisible Man and Unforgettable Girl", "So It Goes", "Fires In The Sky", and "Dream Ships Set Sail".
It's a shame that these songs couldn't have been recorded in a proper studio with numerous musicians and a big budget. Nelson's 1996 release "After The Satellite Sings" was recorded in a professional studio with some additional help and a modest-yet-for-Bill-huge budget and is probably his best album since the early 1980's when he still hit the charts.
Still, if you're a fan of Be Bop Deluxe and don't have this album, you must buy it. Nelson's guitar playing is magical. Ignore the drum machines and the patchy production. This is one of Nelson's best works in the past 20 years.
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