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The Sparkle Machine Bill Nelson album - 11 December 2013 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) The Awakening 02) Full Of Desire 03) Blaze Ye Now The Golden Trail 04) The Boy Who Lived In The Future 05) Eros Ghost Trails Gleaming Echoes 06) Colossal Figures Shrouded In Clouds 07) The Martian Boulevardier 08) Jimi Sifts The Sands Of Time 09) Whirlpool Meditation 10) Saturnalia 11) Hermetica Automatica 12) Velo-Sola 13) Jupiter Commander 14) The Sparkle Machine (Phenomena 77) ALBUM NOTES: The Sparkle Machine (Several Sustained Moments) is an instrumental album issued in a single print run of 500 copies on the Sonoluxe label. The material for The Sparkle Machine was largely created alongside that for Albion Dream Vortex , with material assigned to either album as Nelson saw fit. The first mention of the album was in late October 2013, at which point the track listing had been decided on, and given a rush release on 11 December 2013. Demand to acquire the album was sufficient to force SOS to take it off sale 8 days later, as they needed to catch up with orders received, and to ensure that existing orders could be fulfilled. After the Christmas holidays were over the album was put back on sale, and eventually sold out on 7 January 2014. It was reissued as a digital download on Bandcamp on 2 May 2015. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: " The Sparkle Machine is an instrumental album with a heavy emphasis on the electric guitar and features some densely packed, exploratory improvisation. It could also been regarded as a psychedelic space rock album though it spreads its wings wider than that definition might suggest. I think it's fair to say that it also acts as a 'virtual' stepping stone between Albion Dream Vortex and next year's release of my recent collaboration with jet-ace guitarist Reeves Gabrels." _____ "When I say 'space rock' I don't mean of the Hawkwind variety...(though no slight meant to them...they're absolutely splendid space captains!). My version is rather more loose, slips through a number of wormholes and emerges somewhere in a universe where the barriers between rock, improvisation, electronica, classical and jazz have never existed. It's just expansive music with the electric guitar pushing hard at the edges. But don't worry, if you've ever liked electric guitar trips, you'll love this one!" _____ "Actually, I never think in terms of a 'best' guitar. I have a very eclectic collection of guitars and they each have their own character and qualities. I'll sometimes choose to use one simply because of how it looks and the 'mind set' it puts me in on any particular day. It's rather like deciding what shirt or jacket to wear depending on my mood and the weather. Obviously, a guitar's sound plays a part too, the warmth and jazziness of my Guild X500, Peerless Monarch or D'Angelico will generally inspire and suit a jazz tinted solo. My Gretsches, my Stratocaster and Hallmark Stradette will bring out the twang, country and '60s instro side of my playing. My Les Paul, Campbell Nelsonics and some of my Eastwood, Airline guitars will encourage a more rock, blues or vintage rock n' roll approach, and so on. To a certain extent, it's horses for courses but also not as strictly regimented as that might seem. Sometimes it's interesting to play something opposite to what a certain guitar might dictate. To mix things up a bit. In fact, I tend to use more than one guitar on any given track. Sometimes there will be three or four different guitars on a tune. I'm a bit like a guy with a private harem...I love all my guitars and try to get around to each one on a fairly regular basis!" _____ "It's a musical equivalent of a big old oak table laden with a huge variety of delicious food and autumn fruits and shining golden goblets of rich, warm wine. Beautiful maidens breathing in your ear and a log fireplace ablaze with sensual love energy. Hey...when you've got that, who needs listening notes?" FAN THOUGHTS: TimeSlip: "Truly enjoying The Sparkle Machine Bill. I have to say it contains some of your "wildest" riffs. I noticed that your liner notes list the guitar brands you play on this album. You could probably make a stick with string tied on it sound good..." major snagg: "Oh deep joy, this is a magnificent album, which goes beautifully with your last two awesome albums, The Dreamshire Chronicles and Albion Dream Vortex . Wow...Guitar Heaven..." alec: "Full of Desire": "The guitar seems to catch flame in places in that one. A flaming desire so to speak." CoachMatt: "Has anyone ever get fixed on one of Bill's tunes ? I do a lot, and now, I am fixed on "The Martian Boulevardier" !! I can just listen to it over and over again!! Just flows so nicely. I enjoy the beats and rhythms of that tune. I can just picture this high end, OO7 acting Martian, just strolling around and acting cool !!" felixt1: "I think this is possibly a perfect re-introduction for the old Be Bop Deluxe fans, certainly as far as guitar instrumental albums by Bill, go." swampboy: "Any newcomers to his music could use these as a starting point and go on from there." AJ: "I didn't think for a moment that anything could beat Albion Dream Vortex this year. The Sparkle Machine has done it for me. How he does it so well and in such volume is beyond my comprehension. 2013 has to be the best BN year ever. Utterly stunning." BenTucker: "Loving every moment of this dazzling, dramatic, life-affirming album." "If this doesn't represent a high point in guitar music for the decade, then I don't know what does! Just breathtaking, spectacular, beautiful..." Albums Menu Future Past

Eros Arriving Bill Nelson single - 23 April 1982 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 7" Single: A) Eros Arriving (Single Version) B) Haunting In My Head 12" Single: A) Eros Arriving (Single Version) B) Haunting In My Head C) He And Sleep Were Brothers D) Flesh ORIGINALLY: A) is a remix of the song from the upcoming album The Love That Whirls. B, C, & D) were all non-album tracks. NOTES: Eros Arriving was the lead single from, and issued ahead of, The Love That Whirls album. This was Nelson's second and final double 7" in gatefold artwork, including 4 previously unreleased tracks that were all recorded during The Love That Whirls sessions. Note: there is an Australian pressing of this single on which "Eros Arriving" plays out to a natural end rather than fading out. PAST RELEASES: All four songs were included on The Two Fold Aspect of Everything comp (out of print). B, C, & D) were included on a US/Canada ep entitled Flaming Desire and Other Passions . C & D) were also included on the 1986 and 1989 CD issues of The Love That Whirls . CURRENT AVAILABILITY: B, C, & D) were added to the remastered 2005 CD of The Love That Whirls . Singles Menu Future Past

Nelsonian Navigator - Issue Six - Published September 1997 Back to Top

Stand By: Light Coming... Bill Nelson album - 16 August 2019 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Flicker And Fade 02) Ghostland 03) I Really Don't Exist 04) Headlamp Moon 05) This Is Not A Dream 06) Falling Into Blue 07) The Angel With Television Eyes 08) Rusty Bells 09) Stand By: Light Coming... 10) My Shadow Cast By Midnight Moon 11) The Way My World Works 12) No Room In My Head 13) As Quickly As A Kiss 14) Like Autumn Leaves We Fall 15) Fading Away ALBUM NOTES: Stand By: Light Coming... is an album of songs issued on the Sonoluxe label in a limited edition of 1000 copies. The Stand By: Light Coming... album was recorded between January and April 2019, in parallel with a separate project, currently unreleased, called Cathode Paintbox. It was the first new Bill Nelson CD to be sold through Burning Shed , who took over from Sound on Sound as the official on-line outlet for Bill Nelson's music following an announcement to this effect on 1 February 2019. This new arrangement allows Bill Nelson fans to pre-order his new music in advance of its official release date, an arrangement that Sound on Sound hadn't been able to offer. The recordings making up this album are likely to be amongst the last completed on Nelson's trusted recording and mixing set up that have served him so well since 2002. This operational change stemmed from Nelson's Mackie D8B mixing console having become unreliable and expensive to repair. Consequently this necessitated a major shift to a computer-based system, requiring Nelson to invest considerable time in becoming familiar with his new equipment. Amongst the guitars used on these recordings were two new acquisitions – a Backlund Super 100 MDX purchased by Nelson's fan base in honour of his 70th birthday the previous December and a Musicvox Space Cadet that Nelson acquired from the funds left over from the donations received for the birthday gift. The album began life with the working title of Vulcan Street but by Mid-February Nelson was having second thoughts about this title (and eventually its original title track). Having wrestled with this issue for 2 months Nelson finally abandoned the original album title on 16 April 2019 and from the 25 pieces composed since January 2019 assembled a 15 track album with the title Stand By: Light Coming... One of the tracks included on this album, 'My Shadow Cast By Midnight Moon', is an outtake from Auditoria recorded in 2018. The surplus material from the January to May 2019 sessions were then either used for The Last Lamplighter companion release or rejected altogether. Stand By: Light Coming... was mastered at Fairview by John Spence on 11 May 2019 with a pre-order announcement by Burning Shed on 27 June 2019. With the album successfully mastered, Nelson turned his attention to the album artwork. Assembly of the sleeve design fell to Martin Bostock working with images that Nelson had selected as the album neared completion. Stand By: Light Coming... sold out in March 2021. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Stand By: Light Coming… is a 15 track, vocal-based album recorded in my home studio earlier this year. If there is a point of unity to the album's diverse sounds, it could be said that it generally uses the enigmatic nature of 'time' as its theme. Images of watches and clocks abound in the lyrics which deal with the increasing rush of time and the rapid retreat of the past into nostalgia. Vocal and electric guitar-driven, it plots a path of aggressive melancholia and offers a meditation on impermanence." _____ "Finally knocked the new album into shape. Have arrived at a running order and chosen which tracks should be used and which left off. So, 'STAND BY: LIGHT COMING…' is now ready to go to Fairview studios for John Spence to master prior to manufacture. I'll need to fix up a date for the mastering as I think John is pretty busy at the moment. "There will be 15 tracks on the album in total but, even so, there are still 10 tracks left over, either as 'rejects' or simply because there wasn't enough room for them." _____ "Some changes to the content of the album...I discovered a few songs left over from the 'Auditoria' sessions that I'd forgotten about and will try to incorporate a couple of them into this latest album. One of these is the song 'The Woman Of Tomorrow' which I've revisited and remixed. I guess things aren't finished until they're finished..." _____ "Stand By: Light Coming... surprised me by the way it revealed its inner meaning. Hearing the songs in their correct order at Fairview showed that the songwriting 'theme' as such is all about Time. Time passing, our perceptions of time, the need to make the most of the time we have left to us, and the way that time and memory are inextricably intertwined. Images of clocks ticking through the night abound in these songs. "The other thing that emerged from listening to the album is the deep sense of melancholy in many of the songs, and the frustration and anger that life 'runs out like sand', (to quote a lyric from my 'Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam' album from the early 1980s.) Maybe I've had an awareness of the brevity of life from a young age. I can remember thinking about this kind of thing when I was still a very young child... "So, 'Stand By: Light Coming...' can perhaps be described as 'music for aging melancholiacs.' It has a lot of sadness, but a sadness tinged with joy...like dark clouds surrounded by golden rays. It should ring rusty bells for people of a 'certain age' but may also bring younger listeners to a more acute awareness of how precious every moment of life is. A cliché, I know, but life is all too brief, even if we're lucky enough to live long enough to make a real mark on it..." FAN THOUGHTS: Bill Connor-Clark: "This is possibly the best CD Bill has produced for years, the fantastic opening track is a gateway to a CD that is all killer and no filler." Alan: "I just listened for the first time, and what a powerful album this is. A great first release for the year! Our Bill does Bill Nelson better than anyone. I'm looking forward to the album further revealing itself over time." Michael: "Have had two listens and first impressions are that, wow, this is really chock-full and Bill seems to be pulling out all the stops. I'm hearing similarities to Satellite Songs and gasp...Blue Moons and Laughing Guitars . I don't know if the Brits have this expression, and maybe it's me being an American southerner, but this is a 'humdinger'!" lee_elliot59: "My copy arrived last Saturday and it's been my work commute companion all week. Gotta say, this one knocked me over immediately and is up there will my favorite Bill albums. Ironically, I can't get 'No Room In My Head' out of my head. What a deliciously funky track." Neill Burgess: "Loving the new album, Bill! Lots of really great tracks (especially enjoying the opener). I know we all keep saying it, but how on earth do you maintain this level of creativity?" Albums Menu Future Past

Think And You'll Miss It/Beat Street Free download single Click image for cover Artwork A free Christmas single for you to download and enjoy - Released Dec 2012. A-Side: THINK AND YOU'LL MISS IT B-Side: BEAT STREET Both tracks are exclusive and currently unavailable on any album. Written, performed, recorded and produced by Bill Nelson. All rights Bill Nelson 2012.

The Last Lamplighter Bill Nelson album - 24 August 2019 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) The Lamplighter's Lament 02) Tick Tock Ticking 03) Wide Awake In The Heart Of You 04) The Winter Mermaid 05) Strictly For The Birds 06) Plastic Mac 07) House Of Mystery 08) Ghosts Of Utopian Cities 09) The Woman Of Tomorrow 10) Vulcan Street 11) Serene In Silver 12) What's A Boy Supposed To Do? 13) My Life In Neon, My Life In Sound 14) Lost Light 15) The Last Lamplighter (For John Henry Griffiths) ALBUM NOTES: The Last Lamplighter is an album of songs and instrumentals issued as a download only via Nelson's Bandcamp page issued on 24th August 2019. Originally titled The Last Lamplighter (Return to Vulcan Street), the subtitle was dropped at the artwork stage. The album was recorded between January and May 2019 and was largely compiled from material that had been omitted from the Stand By: Light Coming... album issued simultaneously. The recordings making up this album are likely to be amongst the last completed on Nelson's trusted recording and mixing set up that has served him so well since 2002. This operational change stemmed from Nelson's Mackie D8B mixing console having become unreliable and expensive to repair. It will be interesting to see how Nelson makes the transition to his new computer-based system that he acquired in March 2019 and which will receive its inaugural use in time for his next recording project. Amongst the guitars used on these recordings were two new acquisitions – a Backlund Super 100 MDX purchased by Nelson's fan base in honour of his 70th birthday the previous December and a Musicvox Space Cadet that Nelson acquired from the funds left over from the donations received for the birthday gift. The album took shape immediately after Nelson had selected material for Stand By: Light Coming... on 18 April 2019. The starting point for this was to select the best material from the 11 surplus recordings from the January to April recording sessions. As this material was insufficient to make up a full album, Nelson recorded additional tracks in late April and early May 2019. He then added in two tracks, 'Serene in Silver' and 'The Woman of Tomorrow' recorded for, but not used on, Auditoria and Drive This Comet Across the Sky. The Last Lamplighter was mastered at Fairview by John Spence on 10 May 2019. With the album successfully mastered, Nelson turned his attention to the album artwork. Assembly of the sleeve design fell to Martin Bostock working with images that Nelson had selected as the recording sessions that resulted in this album neared completion. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: 'The Last Lamplighter' :- "Is a brand new album and is intended as a companion piece to 'Stand By: Light Coming...' Many of its tracks were originally intended for the latter album but running times dictated otherwise. I decided to combine them with tracks I'd laid aside for an album titled 'Vulcan Street', an album and title I'd abandoned. A few more tracks were also recorded to make up the track count and the 'The Last Lamplighter' was the end result. 'The Last Lamplighter,' at first, had a subtitle: ('Return To Vulcan Street,') but this was dropped from the final artwork. "The album contains 15 tracks of mostly vocal-based songs but with a couple of instrumental interludes. It has an eclectic mix of styles. "The title track is dedicated to my Great Grandfather on my Mother's side of the family, (John Henry Griffiths,) who actually worked as a lamplighter in the city of Wakefield in the 1930s and '40s. He passed away in the early 1950s when I was very young but I can remember visiting him in his bedroom at Marriot's Buildings where I was born. He spent his last couple of years in bed and seemed to be a gentle old man although my Mother tells me that he was sometimes difficult and often drunk when she was a child. She acknowledges that he mellowed in his old age and that he liked and looked forward to seeing me. My Mother also recalls, as a young girl, sometimes accompanying him on his rounds as a lamplighter on the then cobbled streets of Wakefield. A romantic image that inspired the album's title track. "What was to be the central track of 'Vulcan Street' is also included on the album. 'Vulcan Street' conjures images of terrace houses, infernal factories and sparks and fire in my mind, the industrialised grey and foggy North of the 1940s and '50s. Had there been a Vulcan Street in Wakefield back then, I'm sure it would have had its lamps lit by my Great Grandfather. "This new album is a download only release and is exclusively available from my Bandcamp page or via the link this website. It comes complete with downloadable artwork which you can print out to use when burning the album to a CDR. I hope you will enjoy it!" _____ "Have been more or less constantly working on the 'overflow' album, titled 'The Last Lamplighter,' which will contain tracks that did not find a place on the 'Stand By: Light Coming...' album. Some tracks were left off that album because there wasn't room for them, others were left off because they didn't really feel right to me, (although several fans have expressed an interest in hearing them.) So, I've been experimenting with different track lists for 'The Last Lamplighter' in an attempt to make an interesting album from the left over material. "After some soul searching, I think I've come up with a good solution. A few of the left over tracks have now definitely been consigned to the waste bin. These are not songs that I consider worth hearing and I certainly won't miss them. Others, however, sound ok and I have included them in the album. "But to make sense of it all, I've had to record some new tracks to not only bring the track count up to scratch, but to add mood and variety. I now feel the album has a real purpose, both as a companion piece to 'Stand By: Light Coming...' and as an album in its own right." _____ " And what about 'The Last Lamplighter (Return To Vulcan Street.)' ? This is an album made up of tracks left over from the sessions that produced 'Stand By: Light Coming...' so, inevitably, a certain amount of the thematic structure is carried over from one album to the other. There are a couple of references to 'clocks ticking' and the passage of time in these songs too, but there are a few diversions, particularly in the five instrumental tracks that are included to break up the vocal ones. "As for the sonic qualities of these albums, I'd say that they were textured and richly rendered, noisy at times, spontaneously put together, never perfectly executed, sometimes abrasive, quirky, even scary, sometimes tender and naive. Hopelessly flawed, but perhaps forgivably and poetically so. At the end of the day, it's just stuff that emerges from Being." FAN THOUGHTS: Tourist: "Well, I'm on my own, it's late and everyone else here is peacefully resting...I've just, literally, just finished my first full listen through of this new album of Bill's and I really don't know what to say...don't know where to start...I certainly won't try some kind of mini-review or walkthrough, I think all I'm going to say is that it's just knocked my socks off!...It really is absolutely wonderful and the whole one hour? (I think) running time seemed like it was over in a flash. I honestly think Bill is currently writing and composing some of the best music of his life, it really is quite superb and I think The Last Lamplighter is right up there...I believe Bill just gets better and better as the years go on, and you can't say that, with hand on heart, about too many musicians. I wouldn't do the album justice with any form of track reviews, I won't highlight any specific songs, but I will say it's a 'killer' album, every track is a gem. I think it's been put together fantastically well, the running order sounds great, the interspersion of instrumental tracks perfectly placed and if there are any people out there who aren't sure whether to buy this download, I would urge you to go ahead, as I'm pretty sure you will love it!...If you don't, I'll regret it for you! And, I just noticed it says on iTunes, 'Bill Nelson The Last Lamplighter Unknown Genre'...finally they begin to understand. Great album Bill!!….seriously folks, don't miss this one." "The more I listen to this wonderful album, the more I fall in love with it...It's actually competing with Sailor Bill ...sometimes I think it might be my favourite Bill Nelson album. ...And!...any Be Bop fans that haven't jumped into Bill's solo recordings, well, that's fine too, but if you're looking for mind-blowingly fabulous guitar work, please try this album...Fantastically haunting, always touching the melancholy, reaching back to something we once knew, but definitely a firm message for the here and now!...gloriousness...it's superb!!" lee_elliot59: "Another stunner...and very much a compliment to 'Standby '. Worth any price of admission for just 'Strictly For The Birds' which towers amongst Bill's finest. "With these most recent releases it's easy to hear Bill reaching for new expressions which straddle various aspects of his technique." Alec: "Along with everything else that's great about this recording is it's a great rock 'n roll record as well, full of great rock grooves." mo497: "Like fine, vintage wine, Bill Nelson's guitar virtuosity continues to improve with age. Case in point, this wonderful new release. Not to be missed! Thank you, Bill!" Albums Menu Future Past

Picture Post Bill Nelson album - 7 April 2010 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Sunny Day For A Happy Postman 02) Postcard To A Penfriend 03) Music Spins My Globe 04) I Send These Dreams To You 05) A Christmas Cowboy Outfit 06) Skimming Stones 07) In Anticipation 08) Shibuya Screen 09) September Promenade 10) Airmail Guitar 11) A Day At West Acre 12) Greetings From Surf Guitar Island 13) Beach Hut Beauties 14) Dream Of An American Streetcar 15) Mobile Homes On The Range 16) Surf King Sails In 17) Big Ship 18) Filigree Balcony 19) Clouds Drift North 20) The Toy Trumpet 21) Pageant 22) Emphatically Yours ALBUM NOTES: Picture Post is instrumental album issued on the Sonoluxe label in a single print run of 1000 copies. The album was created from the soundtrack that Nelson was commissioned to write for a documentary called American Stamps , broadcast by the PBS channel. Attendees of Nelsonica '08 were treated to the premier showing of American Stamps on 1 November 2008. The album was recorded in 2007, and was originally to be released in tandem with another album, but the past practice of releasing albums simultaneously had proved uneconomic. So from Picture Post onwards Nelson's albums would appear on a 'one at a time' basis. Picture Post sold out in January 2022. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Pedalscope , Theatre of Falling Leaves , The Years , Model Village , All That I Remember , Sailor Bill , Albion Dream Vortex , Simplex , Chameleon , Caliban and the Chrome Harmonium , Map of Dreams BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Those of you who managed to catch the documentary television film the music was created for will have had a taster already, but the album presents the soundtrack in full focus without the documentary voice-over/narrative necessary to the film version. It's an album of 'miniatures', 22 short pieces of very detailed, lush sounding instrumental music. The closest I can get to describing it is to say that it combines the keyboard approach of Theatre of Falling Leaves with some of the orchestral textures of The Alchemical Adventures of Sailor Bill . This mixture is sprinkled here and there with electric guitar, sometimes in a slick, jazzy mood, sometimes in a chromium-plated, surf mood. There's also a touch of banjo and slide guitar. Oh, and a hint of electronica. It's a very fine sounding album that conjures interesting pictures in the listener's mind and, as always, it offers a different approach to the previous album." _____ "Each piece of music was created to reflect the thematic content of the relevant part of the documentary film. For instance, the music that I created for the chapter on musical stamps covers a variety of musical genres within its short time span, from Rock n' Roll thru jazz, modern composition, etc. The pacing of the piece and points where the stylistic changes occur are dictated by the real-time physical edits of the images in the film. In fact, these diverse images, their style and their pacing became the actual 'score' for each piece. None of the tracks were conceived separately from this 'score'...they were built for purpose, even down to leaving space for the documentary voice overs...the whole thing was carefully constructed as a harmonious whole. "However, I liked what this did to the music as it forces one to think in non-linear ways about composing and produces musical effects that might not 'normally' occur. Listening to the music without the visuals that it was designed to accompany was, for me, interesting and satisfying as it produced an eclectic and almost unpredictable listening experience. The result was something that I couldn't have achieved without the film's template." _____ "There's a nice twist in that all the stamps used as part of Picture Post' s package design are NOT authentic postal stamps as were used in the documentary film, but are actually fake stamps of my own invention, featuring images I chose and altered to represent my personal, 'imaginary' America. So, you'll see idealised skyscrapers, graphically-adjusted portraits of Orson Welles, Fred Astaire, Roy Rogers, Les Paul, Duke Ellington and Duane Eddy...also a cowgirl, Superman, etc. It's an idealised, mythical America that existed in my imagination long before I ever was able to visit the USA...an America I could only access, as a boy, via the imported medium of comic books, Hollywood films, jazz and rock n' roll music. By creating these non-existent stamps for the album artwork I was able to bring the project into the conceptual framework of my own experience, an expression of my own history." FAN THOUGHTS: steve lyles: "It's a fabulous album...both epic and intimate. "Postcard to a Penfriend" was an instant hit for me, as was "Shibuya Screen" and "Big Ship". As always, amazed at Bill Nelson's ability to make such interesting and beautifully textured music." mark smith: "Just had to share my fondness for the latest CD release from Bill and how much this little beauty has been making my busy driving of late a pleasure not a chore. It's been living in my car since it arrived in April and full of all those beautiful moments I have been looking for in other artists but is seemingly abundant in Bill's art. I just want to thank you Mr Nelson for these compositions and hope others enjoy this disk as much as I have." bobbyboy: "Got my copy a few days ago, and I cant stop playing it. And I finally saw the documentary, very nice, and informative. Loved hearing Bill in the background, it flows perfectl y!!! Where's my "grass skirt", it's time to hula again???" BobK: "This is a very charming, likeable and quite beautiful CD." major snagg: "This is smooth as silk. I was relaxing with a glass of wine, listening to this CD just last night. Bliss." felixt1: "I've always thought Picture Post was criminally under-appreciated! It is predominantly a keyboard album but the two guitar driven tracks are a couple of Bill's absolute best - "Music Spins My Globe" and "Airmail Guitar" - totally essential Bill Nelson guitar instrumentals. Overall, Picture Post has an undeniably feel-good vibe to it." "Music Spins My Globe": "This tune brilliantly captures the vibe of America in the fifties/early sixties. An absolute classic in my opinion..." "Air Mail Guitar": "the guitar playing on this track alone is worth buying the album for." Palladium: "A Day At West Acre": "really captures the wistful quality that runs through much of Picture Post . (The two guitar pieces it's sandwiched between aren't bad either!)" ladesco: "Beautifully melodic and lofty. Upward and forward...these heavenly oral veins waft, warp and wane toward new lights and heights of humanity. Earthly and grounded, majestic brush strokes direct and move the sound upwards, enlightening even the most disheartened vantage point to such a nether... Lovely! Thank you, Bill..." thunk: "Picture Post has been weaving wonders here too - At 1 mins, 30 secs of "Music Spins My Globe", I can just see this 'swing yer legs & kick yer shoes off'-type dance kicking-in to the brass swing section. And I've just been smitten by the lovely string arrangement on "A Day At West Acre" that comes in at around 3 mins, 12 secs...aaaaahhhhh..." Alan: "I know this is not Bill's first soundtrack, but he is very good at it. As someone else in another thread mentioned, I had a hard time paying attention to the dialogue, trying to hear the music...Once again, Bill has outdone himself. He's simply an amazing artist, and I'm glad to be along for the ride." novemberman: "What a gem!! I have to be honest - the idea of music to accompany a documentary on American Stamps didn't exactly excite my interest, but if you do not own this album don't be put off. For your money you will get 1 hour of sublime instrumental music of the highest quality, it's not a solely guitar album and has keyboard very prominent throughout. So if you don't have this yet put to the top of your SOS [Bandcamp] list for your next purchase." Albums Menu Future Past

The Dreamer's Companion Volume Three retrospective collection - 13 January 2014 Collections Menu Future Past Bill Nelson Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) One Thing Leads To Another (Modern Moods For Mighty Atoms) 02) Night Is The Engine Of My Imagination (Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow) 03) Melancholia Lagoons (Fantasmatron) 04) Bramble (Rosewood Volume Two) 05) Tin Sings Bones (Orpheus In Ultraland) 06) Rainclouds Over Paris Of My Dreams (Plaything) 07) The Silver Darkness Whispers Yes (Clocks And Dials) 08) Sex Magic (Joy Through Amplification) 09) The Captain's In The Wheelhouse (Fantasmatron) 10) Music Spins My Globe (Picture Post) 11) The Raindrop Collector (And We Fell Into A Dream) 12) Wireless World (Fables And Dreamsongs) 13) All These Days Are Gone (Return To Jazz Of Lights) 14) Where Are We Now? (Fancy Planets) ALBUM NOTES: The Dreamer's Companion is a three volume series of compilation albums designed to introduce both new and lapsed fans to Nelson's recordings from the 21st Century. These are significant in that they represent the point where Nelson embraced the notion of downloading as a way of generating additional interest in his music. Prior to their announcement in August 2013, there had been frequent mention by fans of the advantages that Nelson would see from going down the download route, but the artist consistently resisted doing so on the basis that he remained unconvinced that it would yield much in the way of sales. What seemed to change his opinion, or at least convince him to give it a go, was a Be Bop Deluxe Facebook page which clearly indicated that there are a significant number of fans who knew little of Nelson's work over the previous 30 years. Nelson therefore set about compiling three volumes in The Dreamer's Companion series that provided a detailed overview of his output since 2003. Even for fans who had rediscovered Nelson's music at some point in the period from 2003 to 2013, these offer some out of print material. And for the lapsed fans that knew nothing at all from this period, they offer them a chance to find out precisely what they have been missing. For those who aren't willing or able to spend £30 on a full set, each volume of The Dreamer's Companion is available at £10 each. The 42 tracks featured are taken from a total of 28 different albums, and provide a healthy mixture of vocal and instrumental pieces covering a range of styles and moods. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "There's nothing difficult or tricky about any of my music, it's all very easy to listen to. I certainly don't aim at purely esoteric targets, I just make pop music with a twist. But, if you're feeling a bit nervous about buying some albums, it doesn't get less esoteric than Fancy Planets , Joy Through Amplification , and Songs of the Blossom Tree Optimists . Easy listening all! Or, to get a great overview of my 21st Century recordings, try downloading the digital three volume compilation set, The Dreamers Companion from Bandcamp. It acts as a really nice taster or 'grazing' menu. A bit of everything on there." Collections Menu Future Past

King of the Cowboys Bill Nelson ep - 29 October 1982 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: A1) King Of The Cowboys A2) Shadowland B1) Carnival B2) Spring ORIGINALLY: All three tracks were non-album tracks exclusive to this EP. NOTES: King of the Cowboys EP was the second in the series of Cocteau Club EPs issued exclusively to members of Bill Nelson's Official Fan Club, and was included in Acquitted By Mirrors Issue 3. All four tracks were recorded at the Echo Observatory. PAST RELEASES: Up until 2020, none of the 4 tracks on this EP had appeared on previous Bill Nelson compilations, nor as bonus tracks. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: All tracks are available on the retrospective compilation album Transcorder (The Acquitted By Mirrors Recordings) . Singles Menu Future Past

Are You Receiving Me? single - 1982 Yukihiro Takahashi Production/Contribution Menu Future Past TRACKS: A) Are You Receiving Me? B) And I Believe In You BILL: Guitar and backing vocals on the track 'Are You Receiving Me?' Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Songs For Ghosts Bill Nelson double album - 28 October 2017 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download CD 1 - King of Dreams: 01) A Thousand, Thousand Ghosts 02) Ever The Dreamer 03) Beyond The Sun 04) Heaven Lights Its Lamps 05) Astrophysical 06) Move Through This World 07) Here Comes The Big Blue Moon 08) In The Wings 09) Planet Of Ghosts 10) Zodiac 11) When Day Is Done 12) The Almost Invisible Man 13) The Curious King Of Dreams 14) Baby Buddha CD 2 - Tower of Jewels: 01) The Future Life 02) Music From Another Star 03) Forward Motion 04) 2000 Miles To Midnight (My Ghost Burns Fire) 05) Illumination Fascination Blues 06) 1948 07) Man Or Astroman (Cat Or Mouse) 08) Billy Beyond (Everyone's Clean In Paradise) 09) Late Transmission: This Song Is History 10) The Mirror Maker's Daughter (Other Fish To Fry) 11) The Dreamlike Day-To-Day 12) Tower Of Jewels 13) Travelling In Mind 14) His Astral Form ALBUM NOTES: Songs For Ghosts is a double album of vocal pieces released on the Sonoluxe label in a limited run of 650 copies. Signed copies of the album were first made available to attendees of the Songs for Ghosts launch party held on 28 October 2017 at The Cloth Workers' Hall, Leeds. The remaining copies of the albums were then sold through SOS. The album was first announced on the Dreamsville forum on 15 March 2017 before a note of music had been recorded, Songs For Ghosts being an album title that Nelson had wanted for use for some time. However, it wasn't too long before work got underway on the album with 4 songs completed by 5 April 2017. By the end of April 14 song titles were revealed for possible inclusion, with confirmation in May that the project was developing into a double album with extra special attention being given to the packaging. With 28 tracks completed by 12 June 2017, the album's running order was finally confirmed on 18 June 2017 along with confirmation that 2 tracks recorded in the first batch of songs - "Serene in Silver" and "On Gilded Tracks" - would be held back for a future album. It didn't take Nelson long to confirm his intentions with the surplus material. On 20 June 2017 it was announced that the 2 remaining tracks would be added to with 2 newer songs for release as a download only EP, provisionally titled No Ghosts Here . Nelson's plans were expanded by the end of the month as he added five new songs to the project turning it into a proposed mini-album, now provisionally titled Spooky Annexe . To add to his dilemma, Nelson was also considering one of the new songs, "Special Beings with Special Senses", for inclusion on the Songs For Ghosts album. An eighth song was completed on 1 July called "Singing in the Ether", which also became another contender for the mini-album's working title. Further tracks were completed later in July at which point Nelson decided that the quality of the overflow material was sufficiently high to warrant a full length album, which he initially referred to as Songs For Ghosts Part 3 . It remains to be seen how this additional album project will be handled and when it will appear. The album sold out on the 6 December 2017. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: New Northern Dream , Captain Future's Psychotronic Circus , Kid Flip , Clocks and Dials , Special Metal Golden Melodies of Tomorrow , The Dream Transmission Pavilion , Perfect Monsters , Electric Atlas BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Kid Flip was a real electric guitar hard rocker, so maybe I'll move in a completely different direction for the next album. Perhaps something abstract, diffuse, nebulous. I have an album title that I've wanted to use for some time: Songs For Ghosts . Maybe that's the starting point for my next adventure." _____ "Home from a day in Fairview spent with mastering engineer John Spence. We transferred all the 28 tracks of Songs For Ghosts over to Fairview Studio's computer ready for John to work his mastering magic on. I hadn't heard the double album for a while and had forgotten how eclectic and, er, strange some of the songs are...surreal lyrics, non-linear arrangements, abstract sounds and free-form codas mixed with pop styles and things pulled in from several other musical forms. It's definitely one which will take some concentrated listening to unlock...it's both dirty and nebulous." _____ "Songs For Ghosts is a double album of predominately vocal oriented songs with a couple of mellow instrumental excursions. The initial concept was centred around a vague feeling of melancholia, a sadness at the heart of things, but, as is usual with my work, that first idea was modified during the actual recording process. I wanted to maintain a sense of 'diffusion', songs that were not quite linear, songs that refused to 'solidify' to a certain extent, with free-form elements brought to bear and lyrics that were slightly more stream of consciousness than anything literal or relating to specific situations. Enigmatic and automatic, like trance induced creations, unconscious communications from somewhere suggestively 'elsewhere.' But, inevitably, as the recording of the album progressed, this concept merged with rather more straightforward, prosaic elements, and, indeed a couple of the songs have turned out to be quite direct and specific. (I suppose my pop sensibility will never really desert me.) Nevertheless, something of the originally intended 'vagueness' or 'ghostliness,' remains...these are songs directed at realms beyond, perhaps couched in a kind of mutant pop language, but still recognisably, 'other'." _____ B ill's Listening Notes for selected tracks from the album: ' Songs For Ghosts' Listening Notes FAN THOUGHTS: CoachMatt: "Songs for Ghosts is a stimulating odyssey of the living and moreover, those who have passed on. You never know with Bill what came first, the music, the lyrics, the title, an image, a thought? The album seems to gather strength in the departed having more knowledge and wisdom than the living, being, they gained more through their experiences than the living. The music coincides with the arrangements nicely with no lack of Bill's abilities to play many different instruments and styles. I cannot say I have a favorite track within this double album and I always have my favorites. I believe this album needs to be listened to as a whole with its reflections on immortality, mortality, and maturity. Bill again delivers a fine work of art that seasoned listeners can enjoy and relish in the complexities of sound and dreams." MondoJohnny: "I totally agree that this feels like a nexus of the various Bill's we've seen and known. A meeting place. In some ways its as if Bill has multiple "ghosts" inside him and he acts as a medium, conjuring them up for us. Sometimes I feel that way spending so much time watching the movies of the departed, listening to their words and their music. Electric ghosts indeed. Do we keep them alive? If I could be a vessel for these ghosts, so that they could live on, I would be. "I want to say that I love when I see the witty playful side of Bill. It's something of a rarity, as he's focused on much more personal and emotional material recently, almost with a seeming sense of urgency. Perhaps there is a sense of wanting to cast off what is seen as frivolous and impermanent, but this album feels like all of Bill. The whole thing! I love it for that! "I've never felt like I have "known" another musician like this, and there are times when I feel I'm holding this delicate and precious treasure in my hands. It feels almost too pure and too honest to hold. It makes me feel ashamed of all that I hold back. "I've surrendered to the experience of being a Bill Nelson fan and I just want to say that though I may make some silly comments about wanting more synthesizers and all that, I'm along for the rest of the ride. I don't want or expect Bill to ever be the kind of man to deliver me a product. There is no menu. To choose would be to lessen." John Fisher: "What a cool album! I think the songs have a really 'laid-back' vibe. You notice I didn't use the word 'mellow'. Far from it. And despite the inclusion of a few jazz-oriented tracks, like 'Astrophysical' (one of Bill's favourites), it's much more of a rock album. Yes, it's wonderful to see Bill improvising live on stage. But for me, perhaps more rewarding is this extended snapshot of Bill as a master songwriter. The songwriting exudes confidence, as he contemplates life both physical and metaphysical. Bill sounds like an artist truly inspired, and completely at home in his skin." BobK: "Ghosts falls into the rock genre I suppose. It is a collection of wonderfully melodic tunes, nicely sung with fabulously tasteful guitar playing throughout. Typically there is a lot going on behind the vocals, some cool percussive sounds and of course blippy noises and oddness. The tunes, in keeping with the title, have an ethereal, subtle - dare I say 'Ghostly'- quality to them. The top line melody sometimes takes a while to hit the spot. The most enjoyable listens are driving home in the dark on a peaceful and quiet motorway with the volume cranked up. It is a terrific collection." paul.smith: "Absolutely love a couple of the instrumentals almost immediately, and 'Zodiac' and several of the vocal tracks are 'coming through' after the proverbial 'repeated listenings'...Very eclectic group of tracks that are seemingly destined to be reeling 'round my head in the fullness of time." steve lyles: "My copy of songs for ghosts arrived a couple of days ago and is as my usual way with Bill Nelson's music l immerse myself in its warmth and complexity...its twists and turns the virtuosity and unique rhythmic backdrop...I've pondered why no one has said anything about the album and after several spins believe it's related to Bill's vocal stylings...on this album being very "free form jazz" it's like Joni Mitchell's Mingus or blue, a voluptuous cocktail of sound from a master musician at the top of his creative brilliance...it's an instantly accessible album with distinctly paradoxical elements...Bill you're a bloody genius...more please." alec: "Enjoying the many surprising twists and turns that, cat-like, all land on their feet . An instant favourite is 'Man Or Astroman (Cat Or Mouse)'... "And much dappled light, sonic splashes and some splotches, as well as Noir b&w, Technicolor and sepia wobble and fade into one another, jump cuts from dissolves, that these calico tracks slink about in... "One second tranquility, another second a shiver of paranoia... "Sun throws long shadows from these passing cars, gold and burnished in the evening air. " Albums Menu Future Past

Tremulous Antenna retrospective collection - 27 May 2002 Be Bop Deluxe Collections Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Life In The Air Age 02) Sister Seagull 03) Third Floor Heaven 04) Blazing Apostles 05) Maid In Heaven 06) Kiss Of Light 07) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 08) Fair Exchange 09) Ships In The Night 10) Modern Music/Dancing In The Moonlight/Honeymoon On Mars/Lost In The Neon World/Modern Music (Reprise) 11) New Precision 12) Superenigmatix 13) Possession 14) Dangerous Stranger 15) Islands Of The Dead 16) Panic In The World NOTES: Tremulous Antenna is a remastered edition of the Radioland CD (1994) which provides a compilation of the band's BBC recordings for In Concert made in 1976 and 1978. Sourced from 3 different shows, each recording was edited when compared to the original broadcast material. The subsequent release of At the BBC 1974-1978 (2013) with the inclusion of the previously omitted tracks makes this CD redundant. Tracks 1-4: Recorded for BBC's 'Radio 1 In Concert' at the Paris Theatre 15.01.76. Producer Jeff Griffin. Tracks 5-10: Recorded for BBC's 'Radio 1 In Concert' at the Hammersmith Odeon 20.10.76. Producer Pete Dauncey. Tracks 11-16: Recorded for BBC's 'Radio 1 In Concert' at Golders Green Hippodrome 19.01.78. Producer Jeff Griffin. PAST RELEASES: Previously released as Radioland (1994). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: This compilation is now out of print. Collections Menu Future Past

Tomorrow's Just Another Day album - 1983 Yukihiro Takahashi Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Guitar and Vocals. Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Wings of the Dawn single - 1982 Monsoon Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: E-Bow Guitar on the A-side. Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Live Archive Be Bop & Beyond Tour - 2004 During October 2004, Bill assembled his 'occasional' band, The Lost Satellites, to embark on a UK tour celebrating 30 years of Bill Nelson's music. The band consisted of... Bill Nelson - Guitars & Voice, Nick Dew (Be Bop's original drummer) - Drums, Ian Nelson - Saxophone & Keyboard, Ian Leese - Bass & Backing Vocals, Dave Standeven - Guitar, Steve Cook - Keyboards, Jon Wallinger - Keyboard & Acoustic Guitar. The tour kicked off with a 'secret' warm-up gig at The Duke of Cumberland in North Ferriby, near Hull, with the band going under the guise of 'The Sex Gods Of Disneyland'. Shows were then put on in Sheffield, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Newcastle and two nights in London, before finishing with a performance at the annual Nelsonica convention, again at North Ferriby. Concert running order: Part One: 'Bejeweled Dream Of Electric Guitars' A short solo instrumental performance from Bill Nelson featuring live improvised guitars over interactive pre-recorded tracks with his own video creations as backdrop. Part Two: 'Eight Millimetre Memories...Be Bop Deluxe In The South Of France' A thirty minute film by Bill Nelson assembled from archive home-cine footage originally taken by Bill in 1977 during the recording of Be Bop Deluxe's 'Drastic Plastic' album in Juan-Les-Pins. The film utilises several of Bill's instrumental recordings as a soundtrack. Part Three: 'Jukebox From Another World: Be Bop Deluxe And Beyond' Bill Nelson And The Lost Satellites perform selected songs from albums recorded over the last thirty years. Here's a few pictures...if you have any you would like to add, please get in touch!

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) August 2008 Jan Feb Sep Oct Tuesday 5th August 2008 -- 3:00 pm Was my previous diary entry really six months ago? A shockingly quick passing of time and the longest gap in my journal so far. There are several reasons for this, as I'll attempt to explain, 'though some of those reasons must, for purposes of practicality and discretion, only be superficially touched upon. The really short story is that it's been a tough period, one way or another and continues to be so. Work, as always, has made it difficult for me to allocate enough time to write these pages but personal complications have contributed even more to my silence. There have been far too many depressing moments, things I haven't particularly wanted to write about... But where do I start? How can I fill in the gaps in a manner that will be quick, practical and sparing of text? Thinking back through these last six months, there has been so much going on that a brief resume would not do events justice. Nevertheless, I'll attempt to keep this entry as economic and concise as possible whilst still retaining the essence of the situation. The major topic of my previous diary entry was the death of my stepfather. Unfortunately, the aftermath of that event has caused my mother untold grief. Not only has she suffered the emotional anguish of bereavement but has since been forced to seek legal advice regarding what appears to be her late husband's lack of adequate and fair provision for her within his will. I don't intend to go into specific details here as there is now an ongoing legal dispute, a dispute that must eventually be settled by a judge in a court of law. However, I WILL say that, when my mother's friends, neighbours and family heard about the way she had been dealt with, their reaction, without exception, was one of shock and anger. The most commonly used expression seems to have been 'shameful.' Everyone said she should not ignore this, that she should stand up for her rights as a dutiful wife of long-standing. As a result, she has sought professional advice, first from solicitors and latterly from Queen's Council and has been assured that, in their experienced opinion, the 'provision' made for her by her late husband is both unfair and inadequate. Not wanting to enter into confrontation, she tried to talk reason with the beneficiaries of her late husband's estate in the hope of achieving some sort of settlement. Sadly, all attempts to negotiate have so far proved futile. In fact she seems to have been cruelly 'cut-off' by the aforementioned beneficiaries, a development which, some might say, speaks louder than words. As you might imagine, my own thoughts on the whole sorry mess are not only damning but unprintable... Everyone I've spoken with considers it unforgivable that my mother has been made to endure such stress and anguish on top of all else she's suffered in recent years. The really sad thing is that this current unpleasant situation could have been avoided if fairness and love had prevailed in certain quarters. It's not just the financial issues, but also the ethical, personal and emotional ones. It's stresfull, hurtful and absolutely uncalled for. Whatever happens, I'm determined to help mum to see things through to the end, (and, all being well, to finally resolve the problem). Nevertheless, these events have left a bitter taste in the mouth, tainting memories and relationships that, in more reasonable circumstances, would never have have been tainted at all. My mother was married to George for 28 years, helped raise his children through their teens, looked after him through various illnesses, including his final, terminal one, and much more besides. Everyone has said that she deserves far more respect, consideration and kindness than has been shown to her. Enough of this, I'll move on to other topics:- Yet another negative development in our domestic life has been Emiko's unfortunate redundancy of a few months ago. This was due to a re-structuring/downsizing of the flower business where she'd been employed for the last eight years. Her income was always basic but, nevertheless, the loss of it has created a noticable and negative impact on our finances. Her input was of tremendous help to us in dealing with the cost of living. Now things have become even more of a struggle. Finding alternative work for her has proved difficult, partly because of Emi's age, (like me, she will be 60 this year), and partly because of the lack of genuine artistry and sophistication in so many of the local floral businesses. Many people just want generic, predictable floral arrangements. Emi approaches her work as an artist and finds it difficult to dumb things down for the mass marketplace. (Sounds familiar this, doesn't it?) Of course, the current economic climate hasn't helped matters much either. Small businesses are taking a battering, particularly independent ones. Still, Emi's genuiness and natural talent will, I hope, eventually win the day. At least, that's my idealistic opinion. Right now, she needs all the support she can get. I'm trying to guide her towards setting up an independent, bespoke floral design service aimed at discerning customers who appreciate something special, a little more personal and refined than the approach offered by high street florists. But neither of us have much of a business head on our shoulders, being more focussed on creativity and quality, rather than chasing profits. Besides that, my own work is so constantly intense that it's difficult for me to find enough time to help Emi as much as I'd like. But, we'll see. Here in our home town, there seems to be more empty shop premises than ever. Locally-based firms appear to be going under on a daily basis. Walking around the streets can be quite depressing, especially when you come across businesses such as the renowned and long-established Scotts the butchers who, it seems, have finally shut up shop for good. It even seems that being featured on James Martin's tv celebrity chef show hasn't saved them. I visited a local independent music store to buy some guitar strings the other day, ('Rock-Ola Music'). Whilst there I had a conversation with the shop's owner about the outrageous rates charged to small businesses by the local council. It does seem terribly unfair. What this city needs is more independents, not less. Much more diversity and not so much of the same old chain-store, corporate, identi-kit businesses that proliferate in every town and city in the U.K. We really should buy far more regularly from these independent, local businesses than we do... and from recent experience, I can confidently point people in the direction of 'Rock-Ola Music' (in York), for helpful, knowlegable service. AND they stock 'Peerless' guitars! Talking of which, my recently aquired (and very beautiful) Peerless 'Monarch' archtop guitar continues to be an absolute delight. I've been incorporating it continuously on recent recordings. It's one of those rare guitars that immediately win a permanent place in a player's heart. My musical life has always been eclectic, incorporating many contrasting musical inspirations and aspirations and my guitar choices are subsequently dictated by a wide range of creative needs. Whilst my initial career was predominately built on whatever reputation I'd established as a rock guitarist, jazz has always been an important, if subtle, element of my style. I was listening avidly to the great jazz guitarists long before I became a professional player with Be Bop Deluxe and I've always 'had a thing' about the sound and feel of a traditional archtop acoustic-electric guitar. My recent instrumental music fuses these long-time jazz leanings with rock, avant and ambient tendencies...it's not 'fusion' music but something beyond that, something personal. The recently released instrumental albums, 'Silvertone Fountains' and 'Illuminated At Dusk,' provide particular examples of this approach. The guitar playing on them mixes more traditional, rich and luxurious jazz guitar sounds with bright n' shiny rock n' roll tones. (The former from my Peerless 'Monarch,' the latter courtesy of my Campbell 'Nelsonic Transitone' signature solid-body guitar and my Eastwood/Airline retro-styled instruments.) I've always derived a perverse pleasure from playing games with musical expectations, whether those expectations are mine or my audience's. As I've mentioned before in these diary entries, my passion for guitars and guitar-based music has been dramatically re-kindled in recent years. Not the guitar styles of current '70's revivalist young bands but something that bridges the gap between the more distant past and a romantic, imaginary future.., anything that avoids current predictable popularisms. Difficult to accurately describe, (which makes it difficult to market), but, hopefully, it speaks for itself to those ready to hear it. Whilst on the subject of guitar-based bands, I came across an old photo of Be Bop Deluxe taken at the time when we were just a trio, prior to Andy joining the band. I was taken aback with my own appearance in it...I look like the mutant love-child of Rufus Wainwright and Prince! It WAS a long time ago but, my oh my, how the years rob us of our youthful good looks. Nowadays, I can't bear to see photos of my current self, too sad, too depressing, too worn and weary. But perhaps that's probably just vanity on my part. Daily life in my home studio has become hyper-intense in recent months, even by my usual workaholic standards. I've written and recorded a tremendous number of vocal and instrumental tracks, often working late into the early hours to keep things on course. It's been a punishing schedule and I've become acutely aware of the negative effect it's had on my health...I'm feeling physically and emotionally exhausted. Some days I feel as if my soul has been scattered across some nebulous interior universe like the atoms of an exploding star. I wonder if this kind of self-inflicted insanity can ever be justified, bearing in mind the small and specialist audience my music attracts. The practical reward, (in terms that most people would understand as a reward for such non-stop hard work), is pitifully small in comparison to the concentration and energy expended. Nevertheless, here is a list of tracks currently awaiting release in one form or another. It's up to date at the time of writing but is still being added to every few days:- VOCAL TRACKS:- 1: 'Welcome To Electric City.' 2: 'I Saw Galaxies.' 3: 'Once I Had A Time Machine.' 4: 'Oh Moon In The Night, I Have Seen Thee Sailing.' 5: 'Fountains Are Singing In Cities Of Light.' 6: 'Electric Trains, Clean Oceans, Clear Skies, Pure Air.' 7: 'Summer Hums In The Bee-Loud Glade.' 8: 'Time's Quick-Spun Globe.' 9: 'My Empty Bowl Is Full Of Sky.' 10: 'Help Us, Magic Robot.' 11: 'God Glows Green In Small Town Park.' 13: 'The Old Nebulosity Waltz.' 14: 'When Aeroplanes Were Dragonflys.' 15: 'Until All Our Lights Combine.' 16: 'Night Is The Engine Of My Imagination.' 17: 'When Rain Made Us Shine.' 18: 'The Golden Roundabout Rides Again.' 18: 'A Town Called Blue Tommorow.' 19: 'Mystery Vortex, (Oberon Touchstone.)' 20: 'A Million Moonlight Miles.' 21: 'The Sparkling Of Frosty Lawns. (Snowballs And Oranges.)' 22: 'No Time Says The Clock.' (Version One.) 23: 'No Time Says The Clock.' (Version Two.) 24: 'Yonder Gleams Your Star.' 25: 'How Many Miles To Babylon?' 26: 'Curate's Egg In Cup Of Grass.' 27: 'Strange And Wonderful, (That's My Life.)' 28: 'A Certain Thought Passed Through My Mind.' 29: 'Rain Falls Fast On Faded Ruin.' 30: 'Dig The Sparkles.' 31: 'Searching For An Island, (Off The Coast Of Dreams.)' 32: 'Just A Kid And All That Sky.' 33: 'Test Card.' 34: 'I Travel At Night.' 35: 'Signals From Earth.' 36: 'The Experimental Time Traveller.' 37: 'The Silver Darkness Whispers Yes.' 38: 'Heaven Is A Haunted Realm.' 39: 'Distant Years From Now.' 40: 'Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow.' 41: 'Cinnamon And Mint.' 42: 'The Emperor Of The Evening.' 43: 'The Rainiest Day In TheWorld.' INSTRUMENTAL TRACKS: 44: 'Mellophonia.' 45: 'Attempt To Re-Assemble My Fragmented Self.' 46: 'Rocket Billy Blues.' 47: 'Dance Of The Duane Eddy Twanglobots.' 48: 'Music For A Victorian Steam Cottage.' 49: 'Dreamland Airships.' 50: 'Artismo Loco.' 51: 'The Birthday Gift From Outer Space.' 52: 'Twang Rings True.' 53: 'Mars Welcomes Careful Drivers.' 54: 'Table Top Trainset.' 55: 'Thunder Heralds The Fairylight Parade.' 56: 'Cyclotron.' 57: 'The Phonograph Bird.' 58: 'Clear Skies A' Coming.' 59: 'The Standard Fireworks Stomp.' 60: 'Rotorbell.' 61: 'The Lost Art Of Doing Nothing.' 62: 'The Marvellous Model Kit.' 63: 'Frankie Surfs The Milky Way.' 64: 'The Walls Of Which Are Made Of Clouds.' 65: 'Ghosts Of Christmas Past.' 66: 'Teatime In The Republic Of Dreams.' 67: 'Dynatron Blues.' 68: 'The Way Things Go.' 17 of the best vocal tracks will make up a forthcoming vocal album release titled 'Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow.' 38 other tracks, (a mixture of vocals and instrumentals), will go onto a special, limited edition Nelsonica convention DOUBLE album, to be titled 'Clocks And Dials.' The left-over tracks will form the basis of a further album, (as yet untitled), to be released towards the end of the year. The majority of these pieces, particularly the vocal-based ones, (and particularly the 'Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow' tracks), are quite complex, epic works. They're constantly evolving compositions that rarely conform to standard rock or pop songwriting forms. Some pieces bring together several contrasting genres within the space of a single song, starting off in one place and ending up in an entirely different musical environment. They are not designed for quick, easy consumption but are perfect for listeners who enjoy following a progression of ideas, an interplay of details and layers. They're packed with melodies and sound textures. I was hoping to announce running orders for both projects in this diary entry but I'm still fine tuning things on 'Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow.' However, I CAN disclose the running order for the Nelsonica double album, 'Clocks And Dials.' The track listing on the two discs will be as follows:- CD 1: 1: 'Thunder Heralds The Fairylight Parade.' 2: 'Mystery Vortex (Oberon Touchstone.)' 3: 'Test Card.' 4: 'Clear Skies A' Coming.' 5: 'Rain Made Us Shine.' 6: 'Music For A Victorian Steam Cottage.' 7: 'A Town Called Blue Tomorrow.' 8: 'Searching For An Island Off The Coast Of Dreams.' 9: 'Signals From Earth.' 10: 'Frankie Surfs The Milky Way.' 11: 'I Travel At Night.' 12: 'Just A Kid And All That Sky.' 13: 'Rain Falls Fast On Faded Ruin.' 14: 'Artismo Loco.' 15: 'Dynatron Blues.' 16: 'No Time Says The Clock.' (Version 1.) 17: 'How Many Miles To Babylon.' 18: 'The Rainiest Day In The World.' 19: 'Twang Rings True.' ----------------- CD 2: 1: 'The Phonograph Bird.' 2: 'The Experimental Time Traveller.' 3: 'Dig The Sparkles.' 4: 'The Golden Roundabout Rides Again.' 5: 'Mellophonia.' 6: 'Electric Trains, Clean Oceans, Clear Skies, Pure Air.' 7: 'Yonder Gleams Your Star.' 8: 'Cinnamon And Mint.' 9: 'The Marvellous Model Kit.' 10: 'Curate's Egg In Cup Of Grass.' 11: 'Rocket Billy Blues.' 12: 'Distant Years From Now.' 13: 'A Certain Thought Passed Through My Mind.' 14: Oh Moon In The Night I Have Seen Thee Sailing.' 15: 'Dreamland Airships.' 16: 'Strange And Wonderful. (That's My Life.) 17: 'A Million Moonlight Miles.' 18: 'The Silver Darkness Whispers Yes.' 19: 'No Time Says The Clock. (Version 2.) For readers awaiting these new albums, I can say that both the 'Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow' and the 'Clocks And Dials' albums will initially be made available at this year's Nelsonica 08 Convention on Saturday November 1st. They will then be released more widely on the following Monday via the Dreamsville on-line store. As always, the quantity and availability of the convention album ('Clocks And Dials'), post-Nelsonica, will depend upon how many are left over once ticket holders have claimed their inclusive copies. This year's Nelsonica convention is meant to be a little special as it will act as a sort of early birthday celebration party, as well as a fan convention. (As mentioned above in this diary entry, I'll be 60 in December.) Preparation for Nelsonica 08 is already underway, not least with regard to the 38 track double album but also in terms of the integral concert performance and other programme events for the day. There's an increasingly strong possibility that a full band will be assembled to perform some older favourites, as well as my usual solo performance. In fact, there's just one component to put in place, band-wise, before I can confirm this as 100% certain but it does look as if there will be a SEVEN PIECE BAND performing at the convention, plus a solo set (and possibly an Orchestra Futura set too). The concert aspect of the convention has always been popular with attendees but the inclusion of a full band will make this year even more memorable. Full details of the band, its line-up and the name I'll eventually choose for it, will be announced both here in my diary and also on the Dreamsville Inn Forum and Nelsonica webpages as soon as the above mentioned final component is put in place. Those people who have already secured tickets for the event will be guaranteed a rare oppportunity to hear a live performance of some classic back catalogue songs from the Be Bop Deluxe and Red Noise era, as well as some more recent contemporary solo instrumental pieces. For those who haven't yet got their tickets it may be wise to secure some sooner, rather than later, especially if hearing me perform some old favourites with a live band appeals. Ticket numbers are limited and once capacity is reached, there will be no further opportunity to see something like this for a long time, or, who knows, maybe ever, again. As with all recent Nelsonicas, the biggest problem is how to fit everything into a single day. Once the convention's doors open, it's non-stop until closing time, around 11pm. It's always a tightly packed schedule of presentations and the live concert is just one of the highlights. So much work yet to do, for both myself and the team and time is rushing on. Before all this, there is still one more new album release in the pipeline. This is 'Mazda Kaleidoscope,' the third part of the triolgy begun with 'Silvertone Fountains' and 'Illuminated At Dusk.' The first two albums of the trilogy have been very well received by those who obtained copies. 'Mazda Kaleidoscope' carries the concept a little further with much longer pieces and a slightly more abstract approach. It is, even if I say so myself, a beautiful and mysterious set of tunes. The packaging artwork is now complete and the album should be available towards the end of this month (August). Here's the final track list/running order for 'Mazda Kaleidoscope':- 1: 'ALL THE WORLD FLIES KITES TONIGHT.' 2: 'BLUE SKIES LISTEN, THE UNSTRUCK BELL.' 3: 'THE NEBULOUS ADVENTURES OF NEWTON KYME.' 4: 'LAMPS ARE LIT IN THE LAND OF TOMORROW.' 5: 'YES AND ALWAYS AND FOREVER.' 6: 'EVENING ILLUMINATOR.' 7: 'MAZDA KALEIDOSCOPE.' 8: 'THE TRACE WE LEFT WHEN ALL WAS GONE.' Despite my heavy work schedule and time spent helping my mother, there have been a couple of snatched moments where I've been able to get away from my studio, if only briefly. I actually managed to attend two concerts in June. The first of these was a celebration of the work of composer Ralph Vaughan-Williams who passed away 50 years ago this year. The concert was held at York Minster on June 21st and was performed by the York Musical Society Choir and Orchestra, (A full orchestra of strings, brass, woodwinds, harp, percussion, etc plus a choir of 115 singers.) The programme featured Vaughan-William's 'Five Mystical Songs' as well as the evergreen 'The Lark Ascending, (A Romance For Violin And Orchestra)'. Well, what can I say that might do the experience justice? It was simply stunning, achingly gorgeous, wonderfully performed and rapturously received by a packed minster audience. Emi and I were both moved to tears by the poignancy and sheer beauty of the music. Unmissable. The second concert was an open-air affair, Eric Clapton in concert at Harewood House near Leeds on June 29th. Emiko and I had generously been provided with guest tickets by Eric's management and we had a very enjoyable evening despite it becoming a little chilly once the sun had dropped to the horizon. Our guest status allowed us to use a separate hospitality enclosure with bar and toilets which made matters a little more comfortable. We're both unused to festival type concerts so anything that made it a little more comfortable for such 'old folks' as us was most welcome! Our friends Steve Cook and Sarah had bought tickets for the concert too and we met up with them, pre-show, for drinks and a snack at a nearby pub. When Eric took the stage, we joined Steve and Sarah in the audience to enjoy the concert. Eric was an important inspiration to me in the 'sixties, from his Yardbirds period, through John Mayall, Cream and Blind Faith. My band 'Global Village' actually covered a couple of Blind Faith songs, back in the day! We'd also cover Cream numbers, literally learning them from the albums on their day of release. We'd be playing them in local blues clubs the following night, before many people had actually heard the album that they were taken from. I'd last seen Eric perform 'in the flesh' at 'The Last Waltz' in San Francisco in the 'seventies. My band, Be Bop Deluxe, were playing the same venue the following night and we were booked into the Miyako Hotel where all the musicians involved in The Last Waltz seemed to be staying. I was given guest tickets to that event and a backstage pass too. I've documented my experience before in this diary and on the Dreamsville Forum so won't repeat it here, other than to say it was a fabulous show, as anyone who has watched Martin Scorcese's film of the event will know. At Harewood House, Eric's playing was sublime and his band were faultless. A great choice of numbers too, not purely blues but some other items including a standout performance of George Harrison's 'Isn't It A Pity' and a wonderful rendition of Hoagy Carmichael's 'Old Rockin' Chair.' Eric continues to inspire musicians and does so with dignity and grace. It was also my pal Steve's birthday so the concert was an apt way to celebrate. One particularly nice surprise in recent weeks was receiving a lovely letter from Robert Douglas, author of the marvellously atmospheric and moving autobiographical book 'Night Song Of The Last Tram.' Regular readers of this diary will be aware that the book became the inspiration for a track of the same title that I composed and recorded for my 'And We Fell Into A Dream' album. Mr. Douglas had been informed of this fact by his publishers and they'd sent him a copy of the album along with my diary reference to his book. He then wrote to me to tell me how flattered he was. The truth is it is me who is ultimately flattered as I was absolutely bowled over to receive Mr. Douglas' generous and kind letter. I've been meaning to write back to thank him but, due to pressures of work and family as mentioned above, I'm deeply embarrased to say I have yet to drop him a line. I MUST try to do this very soon and also see if I can dig up a spare copy of my published diary to send him as a thank you. But it was a great and extremely pleasant surprise. Moments like that are rare jewels in this 'business' of making music. I treasure them. Whilst on the subject of literature, I continue to slowly inch my way through a mountain of books at my bedside. A few minutes of reading every night, before my eyes close, is all the time I've been able to spare, book-wise, of late. Here are a few of the ones I've attempted to digest: 'The Best Of Jazz' by Humphrey Littleton. 'Duke Ellington And His World' by A.H. Lawrence. 'The Longest Cocktail Party' by Richard DiLello. 'The Secret History Of The World' by Jonathan Black. 'Music Downtown' by Kyle Gann. 'Considering Genius' by Stanley Crouch. 'Moondog, the authorised biography' by Robert Scotto. I've been particularly impressed by the 'Music Downtown' book, a collection of published articles and essays on various American contemporary composers and musical artists. It's one of the most perceptive, passionate and entertaining critiques of modern music I've ever had the good fortune to read. I found it stimulating, informative and intelligent but would dread laying my own work in front of this fellow for his assesment! He has good things to say about my pal Harold Budd though. Supposedly the height of summer here in the u.k. but rain hitting my studio window as I type. It's been a very poor summer so far. I did manage to take my mother out for a day at the Yorkshire coast, just over a week ago, when the sun actually shone allday long. It was a glorious day...we drove first to Reighton Gap, a place my mother hadn't visited since the 1950's when we used to holiday as a family there. I've written about this place in earlier diary entries but the basic story is that my mother and father were good friends with a couple called Herman and Ada Ackroyd. They owned a wooden, pre-war seaside bungalow at Reighton Gap. They allowed Mum, Dad and me, and later Ian when he was born, to have holidays there in the 1950's. There are photos of that time in my 'Memory Codex' video. Anyway, I have very fond memories of those holidays and thought I'd take mum back there to see how little or how much it had changed over the intervening years. The old wooden bungalows on the clifftop have long gone, replaced by large, static caravans but the line of the surrounding landscape is just the same. We wandered a little further along the clifftop to a fairly isolated spot and gazed out at the sea for a while. Just before we were about to drive away, I spread my map open on the car boot to plot our next route. A car pulled up nearby and a man got out and walked towards the cliff. As he passed by he looked over in my direction, then paused and came over to me. I thought he may be needing directions and perhaps, as I had a map in my hands, presumed he was about to ask me the way. I was totally surprised when he spoke. He said: "Excuse me, aren't you Bill Nelson?" When I replied that I was he then said, "I'm a huge fan of your music. Your music changed my life!" Well...what an amazing compliment and how nice to be recognised in such an out-of-the-way spot! It made my day. Later, Mum and Emi and I drove to Flamborough Head and had ice cream at the little cafe nearby the lighthouse before taking a gentle stroll around the surrounding cliffs. The sky and sea were a wonderful blue, so warm and delicate. It was a tonic for mum, and for me. I've spent far too much time indoors this year and being out in that east coast sunshine, albeit briefly, really lifted my spirits for a while. From there we drove to the village of Sewerby and to an unfortunately fly-infested pub called 'The Ship' where we ate fish and chips for dinner before driving back to Wakefield via the Yorkshire Wolds. Since then, it's been back to the busy work schedule, solicitor's meetings and associated concerns, and helping my mum with her supermarket shopping. I travel over to Wakefield a couple of times per week to take her out and I telephone her every morning and evening to check on her well being. My other pre-occupation is finalising the running order for 'Golden Melodies Of Tomorrow' and working with David Graham on the packaging artwork for the album. Next up will be artwork for 'Clocks And Dials.' Looks like this one will be a digipak. Then I'll need to master the 38 tracks for 'Clocks And Dials' and the 17 tracks for 'Golden Melodies.' This will mean booking studio time at Fairview with my friend John Spence. There's also a long list of work I need to do in preparation for Nelsonica 08. Plus, I'm hoping to put together a compilation album for release early next year, focussing on some of my favourite instrumental guitar tracks, an album I may place with a distributer to put into shops and out for review. I plan to call this album 'Plectrajet,' something to attract possible listeners who may not have previously been aware of my work in this area. I'll maybe do the same with a vocal compilation album too. Try to spread the music a little wider? So still no proper respite or chance to take a decent break. A proper holiday would be wonderful but it is a luxury I cannot afford, either time-wise or economically at the moment. Maybe next year. Yet another long diary entry...and still I haven't told the whole story of the last six months. This will have to do for now...I'm all typed out. ***** The images included with this diary entry are as follows:- 1: Some of Bill's favourite archtops from his collection. The Peerless Monarch is lower centre. 2: A 'Golden Melodies' flyer. 3: Bill with his Peerless Monarch jazz guitar. 4: Be Bop Deluxe in trio form. (1970's.) 5: Bill and his Mum at Reighton Gap, 2008. 6: 'Plectrajet' teaser ad. Top of page

Acquitted By Mirrors - Issue Nine - Published April 1984 Back to Top

Contact Information Please use the form below to contact Dreamsville. All messages will be read, but stupid ones will be ignored!!! If you have anything you would like to send via snail-mail, please use the contact form below to request delivery address details Send Thanks! Message sent.

Rosewood Volume Two Bill Nelson album - 29 July 2005 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Tinderbox 02) Aliumesque 03) Little Cantina 04) Rolling Home (Yorkshire Raga No.1) 05) Sunbeam 06) Bramble 07) William Is Wearing The Cardigan Of Light 08) The Autumn Tram (Yorkshire Raga No.2) 09) Hi Lo La 10) Rising Sap 11) Blue Cloud 12) See-Through Nightie 13) Ordinary Storm, Waiting For Rain 14) The Light Is Kinder In This Corner Of Corona 15) Your Whole Life Dreaming ALBUM NOTES: Rosewood Volume Two was written and recorded alongside Rosewood Volume One , and like its predecessor, comprises a similar selection of acoustic guitar instrumentals. Issued in a single print run of 1000 copies, the album took approximately 7 years to sell out. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Rosewood One , And We Fell Into A Dream , Quiet Bells , Dreamland to Starboard , Illuminated At Dusk , Silvertone Fountains , Neptune's Galaxy , New Northern Dream BILL'S THOUGHTS: "A perfect companion piece to Rosewood Vol. One , still based around acoustic guitars but with a slightly different feel, featuring more percussion and a slightly more 'mainstream' approach." _____ "On the Rosewood albums, there's a combination of miked-up acoustic guitar parts and acoustic through my Line 6 Vetta 2 amp's effects, (fed direct to the mixing desk). I wanted to use both a natural and treated acoustic sound. In that respect, it's not really a pure acoustic album but then, nothing I ever do on my albums could be considered particularly pure or fundamentalist." _____ "The Light is Kinder in This Corner of Corona": "A pastiche Tex-Mex acoustic twanglomania from the Rosewood Volume 2 album. Tongue in cheek but warm and wonderful. Reminds me of US tours back in the '70s and the illusions we post-war English boys harboured about the romance of American border towns...not the most sophisticated track from the album but one of the sweetest." _____ "I'm very proud of the Rosewood albums...They're definitely on my small list of 'albums I'd like to be remembered by'." FAN THOUGHTS: TomR: "This is really excellent. On first play a much jauntier record than Vol 1 . There are not many players than make me think of Roy Smeck, Steve Howe, John McLaughlin and Andy Roberts in the space of sixteen bars. I've laughed out loud a few times already, and that doesn't happen with a CD very often." John Izzard: "As others have stated, I found it much more immediate than Volume 1 . Some real surprises in there too. It twists and turns, introducing new ideas and themes, almost all the time. Yet for all of its diversity, it remains a coherent and ultimately lovely piece of work." paulnery: "Vol II is less calm than Vol. I . Some tension can be noticed in the tracks...and the tracks are faster, people can dance to these tunes...While Vol. I is more Yin , Vol. II is more Yang." "The Light is Kinder in This Corner of Corona": "is very nice, reminded me of The Shadows in some moments. Beautiful instrumental." alec: "Listening to Rosewood Volume 2 for the third time and I'm struck by how, though it's instrumental, I hear voices in some of the pieces -- like the first piece for example, "Tinderbox"." PhilK: "Seriously though it is a beautiful piece of music, I initially started to pick favourite tracks ("Sunbeam", "Blue Cloud", "Bramble") but by the third listen I came to the conclusion it is an album to listen to completely rather than odd tracks out of sequence." Mr.Ilektrik: "Both albums are beautiful, I can't pick a favourite out of the two albums or even pick out favourite tracks. They are ALL wonderful ornaments & graces." JovialBob: "I've just been playing Rosewood while some friends were here, and they wanted to know who was responsible for the wonderful music, so there's another two fans to add to the ever growing number..." swampboy: "I have grown to really love both discs, and find the guitar sound very appealing, but isn't that just like Bill, to give us something that is both familiar, yet unique. I was really hesitant to buy either of these discs, as I wasn't sure if I'd like Bill doing acoustic, but I find myself returning to them again and again. I've heard a lot of acoustic guitar over the years, but nothing that sounds quite like this." wadcorp: "The Rosewood volumes should be next on the list of 'Catching up to Bill' albums?" "Without question. Those discs contain some of the most amazing acoustic guitar. You will not be disappointed." Albums Menu Future Past

The Last Of The Neon Cynics Bill Nelson album - 21 May 2012 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Riding The Go-Tubes 02) Interstellar Courier 03) Decimal Point For The Thousand Races 04) Jericho's Armband Counsel 05) Cassidy's Electric Campfire Song 06) The Colonel Has An Anti-Decimal Scheme 07) The Blue Taint 08) Mathematical Prairie 09) Do Space Trams Dream Of Fictitious Passengers? ALBUM NOTES: The Last of the Neon Cynics is an instrumental album (with a single vocal track) released on the Sonoluxe label issued in a single print run of 500 copies. The album was a collaboration with illustrator Matt Howarth that was commenced in 2003. At one point it had been hoped that the artwork would be presented in book form with the accompanying CD but manufacturing costs ruled this out. Instead, the album was pressed as an Enhanced-CD, with the Howarth's illustrated story included as s a PDF file, accessed by loading the CD onto a PC. On May 4th, 2012 (Star Wars day!) a taster track "Decimal Point for the Thousand Races" was officially released through Soundcloud with the full album finally available on May 21st, 2012. The limited nature of the release (Nelson's first CD restricted to just 500 copies since Arcadian Salon in 2006) meant that collectors had to be alert to get their hands on a copy. Consequently on June 26th an announcement was made on the Dreamsville forum that the CD was almost sold out, with the last copy being snapped up on July 2nd. A few lucky latecomers though were able to get autographed copies by ordering from Matt Howarth's website in October that year. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Neon Cynic is a collaboration between myself and respected American comic book artist Matt Howarth. Its full title is The Last of the Neon Cynics , a project I began working on quite a few years ago now, (in 2003 to be exact). "The Last of the Neon Cynics was conceived as a sci-fi comic book/graphic story, about a cosmic cowboy called 'Cassidy' who has a robot guitar as his side-kick. Cassidy travels the multiverse in an inter-dimensional tram that utilises galactic wormholes to get from one place to another. The story takes in his battle with an evil entity called 'The Blue Taint'. "Matt wrote and illustrated the tale, (after we originally discussed the idea, way back when), and I have, over the last seven years, written, performed and recorded the musical soundtrack for it. "This project has taken a very long time to come to fruition, mainly my fault due to my unrelenting, intense work-schedule which has only allowed me to devote time to the Neon Cynic music in between other projects. And as Dreamsville citizens know, there are virtually no 'in-between' times in my schedule at all!" [2010] _____ "Whilst there are only nine tracks on the album, they're all long ones and act as a 'soundtrack' to the sci-fi story contained within the CD, (you'll be able to access this by popping the disc into your computer). All the tracks are instrumental with one exception, a rather novel song written and sung from the central character's point of view. The song also features a kind of robot guitar that can play any style of music, (in the song's case, with touches of Jimi Hendrix and Chet Atkins!)" FAN THOUGHTS: BenTucker: "It has a lot of really incredible guitar, and it's mostly instrumental (just one song with vocals). It's an essential purchase for any aficionado of Bill's guitar music." "The Colonel Has an Anti-Decimal Scheme": "How outrageously great is that track!! Just incredible..." mitchellmichael: Best Bill Nelson release of 2012 Poll: "No puzzle here! For me it wins hands down. Great concept, great art/artist, and great music!!! Download Neon Cynics . Best BN release of 2012!" martin jordan: Best Bill Nelson release of 2012 Poll: "Overall my vote has to go to The Last of the Neon Cynics - I love every track and the guitar playing is incredible!" swampboy: "While I think that all of the albums released this year [2012] are very good to excellent, I still think that The Last of the Neon Cynics was the best release out of the bunch. Tight, concise songs with layers of gorgeous guitar." "The whole CD is a smorgasbord of aural delights." Iron Man No. 28: " The Last of the Neon Cynics is the standout release for me: particularly like hearing the music in sync with reading the comic. Personal favourite track is the coda, "Do Space Trams Dream of Fictitious Passengers", for its incredible sense of yearning and regret for what might have been. When I put it on, it's like I've died and gone to Twangolia Heaven. Transcendentally wonderful. Thanks, Bill." GettingOnTheBeam: "Some very heavy rock oriented instrumentals in this one. This CD is extremely underrated." felixt1: "On "Cassidy's Electric Campfire Song", Bill is channelling - Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck! On the following song, "The Colonel Has An Anti-Decimal Scheme", Bill delivers a bit of a guitar tour de force along similar but different lines to "Machines of Loving Grace"." novemberman: "Mr. Nelson you've done it again - another masterpiece! After one play through, stand out moments are "Interstellar Courier" and "The Colonel Has an Anti-Decimal Scheme". Now I've got to have a look at the book to find out what these tantalising titles are all about." Albums Menu Future Past

Viva Lava Liva 1980 - 1983 album - 1984 Sandii & the Sunsetz Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Nelson is credited with writing the lyrics for one song, "Walk Away". Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Satellite Songs Bill Nelson album - 3 October 2004 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Times Of Our Lives 02) Like Rain (Rust's Dim Lustre) 03) Sphinx 04) Hollywood Still Burning 05) Garden In The Sky 06) Somewhere Else Is Here 07) Infinity Meets The Moment 08) The Rise Of Pandemonium And The Fall Of Kingdom Come 09) The Wind Blows Silver And The Bees Hum Gold 10) Evening Tide 11) Forever Blue Sings The Sky 12) Sweet William's Epiphany ALBUM NOTES: Satellite Songs is a vocal album issued in a single pressing of 1,000 copies on the Sonic Masonic Records label. The album was intended as a band recording using musicians that occasionally had appeared with Nelson, billed as the Lost Satellites. Had it proved financially viable, Nelson had his sights on returning to Fairview Studios for the recording of Satellite Songs . In the event, Nelson had neither the time nor funding to fulfill these plans, and ended up recording the album alone at home. But the band would perform with him that autumn on the Be Bop Deluxe and Beyond tour. Satellite Songs was put on sale at the start of the Be Bop Deluxe and Beyond tour, simultaneously with both Custom Deluxe and Dreamland to Starboard . After the tour had finished, the album was sold exclusively through S.O.S. The album eventually sold out in 2006. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Orpheus in Ultraland , Fancy Planets , Joy Through Amplification , Special Metal , Blip! , Blip 2 , Fantasmatron , Captain Future's Psychotronic Circus , Electric Atlas , Golden Melodies of Tomorrow , New Northern Dream BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Forever Blue Sings the Sky": "Moody romanticism, a lovely melody and some complex jig-saw puzzle guitar." _____ "Nearer to rock music in style is Satellite Songs . A kind of contemporary take on what Be Bop would possibly have been doing today, had I kept the band together." FAN THOUGHTS: wadcorp: "A stunner of an album. When I discovered Dreamsville & was reconnecting with Bill Nelson after a long absence, this was one of the very first I picked up when I ordered. I was hooked from the first play. Great tunes throughout." james warner: "A companion piece to the Be Bop and Beyond retrospective concert of 2004, this album of vocal tracks seems like Bill's personal reflections on where he had been and where he was then. The songs hint at things remembered and lost, a grudging acceptance of things as they are and hope in the final revelatory track, "Sweet William's Epiphany", a long ethereal journey punctuated by bursts of energy." ModernMusic: "To my ears, I have always thought that Satellite Songs contains many throwbacks to BBD...the extended soloing on the first track, "Times of Our Lives", for example, is one that is very reminiscent of the Live in the Air Age guitar playing. Subtle throwbacks throughout that entire album but refreshingly new!" Panoramicon: "Times of Our Lives": "A quintessential Bill tune, evoking bright, sunny memories of (my) youth in England. If this is nostalgia, I'm all for it. Great chorus (I sing this out loud in the car while driving, much to the chagrin of my daughter in the back). But then, what does he give us? First, a fine melodic solo 'fore the final chorus, and then...oh my, a vista opens up above three simple strummed chords and we get two (two!) beautiful solos. The phrases like poignant, fading memories; red-shifting into the past like those distant galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. I could also mention the terrific swaggering guitar on "Sphinx", the reflective beauty of "Sweet Williams Epiphany"...so many albums, so much wonder...Bless you Bill!" Mozo: "S.S. is one of the best Nelson releases ever! Especially for all the hep cats out there who keep a yearning for the pre-Red Noise era Bill. "Hollywood Still Burning" rocks with the best of any Be-Bop released. And I still say that "Sweet Williams Epiphany" is a condensed version of Bill's career in a nutshell. That's my story and I'm sticking to it." stpetelou: "This is a wonderful collection of music from Bill. Some of the songs sound to me as if they could have been from the late BBD era and Bill plays some fantastic guitar throughout. The song "The Wind Blows Silver and the Bees Hum Gold" is worth the price alone!" tommaso: "Well, for me it HAD the WOW factor! So catchy melodies, beautiful arrangements, and Bill REALLY singing tunes again (this last aspect I really missed on Atom Shop or Whimsy ), just like in the old times. "Time of our lives" must be one of my all-time Bill faves, just as "Evening Tide"." RJR: "BN's most underrated tune? "Sweet William's Epiphany" from Satellite Songs. Superb!!!" "This CD is an absolute goldmine of excellent pieces." aquiresville: "Sweet William's Epiphany": "Gorgeous Nelsonic pastoral guitar progression, with Bill's wonderful sweet-and-high singing, and those wonderful thundercloud Superstar shred-solo breaks, it's a beautiful example of Past-and-Present Bill, all rolled into a nine minute slice of musing (Yes, it even includes some "found voice" Orchestra at the end -- "Every atom, belonging to me."). It's truly one of my Favorite Songs, for the moment. Thank you, Bill!" Parsongs: "One of my favorite "vocal" albums, it's on my player quite often. Not a bad song on it; all hits. "Sweet William's Epiphany" - one of my favorite songs by Bill. I wish it could go on forever. The extended ending is there too." chromiumlad: "I absolutely love Satellite Songs . One that grabbed me instantly and never let go." Alan: "Satellite Songs is a brilliant album all the way through. The music and the vocals are stellar, if I may say." "Definitely a must have. This CD has great lyrics, vocals and instrumentation. If you don't have it yet, buy it soon." Albums Menu Future Past

The Dreamsville Gallery Bill Nelson Pictures Ancient Guitars Essoldo Cinema Memorabilia

Astral Motel Bill Nelson album - 7 September 2002 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Whistleworld 02) Noonday Venus 03) Unsaid (Starry Lamps And Blazing Comets) 04) Autumn And Spring 05) Dippety-Doo 06) Nothing Up My Sleeve 07) Incident At Astral Motel 08) Beyond Recall ALBUM NOTES: Astral Motel is an album issued on the Almost Opaque label exclusively for Nelsonica '02 . Astral Motel was the first of Nelson's albums to be restricted to a single print run of 500 copies, a situation that in time would become the norm. After Nelsonica '02, the album was sold exclusively through the Rooms With Brittle Views website, where it remained on catalogue for approximately 1 year. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . FAN THOUGHTS: Marshall: "A terrific and very coherent piece of work with a little bit of everything -- kitschy pop tunes, gorgeous ambient pieces, soaring guitar instrumentals, all in one tasty package." Dar: "Astral Motel is a true gem, nothing less." Mick Winsford: "My favourite song at the moment in all of this is a fairly obscure track called "Beyond Recall" (final track on Astral Motel which is currently haunting my conscious and unconscious mind). That little keyboard motif that is used throughout the song just keeps spinning around my head and I can't get rid of it." paulnery: "It has one of Bill's best tunes - "Beyond Recall" - simply wonderful!" dbodom: "Nothing Up My Sleeve": "In my top five best BN tracks. The guitar work is fantastic and it's so Bill, if you know what I mean. "Here...I'll set the metronome...". " Peter: "This album is worth it for the solo on "Nothing Up My Sleeve" alone. I also really like "Beyond Recall". Very majestic and uplifting. And the rest of the album is pretty damned good too!" Alan: "Beyond Recall": "is wonderful, as are all the tracks. I have to say I listened to Astral Motel all weekend and every track is fantastic." Albums Menu Future Past

Astral Navigations album - 1971 Lightyears Away/Thundermother Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Guitar on three of the songs credited to Lightyears Away: "Yesterday", "Today (North Country Cinderella)" and "Tomorrow (Buffalo)". On "Tomorrow", Nelson sang some vocals as well. Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

The Dreamshire Chronicles More Listening Notes Go to Album Listening Notes to accompany the album The Dreamshire Chronicles by Bill Nelson DISC ONE: 1: 'Prelude: The Night Is Lit By Diamonds.' A gentle electronically treated piano and reverse guitar lead to a processed percussion loop. Chorused, echo chamber guitar floats languidly. A two minute forty four second instrumental. It suggests starlight shimmering above the slumbering towns and villages of Dreamshire, settling and centering the listener's mind in preparation for the movie in sound about to begin. 2: 'Welcome To Dreamshire.' (Monitor Mix.) A heavily treated percussion loop underpins this mid-tempo vocal ballad. A romantic but melancholy song whose opening lyrics are: "I dream of cities that don't exist, faces of people I've never met, empty streets bejewelled with rain..." Instrumental textures combine strings and woodwinds with Hammond organ and electric guitars. A couple of liquid, melodic, sustained guitar solos enhance the song. A brief toy xylophone line concludes it. This is the first of two mixes of this song. (The second appears on disc two.) This one is a monitor mix which is more or less as it sounded whilst I was still working on the piece in my home studio. It has a simple, intimate quality which I liked, hence its inclusion here. 3: 'The Pleasure Boaters.' Somewhat dark and mysterious. A one minute and thirty six second instrumental. Brushed drums and chiming guitars lead to an Indian orchestra and reverse guitar conclusion. Brief but moody. 4: 'This Everyday World.' (Vocal version.) Spooky opening cuts suddenly to piano and orchestra for this melodic song which is a distant cousin to certain tracks on 'The Alchemical Adventures Of Sailor Bill.' Time signature fluctuates between 4/4 and 3/4 (Waltz time.) Lyrics open with: "This everyday world is a haunted place...This everyday world, far from commonplace..." The song's coda shifts pace as a steam driven percussion loop enters and tremolo guitars accompany the repeated refrain "Voices in the darkness..." 5: 'Rainboy And Whistledog.' Thunder and rain opens this charming, chiming, freely improvised instrumental. A latin percussion loop suggests a mutant mix of cha-cha and bossa nova. (Spot the piano quote from 'Begin The Beguine.' ) Squelchy synth bass underpins twangy guitars and ghostly strings as Rainboy and his Whistledog wander the cobbled streets of a gaslit Dreamshire town sparkling with night rain. 6: 'Young Marvelman.' Opens with needle static, brushed snares, raindrop-piano and dreamy guitars, leading to a strange and moody song inspired by the 1950s comic book character 'Young Marvelman' who, in my imagination is a denizen of Dreamshire.' Lyrics include: "Young Marvelman hovers in halogen, miraculous powers under control...Ladies in lavender gaze at the bolt from the blue...so there he goes and everyone knows, Young Marvelman..." 7: 'Garden Railway.' A whimsical little instrumental which opens with synthesised 'steam' effects leading to electronic percussion, piano melody, choral motifs, plucked strings and backward harps as a miniature railway train puffs its way happily around the garden of one of Dreamshire's more eccentric lords of the manor. 8: 'The Shimmering Threshold (On Your Bike Emperor Ming.)' A vocal ballad this, beautiful but not a little strange. A sample of the lyrics: "Mandolin by the sea, broken clarinet, mandolin by the sea....My location on your dial, my name on the edge of your smile, roller coaster century...And there we stood, on the hilltop, looking at street lamps and stars...Chimney stacks and viaducts, smoke that blows away, blows away...The shimmering threshold..." An oriental melody enters followed by lyrics referencing 'Emperor Ming' from the old 'Flash Gordon' Republic film serials of the 1930s. A combination of orchestra and electric guitar leads to a change of tempo and fast synthetic phased drums as a weird coda kicks in with cellos, electric guitars and a lyric which sings, "Oh my God, this looks like, oh my God this looks like, some weird kind of apparition..." The song ends with a burst of heavily distorted guitars, running in both forward and reverse gear. 9: 'Evening Star Electric Park.' An eight minute forty six second instrumental featuring slightly oriental Marimba patterns with improvised jazzy guitar overdubs. Has an overdriven guitar break leading to a piano section, then key change into a four to the floor rhythm with fuzz guitar then a return to marimba and jazzy improvisation. Mood alternating throughout between jolly and sinister. Other worldly voices enter, leading to a 'musical box' loop coda over which Gretsch guitars intertwine and twang. A Mini-Moog synth enters and snakes its way through the undergrowth before vanishing. Ghostly voices return to conclude the piece. What exactly lurks in this mysterious Park? Sacred monsters or creatures of Faerie? 10: 'Sailing To The Moon.' A single sub-bass note begins this two minute and twelve second vocal-based song as a swell of processed guitars and soaring strings set the opening mood. A guitar loop enters and the vocal begins "This garden is a theatre in which colour casts its spell...This window is a portal through which ghosts are bid farewell..." A gigantic orchestra enters then dissolves as a woodwind loop gently ends the track. Short but widescreen. 11: 'The Milky Way (Burning Bright.) An abstract opening to this instrumental featuring 'found' voices. Insect-like high speed percussion kicks in and the textures shift between guitar, synth and strings, ending in a bizarre, haunted sound collage. 12: 'The Sparkling Idea.' Feedback guitar starts this song before tremelo guitar pattern enters with Indian orchestra, sitar, Moog and medium tempo drums. The lyrics begin: "My left hand holds a key, my right hand holds another...My mind defines the centre and all extraneous thoughts are dimmed..." A heavy guitar riff underpins an instrumental theme from the Indian Orchestra. More lyrics, "My left hand beats the drum, my right hand calls the thunder...Sometimes I'm struck by lightning, sometimes I'm struck by wonder..." A huge orchestra crescendo leads to quiet coda and oceanic synth and piano ending. 13: 'Ghosts Wind The Parlour Clock.' A one minute and twenty one second instrumental combining sample-and-hold synth sounds with strings, woodwinds and harp.The tick of the parlour clock sets the tempo. But who's hand is winding it? 14: 'Spooky Little Thing.' A poppy vocal in this whimsical song which cheekily references titles from several of my albums. (I won't quote from the lyrics on this one as it will spoil your fun!) Guitars, drums, slide guitar and orchestra all combined to create a melodic, catchy and concise number. 15: 'Now I Come To Think Of It.' This is one of my favourite vocal tracks on the album...psychedelic, trippy, fractured, non-linear. A sample of the lyrics: "Oh yes, now I come to think of it, oh no, maybe some mistake...Oh, yes, now you come to mention it, I guess, we were wide awake..." Guitars, synths, sitars and strings interact throughout. Enigmatic and dreamlike. 16: 'Spinning Pentagrams.' Weird opening that sounds as if the guitar has been put through a washing machine on spin cycle, over which a sampled voice speaks of 'the dark mystery of time and space.' This mysterious song develops into a strange kind of blues riff whose reverberating guitar hints at Howling Wolf mashed up with David Lynch's 'Twin Peaks.'. Here's a peek at some of the lyrics: "Here in the future, in an ancient England, pentagrams spin within electrical circuits...Swan boats drift on a beautiful river, beyond these oak trees, the glorious sea...who can tell if this is real or unreal, who can tell if this was meant to be..." The bridge section vocal has a subtle hint of mock-Cockney, Dick Van Dyke cheeky-chappie pronunciation about it as it sings, "Some days I feel special, some days I feel strange, some days I'm all metal, some days...disarranged..." An orchestral middle section then enters complete with cocktail piano and ripe flutes, sounding as if they're seeking refuge from a 1960's kitsch television spy series. The song suddenly finishes...but a shimmering loop of vari-speed guitars enters a heartbeat later and initiates a coda featuring underlying dark noise and overdubbed voice samples. Does this song suggest a bizarre fusion of '60s camp detective Jason King with Elizabethan occult Magus Dr John Dee? Hmmm...Orson Welles would say, "probably." 17: 'The Ruins Of Youth, The Twang Of Tomorrow.' A one minute and forty nine second instrumental with rippling piano and wiry electric twang guitar which quickly evolves into a picked blues feel. Phased noise ends the piece and ends Disc One of 'The Dreamshire Chronicles.' DISC TWO: 1: 'The Reality Of Imagination.' A five minute and thirty three second instrumental with various voice samples. The voices speak of 'The tomorrow people' and 'The reality of imagination.' The first two minutes of this piece feature guitar, synths and electric piano floating freely through a cathedral-like space...a low, compressed bass drum pulse enters, suggesting the tune's time signature. It is joined by cymbals and high percussion. The main guitar line is then fed through a modulating Leslie cabinet effect, which makes it sound like a hybrid of guitar and Hammond organ. The pulse gradually fades away leaving the guitar suspended in space as the track ends with more voice samples. The concept is of imagination being the key component in the worlds we create around ourselves. 2: 'Smoke Drifts Silent In Autumn Air.' Grand piano intro then tremolo guitars open this atmospheric and fragile vocal piece. Here are a few lyric examples: "Smoke drifts silent in Autumn air...over rooftops, chimney tops, here, there and everywhere...Colour coded, copper, bronze and gold...wonders to behold, wonders to behold....so pure, so clear, so far, so near..." Massed strings and underwater guitar enter as the vocal gains strength and rises to sing of "ghosts and shadows." Brass and woodwinds are added to the orchestra as the song's key changes, leading to a piano and flanged rhythm guitar section as the lyrics sing "Kiss me now and light the fire..." The electric rhythm guitar changes to an acoustic guitar and the lyrics tell of "walking in the sunshine...searching for a skyline..." French horns enter with a lovely theme, then strings and chugging electric guitar dropping away to acoustic guitar and piano and a re-iteration of the first verse's lyrics. Ends on chunky guitar chords, string figure and electric piano. All in all, an ecstatic evocation of a glorious Dreamshire autumn. 3: 'Bubbledreamer.' This one's a mid-tempo guitar instrumental in major key mode, underpinned by drums, dancing filigrees of silvery strings and filtered keyboards. A light, jazzy feel with delicate blues overtones as the guitar explores the spaces created by the various instrumental textures. Three minutes and forty one seconds of pleasantly bubbling, gentle euphoria. 4: 'My Little Book Of Secret Knowledge.' Opens with found voice samples talking about ritual Cabalistic magic. Leads into a piano led riff with lyrics which tell of "My little book of secret knowledge, the mirror in my hand...that old immortal blooming rose in the suburbs of the damned..." Spooky theremin-like sounds, cymbalon, piano and guitar followed by lyrics singing of "Beautiful phantoms..." A series of unusual and texturally contrasting instrumental changes begins, (including a heavy guitar riff,) as the song winds to a voice sample conclusion. Seems as if one of those grand gilded ruined mansions of Dreamshire is inhabited by an ancient Magus and his library of forbidden knowledge. 5: 'Robots On Parade.' This is a fun, whimsical instrumental, suggestive of clockwork and electric toy robots marching around a strange Dreamshire toyshop at night. A sampled voice interjects the word "electricity" as guitars and synths create a contemporary version of the English beat group instrumentals of the early 1960s. Think Joe Meek resurrected in the 21st Century and given digital technology to play around with. 6: 'Dark And Complicated.' Opens with the sounds of a mysterious electro-chemical laboratory, followed by spooky piano and guitar. Here are the opening lyrics to this constantly mutating song: "It's dark and complicated, deep and still...the chair in the corner sings of its own free will..." Piano, guitar, woodwind and string combinations rise and fall. More lyrics: "Ghostly apparitions, unbidden visions, strange traffic goes through this room..." A neo-classical instrumental section follows to be joined by rippling electric guitar as the opening lyric re-appears. Another song dealing with the elusive phantoms who populate Dreamshire. 7: 'Blue Beams.' (No drums mix.) A pure, clean sounding electric guitar duet, one instrument handling chords the other soloing freely over. No drums, no keyboards, no bass...just two guitars sweetly circling around each other. Music played for a Dreamshire night club ghost after the patrons have all gone home. 8: 'More Than Glory, More Than Gold.' Brushed cymbals and a lone guitar open this romantic vocal piece. Sweet lyrics: "Sunbeams dappled on ancient walls, Autumn rises as apples fall....sooner or later Winter calls and pours icing sugar over it all...When I stand naked, frail and old and every sound I've made has been bought and sold, I will love you more, truth be told, more than glory, more than gold..." Chiming, chromium guitars throughout with an orchestral middle section. A beautiful, melancholic love song. 9: 'The Lost Planet Of Sunday Afternoon.' Arpeggio guitar underpins this miniature instrumental. Overdubbed harmony lead guitars build to the track's conclusion. One minute and thirty eight seconds of pure yearning. 10: 'Mass Equals Energy.' A quirky little song in waltz-time. Surreal lyrics: "Spooky malfunction sparks arc of memory, upsets the applecart, mass equals energy..." Guitar reiterates the vocal line whilst a heat haze of soft synths hum in the background punctuated by raindrop piano. More lyrics: "Isn't this the strangest world in the universe?" More silvery guitar before a brief Giorgio Moroder style sequenced synth coda enters to end the song. It's the musings of a Dreamshire scientist, hunched over his microscope in a small art deco laboratory hidden in the heart of a misty forest. 11: 'The Light Gathering Garden Of Omar Kadiz.' Minimalist percussion and synthetic choir open this instrumental which features a simple but hypnotic piano melody, reverse guitars and lots of space. Orchestral counterpoint enters here and there, as does retro Moog synth in places. TR808 style hi-hats and hand-claps give an old-school trip-hop feel but the orchestra, electric guitars and choral parts hint at a kind of neo-classical sensibility whilst the guitar adds add a touch of psychedelia. Imagine a mystical garden where flowers glow with an inner neon-like light and trees shimmer silver against a dark thunderstorm sky. 12: 'Windsong Of The Flying Boy.' A vocal, slightly up-tempo with electric, filtered percussion. A song of the seasons. Some lyrics: "Rosy skies of Evening-land, apple blossom mercury...windsong of the flying boy, all seasons shall be sweet to thee..." More vocals, followed by a change of key then : "Speedboats from another world, mysterious comets, sounds that come and go, teenage electronics..." Which leads to a middle section featuring a wild, non-linear guitar solo before settling back into the melodic verse structure. More lyrics: "Thoughts set sail on silver ships, lost in clouds of mystery, windsong of the flying boy, all seasons shall be sweet to thee..." A melodic, clean guitar solo follows and a percussion break with hovering synths...a return to verse one...lap steel guitar and reverse guitar loop ends the song. 13: 'Henrietta Through The Looking Glass.' A climbing guitar instrumental with orchestral punctuation and piano cascades. The Henrietta of the title is legendary Soho sub-culture character Henrietta Moraes who was a model for Francis Bacon in the 'fifties. In my imagination she is now one of Dreamshire's gentle ghosts. In this piece she dances, languid and naked, smiling beatifically whilst several elderly gentlemen, dressed in tweed, watch in admiration through her window. 14: 'Luna On The Beach.' This song was originally recorded for the 'Joy Through Amplification' album but didn't make the final cut. It's a pop-rock thing with lots of wild wah-wah guitars. Some lyrics: "Give me a signal, wondrous being, draw down the power, the fire and the spark...send me a postcard, fabulous creature, bring me a souvenir from the realm of the heart..." A nice, fat, chunky guitar riff underlines the chorus. The bridge has these lyrics: "Elusive thoughts luxuriate in limpid pools of thoughtful gems...Venus swims amongst the fishes, far beyond the rings of Saturn...Rockets glimpsed in evening skies..." A wonderfully chaotic arrangement. 15: 'Neither Puck Nor Pan.' A moody, minor-key instrumental featuring processed guitars and electric piano. It evokes and conjures the more shadowy denizens of Dreamshire. 16: 'Welcome To Dreamshire.' [LuxeMix.] This is a more 'shiny' or polished mix of the song on Disc One. It brings 'The Dreamshire Chronicles' album almost full circle. 17: 'This Everyday World.' (Instrumental Version.') Whilst working on the vocal version of this piece, I realised that the 'backing track' could work in its own right with a couple of extra overdubs and a little tweaking. This is the result of that process and it ends the album in fine orchestral style as the listener bids farewell to Dreamshire...until the next time! Music and Lyrics Copyright Bill Nelson 2012 All Rights Reserved. More Listening Notes Go to Album

Atom Shop Bill Nelson album - 12 September 1998 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Wild And Dizzy 02) Dreamsville 03) Magic Radio 04) Pointing At The Moon 05) Train With Fins 06) Popsicle Head-Trip 07) Propellor Of Legend 08) Viva Le Voom-Voom 09) Billy Infinity 10) She Gave Me Memory 11) My World Spins 12) Rocketship 13) Girlfriend With Miracles 14) Spinning Dizzy On The Dial 15) Atom Shop (Is Closing) ALBUM NOTES: Atom Shop is another album of demo material recorded in 1996-97, that Nelson had planned on re-recording with outside musicians, but financial constraints led to this more modest approach. The album was licensed to Robert Fripp's label DGM, and initially was available as a mail order item via the DGM website before gaining a more general release a couple of weeks later. Nelson purchased the remaining stock from DGM to sell through Sound On Sound, the album sold out in February 2018. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "The album was recorded at home on my old analogue 16 track system and the songs were originally intended as demos as I had hoped to re-record them with Mitchell Froom producing, (another tremendous world-class record producer). Mitchell told me that I'd be wasting my money employing a producer for those recordings as I'd got the songs to work in exactly the way they needed to. "In terms of the actual recordings, though, that 'demo' thing can be psychologically misleading, (as I've come to realise over the years). It's both a relative and a subjective term. What I personally think of as 'demos', others might think of as finished pieces and vice-versa. It's sometimes entirely dependent upon just how I describe them in my sleeve notes or in interviews. Minds are soft and vulnerable and, as William Burroughs once said, 'words are a virus.' Perhaps I've sometimes been too dismissive of some of my work, maybe I should have dressed it up in glad rags more... "Did the demo tag indicate an unfinished work there or not? With hindsight, that particular album sounds like a complete, finished statement to me now, 'though I referred to it as a collection of demos and sketches back when it was released." _____ "Atom Shop , like many of my albums, was considered a little bit odd by some fans at the time of its release. These days though, most listeners will realise that many of my recordings exist in a kind of suspended gravity...ie: It sometimes takes a while for the penny to drop!" FAN THOUGHTS: Johnny Jazz: " Atom Shop is bloody wonderful...A most wonderous and charming collection. A perfect blend of bluesy poppy jazz in our Bill's own inimitable style." Twilightcapers: "Thought I would just say how great Atom Shop is. Love those Jazzy Drum 'n' Bass tunes. If you like After the Satellite Sings you'll love this." Ishikawa: "On Atom Shop , Bill seemed to be exploring a whole new approach to structure, and the use of powerful, resonant sounds. I was about to list a few songs of note, but it ended up being about 90% of the whole thing. "Train with Fins"... boy, does that one moooove. Suffice to say, it's a cracker..." Parsongs: "If you're a jazz fan, be sure to track down a copy of Atom Shop by Bill Nelson. By far the coooolest contemporary jazz this side of fliptown." "I often think Atom Shop was overlooked by the music press. It's the most alternative of the alternative rock records..." donger: " ATOM SHOP is the coolest Bill Nelson release and "Dreamsville" is his hippest song." alec: "And how cool is the track "Dreamsville" from Atom Shop ? I always think of that track when I'm here at this cool place. Dreamsville, drivin' thru Dreamsville. Love everything about the track not LEAST of which is the AWESOME wah-wah guitar and disjointed be-bop trumpet." james warner: "I have always had a particular soft spot for "Propeller of Legend". Apart from the gloriously wigged-out guitar, the marimba riff has me thinking of baby elephants as it reminds me of the kind of theme used in those sixties safari movies." BobK: "One morning about 7 years ago me and Mrs K were awoken, by the sound of "Popsicle" blaring out on the CD player. Very strange we thought, particularly as BN sounded a bit out of tune and in an uncomfortably high register. Strolled downstairs to find our 4 year old had put it on, pulled out the lyric sheet and was happily singing along!" TheGlassGuitar: "It grew on me slowly and incessantly, to the point where it's now one of my favourites ." Telecat: " Atom Shop is one of my favourite albums which brought to a close one of Bill's best periods. Along with The Hyperdreamer set and the superb After the Satellite Sings they represent a period when the albums were rarely off my system." wonder toy: "Go listen to Atom Shop again and report back. That guy IS cool." Albums Menu Future Past

Ships in the Night Be-Bop Deluxe single - 16 January 1976 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: A) Ships In The Night B) Crying To The Sky ORIGINALLY: "Ships in the Night" was an edited version of the Sunburst Finish album cut, whereas "Crying to the Sky" was lifted unchanged from the same album. NOTES: Ships in the Night was the fifth Be Bop Deluxe single issued during the band's existence. The single was issued in a generic record company sleeve. UK Promo copies exist with the words "Demo Record Not For Sale", and a large 'A' printed on the label. US Mono/Stereo promo copies were pressed to encourage airplay on both AM and FM radio. PAST RELEASES: Both tracks would be included on the Singles As and Bs compilation (1981). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The single is long deleted, but both tracks can be found on the Cherry Red/Esoteric Recordings reissue of Sunburst Finish (2018 ) - both in physical form and as a digital download. Singles Menu Future Past

Tramcar to Tomorrow retrospective collection - 31 August 1998 Be Bop Deluxe Collections Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Third Floor Heaven 02) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 03) Mill Street Junction 04) 15th Of July (Invisibles) 05) Maid In Heaven 06) Stage Whispers 07) Sister Seagull 08) Blazing Apostles 09) Crying To The Sky 10) Peace Of Mind 11) Panic In The World 12) Love In Flames NOTES: Tramcar to Tomorrow was a natural follow up to Radioland issued four years previously, in that gave the first official release to a selection of Be Bop Deluxe BBC studio session recordings made for The John Peel Show . It wasn't a definitive collection by any means, but it was a start for those fans who had spent part of their youth recording this material onto cassettes either from the original Peel programmes or from various re-broadcasts on the Alan Freeman show or the Friday Rock Show presented by Tommy Vance. Sourced from 4 different sessions and giving the first release to the lost song "15th of July" (recorded for a 1974 Peel session), Tramcar to Tomorrow provided a decent overview of the band's BBC recordings made to promote the albums Axe Victim , Futurama , Sunburst Finish , and Drastic Plastic . The omission of the three tracks from a 1973 Peel session ("Axe Victim", "Bluesy Ruby" and "Tomorrow The World"), plus one track from the 1975 session ("Lights") and two tracks from the 1978 session ("Superenigmatix" and "Love in Flames") was disappointing to those looking at least for complete sessions, if not a complete anthology of such recordings. The subsequent release of At the BBC 1974-1978 (2013), with the inclusion of the previously omitted tracks from the 1975 and 1978 sessions, was a huge step in the right direction, but frustratingly three tracks found on Tramcar were omitted from the 2013 box set release. The Peel session from November 1973 wouldn't see an official release until the Cherry Red/Esoteric Recordings reissue of Axe Victim in 2020. PAST RELEASES: None of this material was previously available on official releases. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: This compilation is now out of print. Collections Menu Future Past

At The BBC 1974 - 1978 box set - 30 September 2013 Be Bop Deluxe Collections Menu Future Past TRACKS: CD1 John Peel Session, May 1974 01) Third Floor Heaven 02) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 03) Mill Street Junction 04) 15th Of July John Peel Session, March 1975 05) Maid In Heaven 06) Stage Whispers 07) Sister Seagull 08) Lights In Concert, January 1976 09) Life In The Air Age 10) Sister Seagull 11) Ships In The Night 12) Maid In Heaven 13) Third Floor Heaven 14) Blazing Apostles CD2 In Concert, October 1976 01) Maid In Heaven 02) Bring Back The Spark 03) Kiss Of Light 04) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 05) Fair Exchange 06) Ships In The Night 07) Twilight Capers 08) Modern Music (Medley) 09) Blazing Apostles CD3 John Peel Session, January 1977 01) Mill Street Junction 02) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 03) Still Shining In Concert, January 1978 04) New Precision 05) Superenigmatix 06) Possession 07) Dangerous Stranger 08) Islands Of The Dead 09) Panic In The World 10) Lovers Are Mortal 11) Love In Flames 12) Blazing Apostles John Peel Session, January 1978 13) Superenigmatix 14) Panic In The World 15) Possession 16) Love In Flames DVD Old Grey Whistle Test, July 1975 01) Maid In Heaven 02) Sister Seagull Old Grey Whistle Test, January 1976 03) Fair Exchange 04) Ships In The Night Old Grey Whistle Test, November 1976 05) Forbidden Lovers 06) Down On Terminal Street Sight And Sound In Concert, February 1978 07) New Precision 08) Superenigmatix 09) Possession 10) Dangerous Stranger 11) Islands Of The Dead 12) Lovers Are Mortal 13) Panic In The World NOTES: A 3CD + DVD box set which very nicely brings together most of the band's BBC recordings for the John Peel show, In Concert, and The Old Grey Whistle Test. The set comes with a nicely illustrated if short booklet with sleeve notes from Nelson and recording information for each session or show. Be Bop Deluxe's BBC output had appeared on a number of previous releases (see Past Releases below), but this was the most comprehensive collection that had appeared officially, and is unlikely to be surpassed or supplemented in future. Notable inclusions on this set are the previously unreleased John Peel Session from January 1977; the two previously unreleased tracks from the January 1978 John Peel Session; the three previously unreleased tracks from the Sight and Sound In Concert recording from February 1978 (including two tracks that were never broadcast); and the thirteen tracks from the OGWT /Sight and Sound performances from 1975, 1976 and 1978, twelve of which were previously unreleased. There are also five tracks that prior to the appearance of this box set were only available as digital downloads. The only confirmed omissions (using Ken Garner's In Session Tonight book as reference) are the band's 1973 session for John Peel, which is assumed to be lost, and another John Peel Session from 1976 that was included on the Tramcar to Tomorrow CD in 1998. PAST RELEASES: More than 50% of the material presented in this box set had appeared on previous releases on either CD or as digital downloads, but much of this was long out of print by the time At the BBC 1974-1978 was released. The majority of the In Concert/Sight and Sound material had already appeared up to three times: on the Radioland CD (from 1994), its remastered equivalent Tremulous Antennae CD (from 2002), and the two In Concert downloads (from 2010), thus making these past releases completely redundant. Of the John Peel Session material, all but five tracks had appeared either on the Tramcar to Tomorrow CD issued in 1998, or the John Peel Session download (from 2010), but the former contains exclusive material in the form of the 1976 Peel Session omitted from this box set. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Currently out of print, but the included material may appear as part of Cherry Red's re-issue program. Collections Menu Future Past