I didn't mean to imply that my list would make a complete set. I have lots of ideas about that, and I like yours! I was just attempting to list tracks we can expect to exist as 16-or-24-track recordings, suitable for full remixing.

Below is my understanding of the complete (known) studio sessions for TLTW. This is a *very large* number of songs that presumably exist as original multi-track tapes suitable for 5.1 and a fresh stereo remix/downmix. This excites me, because the complete *sessions* will be presented with a uniform approach to sonics/dynamics/etc. (I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the original mixes, but they and their masters have a range of dynamics, as you move among the album, the singles, and the E.P.) For definitive releases such as the Cherry Red boxes, I advocate for restoring the running order of the original LPs. (e.g., Ignore the history of reissues that swap out mixes, add b-sides to the middle of the album, etc.) Thought of that way, TLTW studio sessions look like this: THE LOVE THAT WHIRLS Empire of the Senses Hope for the Heartbeat (original LP version) Waiting For Voices A Private View Eros Arriving The Bride of Christ in Autumn When Your Dream of Perfect Beauty Comes True Flaming Desire Portrait of Jan with Flowers The Crystal Elevator in the Palace of God Department Store Echo in Her Eyes (The Lamps of Oblivion) The October Man SINGLES & B-SIDES Eros Arriving (single version/original mix) Haunting in My Head Flesh He and Sleep Were Brothers The Passion The Burning Question Hope for the Heartbeat (remix) Flaming Desire (extended remix) SAVAGE GESTURES FOR CHARM’S SAKE (One of these tracks is a home recording, the other five from TLTW sessions.) The Man in the Rexine Suit Watching My Dream Boat Go Down in Flames The Meat Room Narcosis Another Happy Thought (Carved Forever In Your Cortex) Portrait of Jan with Moon and Stars

We'll see if my take holds true! I'm eager for a report from the first UK Nelsonian who receives it. I didn't buy all the remix BBD boxes, but the Red Noise one convinced me that I was all in for Quit Dreaming. I'm equally excited about the eventual Love That Whirls box, which should similarly gather up a slew of tracks that currently have to be cobbled together from many sources.

Only for China and Hong Kong.

Re tariffs, there are no new ones related to UK > USA shipments under $800, so I don't anticipate delays. Re the price tag, yes it's high, but I'm content. I expect the new remix of the multitrack material (disc 3) to bring a lot of space and definition to an album I've always found to be murky and compressed-sounding. The fact that "The World and His Wife" and "Dancing Music" are included among these remixes is exciting. I'm also thrilled that all additional tracks (for which there are apparently no original multi-tracks, disc 2) have finally been brought together with a single approach to remastering, so that we've finally got a sonically-matched set of all the extra material between Red Noise and "The Love That Whirls." The radio sessions did appear on the giant "Practice of Daily Life" box (physical release), but I didn't get that, so I'm delighted to have them here, where they belong. That version of "Rooms with Brittle Views" is killer. I don't need the remaster of the original mix (disc 1), which I assume will sound much like the previous, early-aughts one, and I have no way to play the surround-sound DVD (disc 4). I'm bummed that the multi-tracks of two songs from the album's mobile unit recording sessions with Leckie were apparently lost ("Atom Man" and "Mr. Magnetism") - so they won't quite match the rest of the sessions' material. Nonetheless, this is much loved material for me, and I'm more than ready to flush my personal patchwork version of it, in favor of this tidy box with its big, informative booklet.

I'm happy to wait indefinitely for this. We all have all the previous audio iterations available to us. We're mostly waiting for a sonic revelation via the new multi-track remix, which I fully anticipate will be amazing. Obviously, Cherry Red should be far more forthcoming about why their planning and/or supply chain has failed several times. We're the target audience; be frank with us.

Regarding the 2018 Plectronica live show, did Harold Budd only play on "The Institute of Enchantments (Department One)," as indicated by Nelson's comments at the show, or did Budd remain for additional songs? I'm really fond of Harold Budd and of the concert performance of "The Antique Futurist," which includes keyboard parts I can't easily imagine as BN tape backing track parts. Are they Budd, or are they perhaps Theo Travis before he took up his flute? Regardless, a very rich Nelson event.

Wow, what a great project. Well done. I’ve ripped a portion of original 1980s Nelson vinyl, and I don’t always prefer it to a later digital option. Double b-side 7-inches aren’t very dynamic, while other single and 12-tracks tracks are clearly more dynamic than “Two Fold,” etc. I’ve thought that “Quit Dreaming” sounded kind of shitty since I bought it upon release. (I found the Acquitted By Mirrors fan-club CD anthology to be rather brutally re-EQed in places, so I’ll bet your rips are more satisfactory.) I’m a big fan of the recent Red Noise multi-track remix. I have high hopes for a “Quit Dreaming” with more precision and air than any previous version. Cherry Red seems diligent in their sourcing and mastering (not brick-walled), so this release’s take on all the b-sides/home-recordings/etc. could come straight from original tapes. (At least some of them, and I’d assume original vinyl would be the second choice source.) Anyway, I love what you’ve done, and it will always be the most authentic document of what Bill Nelson sounded like in the pre-CD era. I’ve been playing the singles/12-inches a lot lately, all the pops on my copies long-ago memorized. I recently bought a pristine copy of the “Scala” 12-inch, and I’ve cranked that numerous times!

This is everything I hoped for: Multi-track remixes that include World and His Wife and Dancing Music, all the singles material brought into some kind of sonic uniformity (more robust than Two-Fold, I expect - but from what sources?), plus the radio sessions. Unclear why "Dream Car Romantics (in Death's Garage Antics)" is excluded, but that's okay. Ordered and optimistic.

Excellent point, Steve. The Red Noise remix renders the original obsolete IMHO.

From an audio standpoint, I hope the Cherry Red release is truly comprehensive for the micro-era, including the relevant tracks from Transcorder. The Red Noise box was thorough, assimilating every RN recording, including Quit Dreaming's "Disposable." I would want the QD set to include absolutely everything that happened between Red Noise and the run-up to Love That Whirls. Capture the chronological moment; don't dance around other releases. The 2005 Quit Dreaming was remastered by an absolute pro, and it's not compressed in the contemporary style. "2024 remaster" is not going to motivate my purchase. Everything from that moment in one place, sounding the same, will motivate my purchase.

From the latest Dreamsville email newsletter: "There are whispers in the hills that the good people at Esoteric Recordings have put together a nice collection for a re-mastered Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam box set...keep your eyes peeled for more news about this over the coming weeks!" The timing makes sense, as I finally tracked down a 2005 Quit Dreaming CD a few weeks ago. 🙄

“Fontana,” lead track of “Caliban & The Chrome Harmonium,” the piano/keyboard instrumental album recorded circa 1992-2000. (mp3 attached) “Caliban” originally released to only a few (literally) individuals, later to become more accessible. Given Nelson’s volume of productivity, I tend to carve off the tracks I want to hear all the time and to disrespect albums as wholes. “Caliban” is an album I would never disturb, reduce, or redistribute. Utterly coherent and absolutely different from any other Nelson creation. A complete embrace of minimally-adorned, transfixing melodies, delivered with great feeling and nuance by Nelson as keyboardist. “Caliban” is so playful and so moving in its frequent turns, and it is as ambitiously “naked” as Nelson ever allowed himself to be, arguably. I hold it close and play it frequently, end to end.

I love the discography section of Dreamsville. Discogs.com is also very good for Nelson.

Amazing, Simon. Noise Candy!

Very full of Bill Nelson music, as are my household and car lately!

I don't think BN was committing commercial suicide at this time. I think he was "on the beam." It's not like the 1980s were looking for Be Bop Deluxe music, and what would cynically commercial BN music have been in 1980, if he'd chosen that path? Indeed, I'd say his choices, though artistically motivated, could have been even more successful than they were (he was charting). It's probably partly down to individual-song-luck and exact timing that there's not a BN song from the early '80s on the US's "greatest songs from the '70s, '80s, and beyond" radio stations. The right remix and a DJ at a major dance club in NYC. A video that dominated MTV for three months, etc.

I use Sound Studio and get good results. I was recently lamenting the heavy mid-range emphasis of the second half of "Two-Fold Aspect of Everything," so I ripped some of those tracks from the original vinyl singles and experimented on them. I was particularly pleased by the result for "Touch & Glow," on which I elevated the bass line and the ganky rhythm guitar.

The post brought the 2005 remaster of "Quit Dreaming" today. As advertised, it sounds much better than my original LP and 1980s CD edition. Very, very pleased. My only quibble is the omission of "Atom Man Loves Radium Girl," which is a legit outtake from the Leckie/Mobile Unit sessions that resulted in the album. Several people have mentioned a hope for a Quit Dreaming reissue/box on this forum lately, and it's a good question what it should include. I would hope for a very generous offering with all tracks matching sonically. The 2005 edition of "The Love That Whirls" will arrive later this week. Can't wait (but will have to).

Alec, I'm curious about what the comparable mysteries are about the "Noise Candy" moment. Add in "Atom Shop," "Weird Critters," "Magnificent Dream People," and the unique tracks from "Whistling While the World Turns" & "What Now, What Next?" - and I think you've got a pretty seamless compendium of a very coherent (extended) Bill Nelson home studio episode, circa 1995-2000. Essentially, between After the Satellite Sings"/"Practically Wired" and "Whimsy." (Quite possibly contemporary with the first two, or even preceding them by a bit, but wholly subsequent to what came before - e.g. Secret Studio era.) TBH, it's probably the stretch I'd choose for my desert island, if I could only choose one. It's all of a piece to me, allowing for a separation of the pop vocals from the instrumentals/found vocal tracks. I long ago created something like "Console Vol. 2," which I may prefer to "Console" proper. But that's mixtaping, rather than perceiving dividing lines within the overall "Noise Candy" period of home recordings.