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Home Studio Recording Home Studio Recording was a UK monthly music magazine which reviewed equipment and interviewed musicians about how they recorded their music. Editor Ian Gilby travelled to Yorkshire to interview Bill in his home studio which was called The Echo Observatory. The interview was probably the most in-depth any musician had given the magazine, running to some nine full pages, and provides a wonderful insight into what equipment Bill was using at the time. In 1984 Bill's trusted Fostex B16 was at the leading edge of multi-track home recording technology and was used to record many albums over the years. When the time came to 'retire' the ageing analogue gear and acquire a Mackie digital system, Bill sold off many items from his studio and Ian was fortunate to purchase the B16 which he still owns today. Also seen pictured in the studio at the time is a Sony PCM F1 stereo digital recorder. In the interview Bill mentions how he had given up mastering onto his 2-track Revox and was now using this new 'digital technology'. By the early 1990s the PCM was broken and many album's worth of material lay in the studio on digital tape inaccessible for years to come. Then around 2005 a second-hand machine was located and purchased with the help of fans. The tapes were transferred to CDr and as of 2012, Bill is now in the process of re-mastering these archive recordings for selective release under the series title 'These Tapes Rewind'. The first album in the series is 'Return To Tomorrow'. The interview was published in two parts in the HSR Dec 1984 & Jan 1985 issues. Click to download the PDFs below (or right-click and save). Part 1 Part 2

Think and You'll Miss It Bill Nelson download single - 17 December 2012 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Think And You'll Miss It 02) Beat Street NOTES: "Think and You'll Miss It" and "Beat Street" are two exclusive instrumentals issued as a free 2 track digital single on the same day that Nelson issued his cover version of "Silent Night". "Think and You'll Miss It" was premiered at Nelsonica 12 (the final such event in all likelihood) on 29 September 2012 when it was part of Nelson's live solo set. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available as a free digital download on this page, or in the Free Downloads section . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "I've made a special Christmas Gift to all my friends and fans in the form of a FREE downloadable single! Hopefully, a nice surprise... It has an 'A' and a 'B' side. The A-side is titled "Think And You'll Miss It". This free download track is a studio version of a new instrumental which was performed, (and premiered), at this year's Nelsonica. It's a piece full of shiny electric guitar. The B-side of the free single is titled "Beat Street", and is a cool, but angular, jazzy guitar instrumental. "PS: I've also created a simple cover image for you to download and place in your mp3 players to accompany the single. Hope you will enjoy both tracks! Merry Christmas, chums!" Singles Menu Future Past

Axe Victim Be Bop Deluxe album - June 1974 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this double CD TRACKS: 01) Axe Victim 02) Love Is Swift Arrows 03) Jet Silver And The Dolls Of Venus 04) Third Floor Heaven 05) Night Creatures 06) Rocket Cathedrals 07) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 08) Jets At Dawn 09) No Trains To Heaven 10) Darkness (L'Immoraliste) ALBUM NOTES: Axe Victim is the debut album from Be Bop Deluxe, recorded at Air Studios, London during March 1974. The album was the first Be Bop Deluxe recording made after signing to EMI, providing Nelson with his first opportunity to record in a professional studio. The line-up for this record was Bill Nelson (guitars and vocals), Ian Parkin (rhythm guitar), Rob Bryan (bass guitar, vocals) and Nicholas Chatterton-Dew (drums). The album appeared on vinyl and cassette, and was promoted by the release of the single Jet Silver backed with another album track "Third Floor Heaven". Neither release resulted in any significant commercial success, although the album would be discovered by Be Bop Deluxe fans as their career developed in particular after their commercial breakthrough in 1976. The album was released in a gatefold sleeve which contained the lyrics and musician credits. With the track "Rocket Cathedrals", Rob Bryan holds the distinction of being the only musician to have provided (and sung) an original song for a Bill Nelson/Be Bop Deluxe album. When reissued on CD in (Feb) 1991, EMI elected to enhance the album by adding 3 live bonus tracks (taken from the band's official live album Live! In the Air Age ). Given that the live album was also part of the same reissue campaign, this was a missed opportunity, and the inclusion of the band's debut single would have certainly appealed to collectors far more. If you no longer kept your vinyl copy of Axe Victim , and require song lyrics, then this CD edition satisfies that need, and the informative sleeve notes penned by Kevin Cann provide useful context. In April 2017 Cherry Red and Esoteric Recordings, who from 2011 to 2018, had done so much to raise the profile of Bill Nelson's solo recordings from the period 1980 to 2002, acquired the rights to release the Be Bop Deluxe and Red Noise material issued between 1973 and 1979. While this resulted in the deletion of existing physical editions, Cherry Red kept Axe Victim on catalogue from 1 June 2017 via the usual download sites such as Amazon and iTunes while an expanded edition was prepared for a 2020 physical release. On 17 July 2020 Axe Victim became the fourth Be Bop Deluxe album to be issued as a Deluxe Edition comprising: a freshly remastered version of the original album. a 2020 remix of the full album. 2 alternate mix studio recordings. 2 alternate version recordings. a previously unreleased John Peel session from November 1973. previously unreleased tracks recorded for a 1973 Decca session. a previously released John Peel session from May 1974. the original album presented in a 5.1 mix. The album is presented in a fold out digi-pack and contains a 68 page booklet with an essay of recollections penned by Bill Nelson, previously unseen photographs from the period, postcards and a replica record store poster. A 2CD edition of the album is also being released at the same time as the Deluxe Edition featuring Discs 1 and 2 which will also replace the standard download edition. The full track listing for the Deluxe Edition is: Disc 1 1. Axe Victim 2. Love Is Swift Arrows 3. Jet Silver And The Dolls Of Venus 4. Third Floor Heaven 5. Night Creatures 6. Rocket Cathedrals 7. Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 8. Jets At Dawn 9. No Trains To Heaven 10. Darkness (L'Immoraliste) 11. Teenage Archangel (1973 Single) 12. Jets At Dawn (1973 Single Version) 13. No Trains To Heaven (First Mix) 14. Axe Victim (Album Version - First Mix) Disc 2 1. Axe Victim 2. Love Is Swift Arrows 3. Jet Silver And The Dolls Of Venus 4. Third Floor Heaven 5. Night Creatures 6. Rocket Cathedrals 7. Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 8. Jets At Dawn (Full Version) 9. No Trains To Heaven 10. Darkness (L'Immoraliste) 11. Axe Victim (First Version) 12. Night Creatures (Spoken Word Version) 13. Rocket Cathedrals (First Version) Disc 3 1. Axe Victim (BBC Session November 1973) 2. Bluesy Ruby (BBC Session November 1973) 3. Tomorrow The World (BBC Session November 1973) 4. Axe Victim (Decca Session 1973) 5. I'll Be Your Vampire (Decca Session 1973) 6. Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape (Decca Session 1973) 7. Bluesy Ruby (Decca Session 1973) 8. Third Floor Heaven (BBC Session May 1974) 9. Mill Street Junction (BBC Session May 1974) 10. 15th Of July (Invisibles) (BBC Session May 1974) 11. Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape (BBC Session May 1974) Disc 4 1. Axe Victim (5.1 Surround Mix) 2. Love Is Swift Arrows (5.1 Surround Mix) 3. Jet Silver And The Dolls Of Venus (5.1 Surround Mix) 4. Third Floor Heaven (5.1 Surround Mix) 5. Night Creatures (5.1 Surround Mix) 6. Rocket Cathedrals (5.1 Surround Mix) 7. Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape (5.1 Surround Mix) 8. Jets At Dawn (Full Version) (5.1 Surround Mix) 9. No Trains To Heaven (5.1 Surround Mix) 10. Darkness (L'Immoraliste) (5.1 Surround Mix) 11. Axe Victim (First Version) (5.1 Surround Mix) 12. Night Creatures (Spoken Word Version) (5.1 Surround Mix) 13. Rocket Cathedrals (First Version) (5.1 Surround Mix) PAST RELEASES: The original edition of Axe Victim was deleted sometime around 1979/80, but was reissued as a budget release in 1983 by EMI as a double album, combined with the band's second album, Futurama . CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The 2-CD set is available for purchase in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "As was hinted at in the song "Axe Victim", my guitar is a time machine, and the entire history of music is within reach of its glowing dials. Past, present and future are my natural territory and I feel free to dance joyfully and positively within it." _____ "Jets At Dawn" - "was actually written on the first of August, sometime back in the early '70s, probably 1972 or '73. Around 46 years ago. It was before the band made any recordings and definitely before we recorded it as the b-side of the Teenage Archangel single, which was independently released on my 'Smile' label, quite a bit before the EMI deal. "This was the first line-up of Be Bop Deluxe and we were driving home after a gig somewhere in the far north of England. The gig had a very late finish and by the time we'd got the equipment dismantled and packed away it was the early hours of the morning. "As we entered the Yorkshire area in our van, the dawn came up, a glorious day was promised as the sky was a beautiful deep blue and the rapidly rising sun tinted the few clouds that were there with gold. I was looking out of the van's window at this and noticed vapour trails of aeroplanes high above. It sparked a childhood memory of laying on my back in my parent's front garden, gazing up at the clouds and imagining WW2 Spitfire pilots flying their aircraft across the skies. "As a boy I'd briefly had a thing about becoming a pilot and used to read stories such as 'I Flew With Braddock'. I also had copies of 'Flying Review' and 'Flight' magazine and built many model aeroplane kits, which I proudly displayed in my bedroom. "This memory, coupled with seeing the vapour trails in that August dawn sky, got me thinking about making a song which might capture something of the magic of my childhood flying fantasies coupled with the feeling of wonder that filled me when I looked out of the band's van window. "The first line of the song, ( 'The calendar said first of August') came straight to me, right there and then. The rest of the lyrics, along with the song's chord structure, was written at home that same morning. It's a tale of aeroplanes returning home in peacetime, after a war, on a glorious morning with their womenfolk hanging out washing in the gardens below, and who are waving at the pilots as they sail overhead. A celebration, not so much of victory, but of a long awaited peace." ALBUM REVIEWS: Review by Julian Cope on Head Heritage Review on Hi-Res Edition Review on Music Republic Magazine Review on Fabrications HQ Review on Louder Sound Review on Louder Than War Review on At The Barrier Review on The Progressive Aspect Review on Music News Review on Pocketmags Review on Music Street Journal Review by Dmitry M. Epstein YouTube review by Pete Pardo Review by Zachary Nathanson FAN THOUGHTS: Mark Hodkinson: "Axe Victim established several musical and lyrical themes that became Nelson trademarks: blistering guitar runs, an obsession with his native Yorkshire, a deep interest in French film director and writer Jean Cocteau (one of his quotes was reprinted on the sleeve), and the analysing of his own status as a 'victim' of his art/axe. This last element was suggested by the cover painting by John Holmes, of a skull incorporated into the shape of a guitar body." (Record Collector, December 1997) Geetar Homer: "The computer I'm typing this post on stands in the exact spot where the record player stood 40 years ago on which I first played Axe Victim (a loaned copy from a school friend). I remember being blown away by the power of the opening title track even though the deck was a cheap low quality device. Didn't get my own copy until a couple of years later but its still the Be Bop album I play most often. Even if I was stone deaf I would get it out on a regular basis and just look at the sleeve smiling inanely. :) "Had a period (80s/90s) when I viewed it less than favourably, even with embarrassment. Now I love it for the exact same reasons I disliked it then. I think I've come to the conclusion it's a 'keeper'...Oh! and it's improved my air guitar playing no end." Parsongs: "Winter of 1976 was when I bought it. I had seen the Sunburst Finish tour, with BBD supporting Kansas; the Earl Slick Band opened the show. First paycheck after the show, I bought Sunburst Finish . Next paycheck it was Modern Music and Axe Victim . When I saw the latter, I thought hey, these aren't the guys I saw in concert! I thought they all looked a little glam compared to the suits on Modern Music ! Loved the music within though, a real rocker that one." paul.smith: "In the summer of '76 my brother and I were looking through LPs in the branch of WH Smiths in Bolton when I came across this rather fetching cover - all black and skull and guitar as I remember...pointing it out to him he was immediately interested, having heard it at some mate's place, and immediately bought it...he was the older brother with the cash - I had the bus fare home and bugger all else as I remember. Anyway, the said album became the soundtrack to that fantastic summer that went on and on and on...we played it constantly, and later made inroads into other Be Bop stuff and, of course, the rest is history as they say... It's a kind of silly thing to be asked to select your favourite song of all time, but "Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape" comes very, very close...my memories of playing as a kid in the semi-rural/semi-industrial landscape of Wigan/Blackrod/Rivington/Horwich of that time are so evoked in the lyrics and music of that song, that it sometimes makes me ache inside for a timeless flight of childhood that has gone forever... I knew it was a great song when I was a kid...it just got better with 'repeated listenings'." RJR: "Bill, out of the hundreds (thousands?) of songs you have created in your career, "Jets at Dawn" remains my favorite song of all time. Axe Victim was the second BBD album I had purchased in 1978 (Drastic Plastic being the first) -- and I was so amazed at how different the two albums were, but equally awesome. "Jets" was, for some reason, the first song I played on the a album, and it quite simply blew me away. Being an amateur artist, I have created many "renditions" of that song in many forms of media (pen and ink, oils and even Photoshop). In my mind, there is a ragged soldier walking along a valley-like pasture with a dog in tow, looking up at a large and ancient church in front of him. Of course, there are clotheslines in the distance and a trio of jets making their way across the sky. I remember being 16 years old and having a high fever and listening to that song over and over while I lay in bed blanket in hand. For some reason, the song touched me and has remained with me to my post middle aged days." yorkshiretb: "I remember marvelling at how BN managed to be so creative in his guitar playing as the album is chock full of guitar solos each one a composition to fit the song as opposed to a solo. The version of "AIAYL" here has for me the most lyrical guitar solo I have ever heard, all contained in a wistful ballad evocative of a journey through my home county. But it was also the songs that I remember as well as to me it was all very different to anyone else I'd heard despite later reading of what journos put in as Bowie comparisons. I guess like BBD and Bill's later work each record is self contained as it is a shot at the time and the style is not repeated for the next album or record - entirely frustrating for rock journos trying to categorise I guess? My fun categorisation of Axe Victim is that it's a baroque, gothic, romantic, free form, folk, orchestral pop and rock record." Gavin Baker: "Well, I would travel all around South Yorkshire to see Be Bop Deluxe with my mates & would hear the songs from that album time & time again. I still have "Teenage Archangel"/"Jets at Dawn" single I bought at a gig in Bolton Upon Dearne. Being a wanna-be guitarist I've lots of influences but in them days it used to be Nelson, Kossoff & Hendrix. Loved your music then Bill, love your music now." Albums Menu Future Past

Rosewood Volume One Bill Nelson album - 25 May 2005 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Blues For Orpheus 02) Escondido Oleander 03) Lumia 04) Filament 05) Lacuna 06) Cascade (Improvisation For Three Harp Guitars) 07) She Swings Skirt 08) Mexico City Dream (For Gil Evans) 09) Ventura 10) The Girl In The Park In The Rain 11) Apollonian Tremolo 12) Giant Hawaiian Showboat 13) Cremona 14) The Land Of Lost Time 15) Sleepless In The Ticking Dark ALBUM NOTES: Rosewood Volume One is an album of acoustic guitar instrumentals issued in a single pressing of 1000 copies. The CD gave birth to the Sonoluxe label, which Nelson has continued with for his major releases, including reissues and digital download compilations. The album was the first to be issued after the launch of Nelson's official website Dreamsville, which went live in April 2005. Sales of Rosewood benefited from an increased profile provided by the website's forum, The Dreamsville Inn, to which Nelson is an avid contributor. The combination of having easy access to the artist, and the reliable and dedicated staff of the Sound of Sound website, created an enticing and reassuring combination for fans of Nelson's music. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . IF YOU LIKED THIS ALBUM, YOU'LL PROBABLY ENJOY: Rosewood Two , 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: "The two Rosewood albums are amongst my proudest achievements, particularly Volume One which still manages to surprise me when I hear it. For me, this is one of those few albums of mine that I'd rescue from the metaphorical burning building. An album I can listen to with the warm glow of satisfaction." _____ "It was the slightly off-centre American acoustic guitar players such as John Fahey and Leo Kottke that ultimately inspired me the most. I also was immersed in blues music as a late teen, not just the modern, urban electric blues but rootsier country blues too... (Tampa Red became a favourite, amongst others). Rosewood's roots are firmly planted in such left of centre inspirations, rather than the style of more popularly regarded virtuoso acoustic guitarists." _____ "Cascade": "The entire track is made up of a harp guitar multi-tracked three times. The harp guitar belonged to Brendan Croker of the 'Nottinghillbillies' who let me borrow it for a few days. A beautiful instrument hand made by York master luthier Ralph Bown." _____ "One of the reasons I'm so proud of Rosewood is because it's one of the few albums I've made that has actually hit my personal creative bullseye and achieved what I intended it to do. As Harold Budd said to me when he first heard it...'Now THAT'S the album you've always wanted to make!' Harold loved it and that's praise enough for me." FAN THOUGHTS: John Izzard: "The acoustic guitar is such an open, honest instrument - almost naked - and it's used here with exquisite taste and in such a beautifully innovative way. "As much as I love the lush, decorative arrangements of the previous few albums, which suit the generally bigger sound, I'm struck by the lighter touches employed here. 'Craftsmanship' is an overworked - and often undeserved term, but here it is almost an understatement... "I had high expectations for Rosewood. They've just been exceeded." Ged: "In my opinion its one of the most beautiful selection of pieces of music I've ever had the pleasure of listening to, an absolute joy to the ear. Its warmth and simplicity are wonderful. Julie and Faye (16 weeks old today) are equally impressed (I've just been playing it in the car) - Julie commented that it was beautiful and calming and Faye 'cooed' with delight. A fabulous CD I'd recommend to everyone." Alan: "Beautiful piece of work...Another great chapter in the ever evolving life of Bill Nelson. Mr Nelson never ceases to amaze me. Definitely the most versatile artist I know of. Keep up the good work." steve lyles: "Listening to Rosewood vol 1 and it hit me (not for the first time) that Bill Nelson's music is so beautifully honest and direct. It doesn't try to be another's work - it's not money or fame motivated. It is "musical...well expressionism" in its highest form." "Absolutely beautiful emotive music." Alan Cawthorne: "I don't think I've heard a more original, relaxing and beautiful album in a long time...Nice to hear intelligently thought out and written pieces." Radium Girl: " Rosewood Vol.1 is one of the most gorgeous sonic masterpieces ever!" BobK: "Sounds fantastic. Very beautifully produced, guitars sound gorgeous, tunes are, well, beautiful and gorgeous!!! (Need to check out thesaurus methinks...). It sounds so full of emotion and melody." Mozo: "I know it sounds corny but...just like a good wine...the man's strumming and technique seems to just get better with age! Amazed and impressed with the "feeling and maturing" of his style on this one! Somewhere Bill Frissell, Fred Frith, and Django Reinhardt are smiling after listening to this monster!!! But the really cool part about it is that was just my first listen. It's only going to get better with every fleeting listen! I'm floored Bill." Peter Roche: "I haven't played number 2 yet, as I can't get off number 1 . It is my favourite BN CD to date. The electronic additions, for me, add a great deal of texture and greater depth than would be there if it were absent. I would like to wax lyrical about it, but don't know what to say, except it's brilliant. Thanks." paulnery: "Escondido Oleander": "impressed me...although the beauty of the entire album is evident...the atmosphere of the CD is spiritual almost all of the time, probably with the exception of "She Swings Skirt", maybe some distraction during a meditative state...The sound of the acoustic guitars, full of harmonics, is simply wonderful." old_goat: "Lush like a field of wheat in a gentle breeze..."Filament", what a perfect title for what I heard... "Escondido Oleander" is absolutely hypnotic; felt transported back 30 years. I remember this little creek that ran by my house in California. It was lined with oleanders; I used to go there with a cold soda and lay in the shade and listen to the sounds of the creek and the life it held. I don't know how much thought Bill puts in to some or all of his titles, but there are plenty that seem to fit like a glove; it seems like the more I listen to his work, the more appropriate the titles become." Earthling: "Not like anything else in the collection. Do we ever worry when we buy a Bill Nelson creation? I think not." johnofdeath: "Glad I took the day off work. The postman decided he couldn't fit the CD package through my letter box and was heading off down the road. I had to chase after him but it was worth it. Just listened to Rosewood for the first time and it sounds great. Very laid back - my wife might even like it!!" Albums Menu Future Past

Official Bill Nelson merchandise provided by Dizzyjam Music Store Dreamsville Merchandise Official Bill Nelson merchandise provided by Direct ... Featuring album covers, Bill's original artwork and designs by Stephen Weis. Make sure you select your preferred colour before adding to the cart!!! Before purchasing clothing, please check out their sizing guide!

Loose Routes: Two album - 1991 various artists Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Guitar on one song: "From King John's Christmas". Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

download single - 21 December 2017 Variation on the Theme of a White Christmas Bill Nelson Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Variation On The Theme Of A White Christmas NOTES: CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available as a free digital download on this page, or in the Free Downloads section . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "My younger brother, Ian, (who passed away almost 12 years ago now,) and I shared some very poignant memories of Christmas together. Those Christmases, in the late 1950s, were uncorrupted by the kind of 'knowing' that children have today. We were naive and innocent, in a way which would be now thought of as embarrassingly 'uncool,' yet the memory of those times burns bright and warm and meaningful. "I remember he and I sharing a bed on Christmas Eve and me reading to him from a book which contained the story of 'Peter And Pam's Christmas,' beautifully illustrated by an artist that, to this day, sadly, I have no idea of who he was. "Ian and I would become so excited by the story and what it promised for Christmas morning and, even though I suspected that Santa Claus was really just mum and dad, I never revealed my suspicions to Ian who still held on to that magical idea of a white-bearded old man with a jolly laughing face coming down the chimney with the gift of toys. "My father, (who worked as the manager of 'Broughton And Son's' shop in Hunslet, Leeds,) always made a great effort to create a magical Christmas Day morning for us. The shop sold, amongst other things (such as radios and televisions,) a selection of Dinky Toys, Meccano construction kits and Hornby 'Dublo-O' Train sets, which always found their way onto the lavish, (as I remember it,) display laid out on our living room floor on Christmas morning. "Ian and I would wake early in much excitement and await our parent's permission to go and see what 'Santa' had brought us...and it always was wonderful. "Not only Dinky Toys, Hornby trains and Meccano sets but Dan Dare ray guns, Roy Rogers cowboy outfits, magnetic Driving Test games, Magic Robot Quiz games, Eagle, Dandy, Beano, Beezer and Topper annuals, sweets and chocolates and a host of other goodies. These things would keep my brother and I occupied throughout the day whilst we had visits from relatives, my grandma, sometimes my aunt and uncle or neighbours. "And somehow, though I now know it's not really accurate, those childhood Christmases always seemed blessed by snow. There was certainly snow at times, though whether prior to, or after the Christmas festivities I'm not sure. But I can vividly recall building snowmen and, one time, an actual Igloo in the front garden of our house at 28, Conistone Crescent on Eastmoor Estate, an Igloo which was built and shared in collaboration with our upstairs neighbour's daughter (and childhood friend,) Bronwyn Jackson, who was just a little bit older than myself. She was someone I had a very warm friendship with, back in those long ago 1950s childhood days." Singles Menu Future Past

The Cote D'Azur ep Bill Nelson ep - 8 October 1986 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: A1) A Dream Fulfilled A2) Familiar Spirit B1) Palais Des Marine B2) Letter To Jacques Maritain B3) Villefranche Interior ORIGINALLY: All five songs were non-album tracks, although B3 would appear on Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights (Cocteau, 1987). NOTES: The Cote D'Azur EP was included in Issue #13 of the fan club magazine, Acquitted By Mirrors , and would turn out to be the final Cocteau Club EP. Although the label would exist for another 3 years, the magazine would struggle to appear with anything like the regularity of 1982-84, and eventually would stop altogether with Issue 15. The single was housed in a green die cut Cocteau sleeve, and oddly while side 2 was pressed at 33 1/3 rpm, when you play it, B2 should be played at 45 rpm. PAST RELEASES: B3 was included on Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights (Cocteau, 1987). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: All tracks are available on the retrospective compilation album Transcorder (The Acquitted By Mirrors Recordings) . BILL'S THOUGHTS: from the Acquitted by Mirrors fan magazine: "The music on the E.P. was recorded on my return from holiday in Villefrance-sur-Mer and it is an impressionistic soundscape of my 'adventures' there. On the track "Familiar Spirit" you may recognise the voice of one J. Cocteau (conjured into The Echo Observatory by various nefarious rites). The track "Letter to Jacques Maritain" features yours truly reading Cocteau's words from the aforesaid letter. I hope you find some things to enjoy within these hallowed grooves." _____ "I venture to suggest that a big percentage of my soul belongs to the South of France, particularly the Cote D'Azur... the one place I feel I could live in a sort of artistic exile, (provided I could return once in a while to the raw beauty of the North Yorkshire Moors and the Yorkshire coastline)." Singles Menu Future Past

Sleepcycle Bill Nelson ep - April 1982 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: A1) Sleepcycle A2) Konny Buys A Kodak B1) When The Birds Return B2) The Beat That Can't Go Wrong Today ORIGINALLY: All four tracks were exclusive to this EP. NOTES: Sleepcycle is a 4 track EP featuring two vocal tracks and two instrumental pieces. This 7" EP was the first of seven EPs issued exclusively to members of Bill Nelson's Official Fan Club, Cocteau Club , which was active between 1982 and 1990. Sleepcycle was included in Acquitted By Mirrors Issue 1, the official fan club magazine. All tracks were recorded at The Echo Observatory. PAST RELEASES: A2 and B1 were later included on The Two Fold Aspect of Everything (Cocteau, 1985). B2 was included on the US 2CD edition of The Two Fold Aspect of Everything (Enigma, 1989), and the US CD version of The Love That Whirls (Enigma, 1989). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: All tracks are available on the retrospective compilation album Transcorder (The Acquitted By Mirrors Recordings) . Singles Menu Future Past

Studio Cadet Bill Nelson album - 6 December 2024 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this CD TRACKS: 01) A Splendid View 02) Phantom Island 03) Crystal Springs 04) Barely There 05) The Ecstatic Transfiguration Of The Great Northern Twang Magus 06) An Interval 07) Dance Of The Anti-Gravity Enthusiasts 08) Deep Sky 09) Space Age Dreamer 10) Slow Smoulder 11) Sunglasses After Dark 12) My Giddy Levitation 13) I Saw You In A Sailplane 14) Night Boats Pass Beneath The Stars Purchase this download ALBUM NOTES: Studio Cadet is an album of guitar instrumentals issued on the Sonoluxe label in a limited edition of 1000 copies and simultaneous digital download. The album was first mentioned by Nelson as 'half finished' in a Dreamsville forum post dated 20 May 2015 and was later confirmed as complete with confirmed track listing on 1 June 2015. On 14 July 2015, a week after completing work on his very next album of new material, Magnetic Travels , Nelson announced plans to release both albums as a double CD initially to be entitled The Grand Imaginarium (Intergalactic Rhapsodies for Electric Guitar) , although the word 'Intergalactic' was dropped later the same day. A few months down the line however Nelson had reverted back to his initial plan of releasing Studio Cade t and Magnetic Travels as two standalone albums and this plan remained despite Nelson's continued uncertainty of the format. The album was mastered at Fairview Studios by John Spence in February 2024, with artwork compiled by Martin Bostock using images selected by Nelson as the album approached release. Pre-orders for Studio Cadet were announced by Burning Shed on November 1st with a release date scheduled for December 6th. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available to pre-order here in the Dreamsville Store. BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Studio Cadet is one of several previously unreleased albums tucked away in my archives. Recorded in 2015 it contains 14 guitar-based instrumental tracks. The atmosphere is relaxed and sometimes dreamy. The album comes in a triple-fold digi-sleeve with a four page booklet insert. A gleaming guitar melodic soundscape." ALBUM REVIEWS: Review on Plus One Albums Menu Future Past

Mazda Kaleidoscope Bill Nelson album - 7 September 2008 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) All The World Flies Kites Tonight 02) Blue Skies Listen, The Unstruck Bell 03) The Nebulous Adventures Of Newton Kyme 04) Lamps Are Lit In The Land Of Tomorrow 05) Yes And Always And Forever 06) Evening Illuminator 07) Mazda Kaleidoscope 08) The Trace We Left When All Was Gone ALBUM NOTES: Mazda Kaleidoscope is an instrumental album issued on the Sonoluxe label in a single print run of 1000 copies. The album was recorded as the third and final part of a trilogy of complementary releases, the associated albums being Silvertone Fountains and Illuminated at Dusk . Although its roots can be traced back to October 2007 in the form of an earlier unrealized project with both audio and visual content called The Evening Illuminator , Mazda Kaleidoscope began to take shape in February 2008 just as Nelson had completed work on the associated albums. At this stage the album was called Starlight Cascade and was tentatively planned as a DVD album, with the emphasis on minimalist, abstract pieces, rather than the guitar based instrumentals that dominates both Silvertone Fountains and Illuminated at Dusk . One track slated for inclusion was the long form video piece, "The Enlightenment Engine" (initially intended for inclusion on The Evening Illuminator album) but this would ultimately fall by the wayside and turn up eventually on the Picture House DVD. By March 2008 Nelson had abandoned the idea of Starlight Cascade being a DVD and had renamed the album Mazda Kaleidoscope featuring 8 tracks, including an instrumental version of the The Dreamsville Poetry Experiment called "Blue Skies Listen, the Unstruck Bell" which Nelson had slightly reworked with added keyboards and guitar work. The completed album was released in September 2008, a week later than planned due to a back log occurring at the pressing plant. Mazda Kaleidoscope sold out in August 2019. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "It's definitely one for those of you who like to drift and dream. The album is meant to create a kind of tonal colour-field, a forever morphing atmosphere that envelops the listener and changes the surrounding environment." _____ "Mazda enters a deeper, darker space and features MUCH longer tracks. It utilises a more abstract, painterly approach, concerning itself with texture and colour as much as thematic or melodic development. It's the least 'rock' flavoured album of the trilogy albums [Silvertone Fountains , Illuminated at Dusk , and Mazda Kaleidoscope ], certainly the least 'gung-ho' of the three. It's all atmosphere and mystery, a fog filled with gleaming stars. Which is why I'm so fond of it! The trilogy is meant to be heard as a whole, in sequence...each album is just one third of the total idea. Until you've heard all three in the correct sequence, you'll only get part of the epic picture it paints. However, this is only the way I intended it. YOU don't HAVE to hear it as I've suggested above at all. Nevertheless, I thought it might be of interest for you to have this insight into the way I hoped the music might work across the three albums. For me, it's one epic movie in sound." _____ "The album is a strange fusion of styles, not just from track to track in linear fashion, but within each individual piece. The music is constantly shifting focus, one minute here, another there, overlapping textures, multi-dimensional, nebulous, quite formless at times, strongly architectural at others. Enigmas in sound to some extent...a haunted house of an album? "This music is perhaps suited to listeners who enjoy connecting the dots, uncovering metaphors, links and ironies. It's most peculiar stuff, but still very attractive to the ear, I hope!" _____ "Yes, Ahura Mazda was indeed the inspiration for the title, but also the Mazda lightbulb company, (which took its name from the Zoroastrian deity). "The concept of light, both literal and spiritual, external and internal, runs like an incandescent thread throughout a great deal of my work. "As I'm sure many of you already know, 'Illumination', actual and symbolic, from the string of lights on a Christmas tree, the lamps and lanterns of a seaside pier, a coastal lighthouse, the Golden Mile of Illuminations on Blackpool's promenade, through to the social and cultural Enlightenment of European history, the spiritual/occult enlightenment of Rosicrucianism and other obscure esoteric schools, the hidden, quasi-masonic musings of the Illuminati, etc, etc, have all been reflected, at one time or another, in my music. (And sometimes in my private activities.)" FAN THOUGHTS: jetboy: "What an album of surprises! "All The World Flies Kites Tonight" is the opening track which starts from where Illuminated finished off...beautiful melodic guitars set in golden ambience...then it's all change from there on. There's loads of piano flourishes that drift in and out of the mix, whooshes, whizzes and warbles that start, stop then catherine wheel away into the void...There's spectral Orchestras playing on a twilit coastal hill, then they are transported to some old flickering cathode museum. There's phantom steam trains taking you through some midnight moonlit town, there's disintegrating particles quickly reassembling and dancing on some old time piano keys, there's sonic ghosts looking for a home to haunt, there's static cascading, there's e-bow making the sound of Haloes, there's lamplit jazz fluctuating and weaving back and forth...so on and so on. A word of warning: Don't play this album too much. You may not want to return from this aural bliss. 10/10." Holer: " Mazda Kaleidoscope sounds like...Like I'm tuning in an alien radio station from outerspace and having it set my brain on fire (in a GOOD way!). This is way more than the next guitar album I was expecting. This is downright EPIC! You just keep on surprising and delighting, Bill!" "It's hard to describe, but I would almost say this is a kind of deconstruction of Bill's sound. I don't know if that's the right word but the way all the sounds and instrumentation work, it's both familiar and wholly new sounding at the same time. I really think this is the next 'big push into new frontiers' album after Sailor Bill in the ever evolving sonic adventure of Mr. Nelson." Robbot: "So I'm sitting in this 50's retro-futuristic train, or in the passenger seat of a transparent aeroplane (not unlike Wonder Woman's). At one point early on, flying close enough to the grounds of some palatial pond/garden to see metallic swans (Birds of Tin?) luxuriating. Misty fog, glints of setting sun...pleasing static, whirrs, clicks. Could be a mad scientist working on the terrace of his stately manse. Catch a performance of the excellent on-board jazz combo...drift off into semi-dream state. Land at some exotic tropical island...dinner jacket, martini please. Everything is in slow motion...the sky looks rendered in pastels. "These are my initial impressions...and I'm only 2/3s thru. Great! Exciting...cinematic." soteloscope: " Mazda Kaleidoscope gives me weird feelings. The weirdness is excellent in my opinion! In addition, it's a beautiful, contemplative album that covers the whole spectrum of emotion for me." mitchellmichael: "This is great stuff! It just transports you away from it all and holds you in a "Dreamstate" of mind. A very calming affect with so much going on. It seems like Bill has it down to a science now...but with each release he is still pushing the limits. Each release is a further extension of the next, with glimpses of past music inter-twined along the way. I'm 3 songs in and somehow it hits the spot instantaneously, for me anyways. The instrumental trilogy of '08 is now complete, and a huge success, IMHO." Peter: "Calming, a deep pool of cool water, reflecting stars and passing silver clouds. Compositions (not songs) of subtlety and nuance, tender guitar and soothing melodies. Another good one, Bill. Thank you." ladesco: "I thoroughly enjoy becoming enveloped by these lyrical guitar blankets to sojourn the night...gentle and breezy, and so mindfully easy... Thank you Mr. Nelson!" Seany: "I have lived with this album now for a good few days and have played it on my home stereo, in the car, outside in the garden, at night when i was going to sleep, for friends and family and I have to say that every time I play it that it never fails to envelope me in a wonderful world of dream-like mystery...For me the dreamiest of dreams from Dreamsville this year. "Look - I'm not Rolling Stone Magazine, but if I were, I'd give it five big gold stars. As they say in the classics, 'Highly Recommended'. "But enough of my somnambulistic meanderings, it's dream time..." james warner: "Just finished playing the album for the first time. Stand outs for me at this early stage are "Lamps Are Lit in the World of Tomorrow"...and "Evening Illuminator", which sounds like it was made for a night cruise through the lights of the big city." BenTucker: "I love it. "The Nebulous Adventures of Newton Kyme" stood out for me on first listening - a beautiful track. I think the album's going to be one of my favourites, like Neptune’s Galaxy ." VGhost: "All the World Flies Kites Tonight": "is a great opener - the introduction is a wash of keyboards, reversed guitar and hauntingly beautiful melodic guitar lines, which gives way to an upbeat section as the sequenced drums come in before it ends as it begins. For some reason it reminded me of my childhood trips to London on a steam train in the late 1950's - the intro waiting on the platform and the expectation of the journey beginning whilst the section with the drums has a distinct train style rhythm to my cloth ears at least. "Other standout tracks include the ambient jazz of "Evening Illuminator", and the title track with its sampled vinyl record pops. This album requires you to make time to sit down and listen to it, not use it as a backdrop to your daily commute to work or workout at the gym. I'm really enjoying it." Paul Andrews: "This is, in my opinion, a superb composition right the way through. Although an unreconstructed Be Bop Deluxe fan, I find myself drawn inexorably towards Bill's more adventurous and esoteric recordings. I really like the instrumental albums and this one could well be the soundtrack to a movie never filmed. I'd love to try and synch it up to one of those old 50's films which tried to predict the future, jet cars, domestic robots etc... ...whatever, it's certainly bloody good!" Albums Menu Future Past

Acquitted By Mirrors - Issue Five - Published April 1983 Back to Top

Acquitted By Mirrors - Issue Seven - Published September 1983 Back to Top

Live! In The Air Age Be Bop Deluxe album - 22 July 1977 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase 3-CD Set TRACKS: 01) Life In The Air Age 02) Ships In The Night 03) Piece Of Mine 04) Fair Exchange 05) Shine 06) Sister Seagull 07) Maid In Heaven 08) Mill Street Junction 09) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 10) Blazing Apostles ALBUM NOTES: Live! In the Air Age is the fifth album by Be Bop Deluxe, and was recorded at unspecified gigs staged in 1977. It would prove to be the only live document of the band to be released during its existence. The album appeared on vinyl and cassette, but had no single release at the time to aid its promotion (which is unusual, but not unheard of). However, the album itself included a 7" EP (as sides B and C of the album) that helped push playing time to around 55 minutes - which would have been too much music for a single album. Vinyl copies were released in a single sleeve, and the record was housed in an inner sleeve bearing a few live photos and a few explanatory words concerning the album's content. For North American release, the EP included with the album was pressed on 12", and the package appeared in two pressings: standard black vinyl; and a combination of white vinyl (for the album) and black vinyl (for the EP). The musicians appearing on the live recording were the now established quartet of Bill Nelson, Simon Fox, Charlie Tumahai and Andy Clarke. Although the credits include an apparent fifth member in the shape of "Cabasa El Dubova", providing percussion on "Shine", this was in fact later revealed to be Nelson himself, who provided some post-production overdubs. When reissued on CD in 1991, EMI chose not to include any additional material, although the songs that comprise the 3 track EP were designated as "bonus tracks" and tagged on to the end of the CD, rather than being placed in the centre as they had been on the original vinyl release. As with other releases in the series, informative sleeve notes penned by Kevin Cann provide useful context. On 27 August 2021 Live! In The Air Age became the sixth Be Bop Deluxe album to be issued as a Deluxe Edition comprising: a deluxe 16 disc limited edition box set of the classic 1977 live album by Be Bop Deluxe the original album is newly remastered from the original master tapes restoring the correct album running order with an additional 14 CDs featuring every concert recorded on the Be Bop Deluxe UK tour of February and March 1977 all newly remixed from the original multi-track tapes by Sephen W. Tayler includes a BBC radio one John Peel session from January 1977 also includes a DVD (NTSC/region free) of the 'Star Rider In Concert' TV film first screened in 1977, released here for the first time includes a lavishly illustrated book with many previously unseen photographs and new essay by Bill Nelson also includes postcards and a replica poster The album is presented in a triple fold out digi-pack and contains a 68 page booklet with an essay penned by Bill Nelson, previously unseen photographs from the period, postcards and a replica poster. A 3CD edition of the album is also being released at the same time as the Deluxe Edition which will also replace the standard download edition. The full track listing for the Deluxe Edition is: Disc One: "Live! In The Air Age" Re-Mastered 01) Life In The Air Age 02) Ships In The Night 03) Piece Of Mine 04) Fair Exchange 05) Shine 06) Sister Seagull 07) Maid In Heaven 08) Mill Street Junction 09) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape 10) Blazing Apostles Bonus Tracks 11) Still Shining (BBC John Peel Session – January 1977) 12) Mill Street Junction (BBC John Peel Session – January 1977) 10) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape (BBC John Peel Session – January 1977) Disc Two: Leicester - De Montfort Hall 12th February 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Three: Leicester - De Montfort Hall 12th February 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street 06) Blazing Apostles Disc Four: Leeds - Grand Theatre 13th February 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Five: Leeds - Grand Theatre 13th February 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street Disc Six: Leeds - Grand Theatre 14th February 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Seven: Leeds - Grand Theatre 14th February 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street 06) Blazing Apostles Disc Eight: London - Hammersmith Odeon 25th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Nine: London - Hammersmith Odeon 25th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street 06) Blazing Apostles Disc Ten: London - Hammersmith Odeon 26th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Eleven: London - Hammersmith Odeon 26th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street 06) Blazing Apostles Disc Twelve: Bristol - Colston Hall 27th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Thirteen: Bristol - Colston Hall 27th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street 06) Blazing Apostles Disc Fourteen: Bournemouth - Winter Gardens 28th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Introduction - Blimps 02) Life In The Air Age 03) Fair Exchange 04) Piece Of Mine 05) Sister Seagull 06) Mill Street Junction 07) Ships In The Night 08) Swansong 09) Maid In Heaven 10) Shine 11) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape Disc Fifteen: Bournemouth - Winter Gardens 28th March 1977 Previously Unreleased 01) Bill Nelson's Introduction 02) Twilight Capers 03) Modern Music Suite 04) Forbidden Lovers 05) Terminal Street 06) Blazing Apostles Disc Sixteen: Be Bop Deluxe - Star Rider In Concert Previously Unreleased 01) Fair Exchange (Star Rider In Concert Film) 02) Ships In The Night (Star Rider In Concert Film) 03) Maid In Heaven (Star Rider In Concert Film) 04) Bring Back The Spark (Star Rider In Concert Film) 05) Blazing Apostles (Star Rider In Concert Film) On 18 June 2022 Live! In the Air Age (The Hammersmith Odeon Concert 1977) was released separately to the above Deluxe and 3CD editions as a 3LP set, pressed on white vinyl released by Esoteric Recordings in a limited edition of 3,500 copies for Record Store Day available while stocks last at participating independent record shops. The track listing for the vinyl set is: A1) Introduction - Blimps A2) Life In The Air Age A3) Fair Exchange A4) Piece Of Mine A5) Sister Seagull B1) Mill Street Junction B2) Ships In The Night B3) Swansong B4) Maid In Heaven C1) Shine C2) Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape D1) Bill Nelson's Introduction D2) Twilight Capers D3) Modern Music Suite E1) Forbidden Lovers E2) Terminal Street F1) Blazing Apostles PAST RELEASES: The original edition of Live! In the Air Age was deleted sometime around 1979/80 and was never reissued on vinyl in this form. However, following the release of the Deluxe Edition by Cherry Red in 2021, one of the previously unreleased shows, that recorded at Hammersmith Odeon on 26th March 1977 was released as part of the Record Store Day on 18 June 2022. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The 3-CD set is available for purchase in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Some of the Live! In The Air Age album was recorded there, (at the Grand Theatre), and my mother came along to one of the shows. I remember that I played a few bars of 'Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair' as part of my free-form solo guitar improv at the close of the concert for her. (Mum's name is Jean, you see.) So long ago, so far away..." _____ "The "Shine" track started life as a jam at Abbey Road studios. Charlie was away, (in New Zealand, I think), and the track was created simply by Simon, Andy and myself having a 'mess about'...a bit of fun. I played bass on the track as well as guitars. I also tried to make the bass part have some reference to Charlie's own style. In fact, we eventually did the number live with Charlie. I dreamt up the name 'Funky Phaser And His Unearthly Merchandise' to allow for the fact that it wasn't a 'proper' Be Bop Deluxe track as Charlie was missing from the equation." _____ "The recently released Futurist Manifesto 5 CD set from EMI contains the only previously unreleased Live! In The Air Age recordings in existence." * * This was correct until Cherry Red/Esoteric Recordings issued the Deluxe Edition on 27 August 2021. _____ "I also got permission from the widow of Fritz Lang to use stills from the film as cover art on Be Bop's Live! In The Air Age album." _____ [In response to a question from a fan regarding the equipment Bill used on the tour to get that guitar tone] "Although it was recorded over 40 years ago, I can tell you exactly what equipment I used: My guitar was a 1964 Gibson ES 345 STD Stereo guitar. My amp set up was two separate 100 watt Carlsbro amp heads feeding six 2x12 custom built speaker cabs. I also used a Pete Cornish custom built pedal board and an HH echo unit. The pedal board contained a Big Muff, a Little Muff, an MXR Phase 90, an Electric Mistress Flanger and a Univibe." ALBUM REVIEWS: Review on Outsider Rock Review on Echoes And Dust Review on Goldmine Review by Pete Pardo on Sea Of Tranquility FAN THOUGHTS: BFD: "Recorded in England, Spring Tour 1977 - and still one of the very best (mostly) live albums of the 70's and a hard earned Top 10 hit in the UK. We are not worthy." old_goat: "It was 1977, I'm a sophomore in high school, over at a friend's house one afternoon playing backgammon. He's at the turntable blocking my view and says, "check this out", and cues up "Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape" from Live in the Air Age . Eight minutes later, I'm trading my original Apple label blue album straight across for it." Paul Andrews: "Was it really thirty-five years ago I sat in my friends bedroom listening to Live! In The Air Age , ever so slightly "borrowed" from his elder brother's record collection? It was a world away from my normal listening habits at the time, hormonal teenager that I was. I remember it like the cold white light of revelation." swampboy: "I was at work when "Shine" from Live! In The Air Age came over the ceiling speaker. I slowly put down my tools and stared at the speaker as guitar licks bounced all over the room. The DJ announced the song and album and I bought it the next day. Of course, this led to me buying the rest of what Be Bop Deluxe had to offer." felixt1: "I can tell you that the live version of "Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape" from Live! In The Air Age is one of the best pieces of rock guitar I've ever heard by anyone. I put it right up there with anything that Hendrix or Clapton etc. have done." jazzman1: "For me at the time of the release of Live! In the Air Age , that album was a musical milestone. The way Bill looked, his level of playing, particularly the solo on "Adventures in A Yorkshire Landscape" raised my aspirations." Holer: "Mid-70's - hanging out in someone's bedroom, listening to records. (Do kids still do that? I guess I still do!) My buddy played "Mill Street Junction" off of the BBD Live! In the Air Age LP. That was also the first time I ever saw a White Vinyl record." Telecat: "I was at the Grand Theatre for that show and remember going down the street at the side and seeing the Trailer with the "Studio" in it. I do remember having to leave early as at the time I was still at School and had limited funds so had to catch the Bus home!" Paul Simpson (of The Wild Swans): "Last time I saw them was doing the Live! In The Air Age stuff. Wonderful group and a big influence on me." John Spence: "A few years ago, when Bill and I mixed some previously unreleased recordings from that tour, the original session sheets showed that some recording also took place at the Colston Hall, Bristol. All done using the Stones Mobile and under the watchful eye of John Leckie. An absolute delight to work on." JohnR , commenting on the 'Music In Dreamland' book: "Live! In The Air Age is stated to be based on four concerts - two at the Hammersmith Odeon, one at Bristol and one at Bournemouth. However, I went with a group of friends to a concert at a large theatre in the centre of Leeds where the Rolling Stones mobile was parked outside. I can remember it being announced that the concert was being recorded for a live album, which certainly galvanized the audience. At the end, when it came to the obligatory Terminal Street singalong, we dashed down to sit on the edge of the stage and face the audience to help drum up the singing. To my amazement, we weren't immediately booted off by bouncers and Bill seemed happy enough - we left thinking he was a top bloke!" Albums Menu Future Past

Automatic Channel Light Vessel album - 24 June 1994 Albums Menu Future Past TRACKS: 01) Testify 02) Train Travelling North 03) Dog Day Afternoon 04) Ballyboots 05) A Place We Pray For 06) Bubbling Blue 07) Duende 08) Flaming Creatures 09) Bill’s Last Waltz 10) Thunderous Accordions 11) Fish Owl Moon 12) Little Luminaries Extra tracks added to original Japanese CD: 13) Faint Aroma Of Snow 14) Lost In Tijuana ALBUM NOTES: Automatic is the first album issued by Channel Light Vessel, released by All Saints Records. Channel Light Vessel was formed following Nelson's work on The Familiar , an album by Roger Eno (piano and keyboards) and Kate St. John (saxophone, cor anglais and oboe), who were already under contract to All Saints Records. With the addition of fellow All Saints recording artist Laraaji (zithers and kalimba) and Mayumi Tachibana (cello), Channel Light Vessel secured a two album deal with All Saints Records. Work on the album began at Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire, but the bulk of the work was completed by Nelson, working in Fairview Studios, Hull. The album was issued on CD in the UK, CD and cassette in the USA (on Gyroscope), and on CD in Japan. Japanese copies contain 2 bonus tracks, 1 of which ("Lost in Tijuana") remains exclusive. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: A repackaged version of the album was issued in the UK in 2006 in revised artwork, with the addition of a bonus track "Faint Aroma of Snow" (which had previously appeared on a UK sampler CD 'Future Perfect'). This title is out of print, but still available as a download through major online retailers. BILL'S THOUGHTS: "For myself, CLV was a highpoint in my musical life, a peak experience, as was working with Harold Budd. This is the music I most naturally respond to and would do more often, given the opportunity. I absolutely LOVE CLV and would put another CLV album together tomorrow if the funding was there to do it." "Personally speaking, CLV is one of my all time great joys." ____ "The name comes from the BBC's shipping weather forecast which, for many years, was broadcast daily on the radio as an aid to sailors in waters around Britain and beyond. A rather 'posh' voice would intone the wind, temperature and sea conditions for each area, and gave mention to a 'channel light vessel', (referring to a ship in the English Channel, a 'light vessel'). The announcer would say 'Channel light vessel: automatic', meaning, I think, a ship with a lighthouse, (or lightship), facility switched to automatic. That's how we came by the name of the first album too." ____ From a Roger Eno Interview: As far as his involvement with the latter is concerned, Eno explains that the band came together "by pure chance. I was doing concerts promoting The Familiar with Kate St John in Japan. Laraaji, Bill Nelson, and cellist Mayumi Tachibana were on tour with us, and we'd all play our solo spots. As an encore, we started to jam spontaneous pieces with all kinds of different influences thrown in. To our surprise, these were the bits that the audiences liked most. Things somehow melted together, and because they were encores we weren't over-extending ourselves. It was suggested to us that we make a record on that basis, and that was exactly how Automatic came into being, with everyone throwing in their influences: Bill's hi-tech electric stuff and serious guitar playing, Kate St John's love of French chansons, Laraaji and his spiritual zither, and so on. We put it all spontaneously together in the studio in about three weeks. [Sound on Sound Magazine, October 1996] FAN THOUGHTS: Flying: "Channel Light Vessel was a great outlet for your talents and it sounds as if the format allowed you to explore other areas of your creativity... One of my all-time favourite pieces of music is "Bill's Last Waltz". It is so simple and beautiful. If any of you have not heard this, I strongly recommend it as one of Bill's top tunes." simplex: "Bill's Last Waltz": "This is one of my favourite pieces also, so much so that I've planned for it to be played at my funeral. Bit morbid I know, but there you go." juninho: "Not having CLV recordings in my collection I set about getting Automatic and Excellent Spirits . How chuffed I am now I have these 2 albums ,they are brilliant...Accomplished musicians all and on top of their form with the Bill Nelson influence on both discs shining through. Some stunning e-bow from Bill on both. Both albums certainly keep your attention and you just want the music to go on and on. An array of instruments that blend in perfectly. Oh, and on the too short "Duende" I wonder if Bill was doing some kind of Riverdance type moves. I bet he couldn't keep still playing on that track. I know all the old stagers will have these recordings but anyone who hasn't got these gems I would highly recommend getting them. Magical are both, and timeless." Albums Menu Future Past

Tuesday 20th December 2005 -- 7:00 pm Such a long time since the last diary entry. Why? Well...partly an insane Christmas preparation schedule and partly the November tour dates. Five concerts in all...Not the 15 to 20 that were originally rumoured. A real disappointment that it ended up being so few after all the effort I put into preparing new material and video for the shows. (I'll draw a discreet veil over the reason for this.) Nevertheless, it was far from disastrous, despite a gremlin-infested first date. Here's my take on the tour, for what it's worth: The concerts I enjoyed the most (and thought musically the best), were the Bilston Robin 2 concert followed by the Manchester Life Cafe event. Enthusiastic and warm audiences at both, particularly at The Robin 2. And, surprise, surprise...more females in the audience than I'd seen for a while. Thank heavens that a set comprised of mainly instrumental guitar pieces had enough of a hint of, (ahem), the 'erotic,' to attract at least a few attractive ladies to say "hello" afterwards. As much as I enjoy talking to male fans about guitars and so on, female input is most welcome! Leeds and Liverpool tied for second place but London, I have to admit, was something of a struggle. It also was the first date of the tour but really should have been left until last. So many technical problems on stage that first night. A monitor system that sounded like it was infested with insects, a pa system without enough headroom, effects pedals that didn't work and a cock-up over projection screen hire. Plus a very nervous Bill Nelson, still trying to get to grips with the new set and the malfunctioning equipment. One good thing about the London show, though, was the contribution made by Theo Travis, whom I'd met for the first time at Harold Budd's concert at the Brighton Dome earlier this year. Theo played fabulously, completely unfazed by the monitoring problems. I'm glad that there was someone up there with me who actually knew what he was doing. I did end up feeling quite depressed about that particular concert though. Really wished I'd not agreed to make it the first date on the tour. Just as the tour came to a close, I was finally starting to relax and get the measure of things, playing much better and getting to use more suitable, better quality pa systems. Given more concerts, I suspect that it would have gone from strength to strength. Unfortunately, after concert five, it was time to pack the gear away for at least another year. Video projection duties on these shows were shared by Paul Gilby and also superfan Ian Clarke who, gallantly and efficiently, stepped in at the last minute to take over the shows that Paul wasn't able to do. When I perform these solo concerts, the video back drops are an essential part of the presentation. Psychologically, they help me to feel that I'm not entirely alone up there. (I like to think that I'm not the only point of visual focus for the audience.) Plus, of course, the videos provide a suitable counterpoint to the music, each piece being created to reflect the content of the songs. I do get stressed out about playing live without a band though. The solo concerts put a lot of pressure on one person playing alone for just over a couple of hours, especially as I'm not the most natural of performers...It's always a bit of an ordeal for me. One of these days, I'll retire back to the studio environment, as I did in the mid-'80s, and leave the live thing alone. The new thing about these concerts however, was the inclusion of some vocal pieces, something that I'd previously only felt comfortable performing within a band situation. But singing and playing guitar to backing tracks wasn't quite as traumatic as I'd expected. In fact, from what members of the audience told me afterwards, it seemed to provide a surprisingly workable solution and it is certainly something I'd consider including again in future solo shows. Already though, those November concerts are fading into memory. Other projects are already occupying my time and more are hovering on the horizon. I've been trying to read through the as yet unpublished 'Music In Dreamland' book, written by Paul Sutton-Reeves. Just before the tour began, I received a proof of the book (in email form), for me to read through. I'm told by the author that approximately 30,000 words may have been trimmed by the publisher from the original text, so it is important that we check for continuity errors as well as factual ones. Because of the tour and other duties, time has only now become available to work through the book. Nevertheless, I'm finding that, because of Christmas, I'm not as readily available as I'd like to be. I have spotted various things that might be corrected, (as has Paul), but there's a certain amount of pressure on us both to get the book corrected and out there...particularly as it has languished in the publisher's office for over a year since the author completed it. As of writing this diary entry, I haven't had available time to deal with it for several days. In fact, I've really only scratched the surface. I'm hoping that there will be more time after Christmas to give it proper attention. I would really like to do whatever I can to check any factual errors or misunderstandings but I expect that a certain amount of compromise will be necessary. Other projects looming on the horizon: 1: I have to mix the Be Bop Deluxe 'Decca Audition' tapes for release as an album. 2: Negotiations are underway for me to produce another recording by the Russian band 'Nautilus Pompilius' who are now known as 'Jupiter.' This may happen in February. 3: I would like to assemble a new guitar instrumental album based on the live pieces that I've incorporated into my solo shows this last two years and which have previously not been available. This means recording my solo guitar onto the various backing tracks and properly mixing everything to create a finished album of instrumentals. The album will include tracks such as 'Blackpool Pleasure Beach and The Road To Enlightenment,' 'Time Travel For Beginners,' 'Blue Amorini,' 'Sexy Buddha,' 'Electric Milk Cart Blues,' I Always Knew You would Find Me,' and 'A Telescope Full Of Stars' amongst others. They will become part of an album with the subtitle: 'Painting With Guitars, Volume 2.' 4: I intend to go through some of my '80's and '90's archive material and release an album of previously unheard music from those eras. There is a tremendous reserve of material from the past that would definitely be of interest to the committed listener. 5: I have already made a (very) slight inroad into what will eventually emerge as an autobiographic/poetic video about my life, told via images, dialogue and music. I hope to find enough time during this coming year to complete a larger section of it. 6: Nelsonica 06 requires planning. I'd like to take the current high standard a little higher this coming year. Research a new venue and add even more to the curriculum. I also need to create a new Nelsonica limited edition album for convention attendees. This one will most likely include the songs 'Snow Is Falling' and 'Ghost Show,' amongst others. 7: I'm burning to begin work on a brand new album. The bar has been raised by the 'Sailor Bill' project and the next step must be equally, if not more, important. This means working very carefully and abandoning anything that doesn't hit the target. A time consuming process. Right now, I'm favouring something a little more stripped down than the orchestral 'Sailor Bill,' BUT until I get to grips with the writing, it's hard to say which way things will go. Titles and mood are already falling into place though. 8: I need to consider what form any live concerts may take in 2006. I have some ambitious ideas but, whether they are practical or not will depend on the support I get from fans and business associates alike. One possibility is that they won't be in the form of a trek around the country's arts centres. I may attempt just two shows, one North, one South, but with a much more ambitious production than this year's concerts, and covering a great deal more musical ground than of late. Something really special is what I'm aiming at. It may be that I need to schedule this for '07 rather than '06, simply to get everything properly in place. But at my time of life, I can't afford to be cautious. Cocteau said that 'A young man should not make safe investments...' Well... I might add that an older man cannot afford to make safe investments! Time is of the essence as my youth is increasingly far behind me now. Speaking of which, it was heart warming to receive so many good wishes from fans on my recent 57th birthday. Frightening to think that, in a mere three years, I will be sixty. However, in my age-addled head, I'm still a seventeen year old. (O.K...twenty three at a push!) One really exciting bit of news is a connection that has been forged between myself and an American guitar designer by the name of Dean Campbell. I recently came across a Campbell 'Precix' guitar in Music Ground's store in Leeds and was knocked out by the instrument's sheer playability. It's a solid body guitar, hand made in New England, U.S.A. and is a very practical but high quality instrument. Dean Campbell's workshop is staffed by luthiers who have, in the past, worked for Guild guitars. I've had a Guild X500 archtop guitar since the '70's so I know just how skilled those people are. Dean and I have been in contact these last few weeks and he is building me a Precix model, tailored to my needs. The really exciting thing is that we are going to bat ideas back and forth about a brand new design that Dean has on the drawing board. He's asked for my input as to the ongoing development of the instrument and I'm thrilled to be able to add my thoughts to the project as it develops. The Precix model that I've been trying out, (and am keeping well within inspirational playing distance, an arm's reach from me as I type these words), has an action and response that really makes me want to play. It's one of those guitars that is difficult to put down, once picked up. I'm looking forward to using this instrument on my next set of recordings as it has a precision, resonance and clarity that is very special. For readers of this diary who are also guitarists, I recommend that you check out Dean's website at www.campbellamerican.com Well, there is probably much more to write...but I really seem to have exhausted my reservoir of memory for this particular diary entry. Life has been a blur of late and every day rushes by without enough hours in it to fulfil my intentions. For now, this will have to suffice. To all those who read these words, I wish you the HAPPIEST CHRISTMAS and a PEACEFUL AND HEALTHY 2006! May all your dreams come true... Thanks also to everyone who has given their time, their talent and their interest throughout 2005...Thank you so much for helping me to manifest my dreams. I'm eternally grateful and couldn't achieve any of this without you...At the start of 2005, there was a brand new website to design and construct. Then four new albums to create, plus the Nelsonica convention extravaganza and a solo concert tour. (And a few other bits and pieces.) Let's see what next year brings. Cheers!!! Top of page William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) December 2005 Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013

Youth of Nation on Fire Bill Nelson single - 29 May 1981 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 7" Single: A) Youth Of Nation On Fire B) Be My Dynamo Double 7" Single: A) Youth Of Nation On Fire B) Be My Dynamo C) Rooms With Brittle Views D) All My Wives Were Iron ORIGINALLY: A) is an edited version from the recently released Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam album. B, C and D) were non-album tracks, B) and D) having been previously unreleased. C) had a few drumbeats edited off the intro of the original single. NOTES: Youth of Nation on Fire was the third single taken from Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam . With a running time of 3' 00", "Youth of Nation on Fire" was slightly sped up for 7" release, and faded out a full minute from the end of the track compared to the album version. This edit remains exclusive to the 7" pressings. The double 7" single was the more desirable in 1981 - it coming with the extra disc. And for those not used to using mail order facilities, it presented a more practical solution to getting hold of the "Rooms with Brittle Views" track. When included on compilation albums or as a bonus track, the full length intro is favoured. PAST RELEASES: B, C and D) were all available on The Two Fold Aspect of Everything comp (unfortunately out of print). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: B) Added to the remastered 2005 CD reissue of Quit Dreaming , and The Practice of Everyday Life box (2011). C & D) were included on the remastered 2005 CD reissue of Quit Dreaming . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "The thought of whether something was 'cool' or not never crossed my mind when I made those [first two] albums. I was just, to use a phrase from a Les Paul documentary, 'chasing sound.' The guiding principle has always been the music, rather than any desire for rock industry celebrity. That's my approach now as ever. "I'm just chasing something that interests me, something that feels true to my own life, both as a person and as a musician. What the media or the industry might consider 'cool' is neither here nor there. I'm in this for the long haul...not the brief trot down some vague fashion catwalk." Singles Menu Future Past

Whistling While the World Turns Bill Nelson album - 16 June 2000 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download TRACKS: 01) Manipulating The Phonograph 02) Dreamland Avenue 03) Unforgetting 04) The Boy Who Learned Everything 05) Space Ranch 06) Big Yellow Moon 07) Sleepy Snakes 08) Roses, Haloes, Crown Of Thorns 09) Parklands Drive 10) All This And A Girl Like You 11) Quiet Planet 12) Whistling While The World Turns 13) Fortune Favours The Fall Guy 14) Ghosts Of Invisible Things 15) Sunny Bungalows 16) Older Joe 17) Autumn Stars ALBUM NOTES: A new millennium, a new record deal, this time with Lenin Imports, a London based independent label. Whistling While the World Turns is a collection of previously unreleased tracks from Nelson's archive, and covers a range of styles mixing instrumental and vocal pieces. The album was intended as a taster for the 6CD box set Noise Candy , the most elaborate Nelson release of his career (up to that point), but delays to the box set would lessen its impact somewhat. Whistling While the World Turns is really more of a companion release to Noise Candy , since 11 of the 17 tracks are actually exclusive to this release. The album would remain on catalogue for over 3 years, and having gone out of print, was soon fetching high prices on Amazon and eBay (on the occasions that copies turned up). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Whistling While the World Turns does carry enough non-Noise Candy tracks to make it interesting in its own right." _____ [The artwork on the front cover] "is an old Russian woodblock print that I bought years and years ago at an antique fair. No info about the artist on it though." FAN THOUGHTS: Kalamazoo Kid: "What sets it apart is that it is truly conceived as an album, whereas Noise Candy consists of something more like six vessels into which Nelson sorted like-minded songs. Whistling , on the other hand, somehow combines an extremely broad range of music into a mesmerisingly coherent hour. BN labours over his selection and sequencing, and his care pays off really big on Whistling ... The exclusive songs alone are amazing. "The Boy Who Learned Everything" makes my top ten BN songs list without a second thought. It's an incredibly catchy tune that shares nothing with other BN pop melodies. It merges the found vocals and BN vocals superbly. And the lyrical conceit is genius. Super sexy. "Fortune Favours the Fall Guy" is great in its own right and absolutely astounding as something constructed on an analogue system. How BN managed to achieve the timing and syncopation of great jazz (and great jazz singing, and beat poetry), in a contemporary techno setting, with a laborious analogue-sampling set-up, is totally beyond me. But he did. And "Fortune Favours the Fall Guy" is among the masterpieces of the '94-'00 period. If the term "Tripop" exists, BN is the originator." Wasp In Aspic: "Unforgetting": "from Whistling While the World Turns is so beautiful and moving it can almost reduce me to tears." tom fritz: "Unforgetting": "has such a haunting kind of sad-joy theme. One of the best! Cheers to you, Bill." Hudsonuk: "Fortune Favours the Fall Guy": "is one of those tracks I have overlooked for quite a long time...the track is a nice length to get your teeth into, it' s the style of Bill singing I really enjoy, plus who could resist the "Running Away" hook-line..." Comsat Angel: "The found voices on Noise Candy , Atom Shop , Whistling While the World Turns are some of my absolute favourite tracks." Parsongs: "Whistling sounds just as fresh today as it did then." Peter: "This one has a little bit of everything. Which makes sense, being a glimpse into the Magnum Opus that is Noise Candy . Quirky, bluesy, jazzy, space cowboy, rock, sci-fi, dreamy, romance...it is all here. (Don't miss "Sunny Bunglalows". Wow.)" Albums Menu Future Past

Teenage Archangel Be-Bop Deluxe single - 1973 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: A) Teenage Archangel B) Jets At Dawn ORIGINALLY: "Teenage Archangel" and "Jets at Dawn" (in the early version) were originally both non-album cuts - although the latter was re-recorded for Axe Victim (1974). NOTES: Teenage Archangel was the debut release by Be-Bop Deluxe, and Nelson's final independent release until "Do You Dream In Colour?" (1980). The single was issued in a plain white sleeve, and was a limited edition intended to be sold in Wakefield Record Bar and at local gigs. PAST RELEASES: The single would be re-pressed in 1979 and 1980 in limited pressings, but without the knowledge of the artist. Both tracks appeared on the Postcards From the Future CD compilation (2004, now out of print). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The single is long deleted, but both tracks can be found on the Cherry Red/Esoteric Recordings reissue of Axe Victim (2020) - both in physical form and as a digital download. Singles Menu Future Past

Publication of 'The Dreamsville Rocket' has ceased, these archived issues are still available for you to read. Issue 1 - May 2005 Issue 2 - June 2005 Issue 3 - September 2005

Feels Like Winter Again single - 1982 Fiat Lux Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Producer Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Map Of Dreams Bill Nelson album - 12 January 1987 Albums Menu Future Past Currently unavailable TRACKS: 01) Legions Of The Endless Night 02) Spinning Creatures 03) At The Gates Of The Singing Garden 04) Heavenly Message Number One 05) Heavenly Message Number Two 06) Heavenly Message Number Three 07) Fellini's Picnic 08) Dark Angel 09) Infernal Regions 10) Dance Of The Fragrant Woman 11) The Alchemy Of Ecstasy 12) Aphrodite Adorned 13) The Wheel Of Fortune And The Hand Of Fate 14) Forked Tongues, Mixed Blessings 15) Another Tricky Mission For The Celestial Pilot 16) Water Of Life (Transfiguration) ALBUM NOTES: Map of Dreams is an instrumental album from Cocteau Records issued barely a month after Iconography . Map of Dreams initially appeared on vinyl and cassette formats, with the CD appearing later in the year. For this album, Nelson was commissioned by Channel 4 to provide a soundtrack to a TV show broadcast in 4 short episodes each lasting approximately 12 minutes. PAST RELEASES: Map of Dreams would get its first US release when it appeared on CD and cassette (Enigma, 1989). CURRENT AVAILABILITY: The album is currently out of print, but may reappear as a digital download via Bandcamp at some point. BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Originally, I was approached to come up with a series of programmes based on my occult interests. I produced an outline based on that exact premise but when it was put forward to the 'powers that be' they decided that a slightly less esoteric angle would be more suitable for viewers who might possibly be, er, 'unsettled' by the ritual/masonic/magical/alchemical angle I'd initially envisaged...(hence the somewhat more easily acceptable, 'astrological' line on which the series was eventually based). Interesting enough for all that but certainly a rather more compromised result than I'd originally hoped for. But, there you go...that's the nature of the game when you engage with the machinery of commercial television. No matter how pure or potent the original intent might be, the artist has to accept that dilution will occur. Still a very interesting project though...and one of which I remain proud." "As far as I know, the Map of Dreams series didn't make it to official DVDs...which is a shame as they're rather unique TV programmes by today's standards." FAN THOUGHTS: Peter: "This is an album to play for someone who doesn't understand that Bill is NOT "just" a guitarist, but is a musician and composer. With hardly a guitar in evidence (I think only "Fellini's Picnic" features the guitar, though there may be instances of heavily synth-processed guitar that I am not knowledgeable enough to pick out), this rich collection of soundscapes, developed for use as a soundtrack for a TV program, offers so many moods and "colors". Interesting, and at times challenging, listening." alec: "The Map : Used to listen to "Fellini's Picnic" over and over, rewinding it often in the car ..." mlr_pa: "Fellini's Picnic": "from Map of Dreams should have been 10 minutes longer! Bill on an acoustic! WOW!!" wadcorp: "What a great album." Alan: "I've seen it on youtube before, and agree it's a wonderful program, visually and musically. I wish I could have seen it's release on television...Anyway, Bill has every right to be proud of this one, in my opinion." Albums Menu Future Past

Warriors album - 1983 Gary Numan Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Producer, Guitar and Keyboard. Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

The Rumbler/Perfidia 2017 Free download single Click image for cover Artwork FREE download single to celebrate the launch of the new Dreamsville - Released October 2017. A-Side: THE RUMBLER (For Duane) Currently unavailable on any album B-Side: PERFIDIA 2017 Currently unavailable on any album Performed, recorded and produced by Bill Nelson. All rights Bill Nelson 2017.

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 William's Study (Diary Of A Hyperdreamer) July 2007 Jan Feb Apr May Sep Oct Nov Dec Wednesday 11th July 2007 -- 8:20 pm It's been an intense few weeks. All of June spent working on music for an American documentary film about the visual design history of U.S. postal stamps. Ongoing too...until the end of July. The subject of stamps is far more interesting than one might initially presume. The film, produced by a company called 'twenty2 product' in San Francisco (and funded by the American PBS TV network and the US Postal Service), is beautifully photographed and edited and features several interviews with the highly talented visual artists and designers who have been involved with postage stamp design over the years. A wide range of subjects, including music, literature, science and art are covered by these stamps and each interview has required me to create an appropriate musical setting. 18 scenes or 'segments' in total but I've so far made approaching fifty tracks for the filmakers to select from. These are not fifty different tunes though but variations and mixes of perhaps 30 individual compositions. Still, it's been constant and intense work...12 hours per day on average and 7 days per week. I'm feeling burned out at this point in time but I think I'm not too far from a conclusion of sorts. I've booked Fairview Studios on the 28th and 29th of July to master the final choice of music cues, once the film makers have made their selection. Everything has to be decided, completed and prepared by then. The most challenging part of the work has been the attempt to create music that stays out of the way of the dialogue without becoming dull and ordinairy. Not easy as there is constant 'talking-heads' style narrative throughout the film. Some musical cues are very brief too, which means it's tricky to build musical dynamic tension over such a short period of time. I'm currently working on two promotional-advertising clips for the project, trailers basically. One is 20 seconds long, the other 30 seconds. Not a lot of music in terms of time but just as much work as the longer pieces within the film, if not more so. I also need to revisit some of the cues for which I've already created music, to see if I can bring even more alternatives to the table. All this highly focussed and time-consuming work has confined me to my little studio room since the start of June. My social life has gone out the window. Emiko has seen much less of me too, as have the rest of my long-suffering family. It's taken a toll on my health and nerves, as is to be expected. Sitting hunched over keyboards and mixing desk for 12 hours a day isn't the healthiest of pusuits for a man approaching 60. My waistline has expanded again and stress levels have reflected the obsessive nature of the work. Can't be helped, I suppose. Part of the job and part of the challenge. But that old cliche, 'not as young as you used to be' applies perfectly. I wonder if it will all be worth it in the end? Not in financial terms, (this isn't a Hollywood blockbuster, after all), but in terms of what the music adds to my 'canon.' I think there's an album to be got out of this, 'though it may be an unusual one. If I can gather the more interesting tracks together, there may be yet another aspect of my musical activity worth presenting to the public, beyond that of the music's function within the film. I've already come up with an album title for this: 'PICTURE POST.' ('Picture Post' was the title of an old 1950's photo-journalistic magazine, here in the U.K.) Despite my confinement to recording studio barracks, I did manage to attend my nephew Julian's wedding, a few weeks back. Julian is my late brother Ian's eldest son. He married a lovely girl, called Lindsay. They make a charming couple and it was good to see them surrounded by their friends who all wished them well. The marriage ceremony and reception was held at Walton Hall near Wakefield. I'd not visited to Walton Hall before, despite growing up in the city. It's a remarkable old house, built on an island in a lake and surrounded by a beautiful tree-blessed landscape. Quite magical. One of the pleasant side-effects of Julian's mariage was the fact that it gathered together what remains of the Nelson clan. Not a lot of us left, sadly. My eldest daughter, Julia, travelled up from London with my bright-star grandson Luke, (o.k, I'm biased), and my mother and my youngest daughter Elle and my son Elliot were there too. Also my sister-in-law Diane and my niece Lucy and nephew Louis and my Mum's husband George. I only wish Ian could have been there to see his son tie the knot. It was a bitter-sweet occassion in that respect. Ian was aware of the date of Julian and Lindsay's wedding before he passed away. I know he was looking forward to it with his usual sense of warm bemusement. There were some poignant moments for us all when we missed Ian's prescence. It doesn't really get any easier, despite it being around 17 months since I last saw Ian. I don't imagine time will ever make much of a difference to the emptiness that has been left in the lives of his loved ones. And, yes, I will say it again, I miss him tremendously. The world continues to roll by my window, indifferent to whatever plans or idealistic imaginings I might harbour. Summer, for what it's worth, seems to have been a season of floods so far. Terrible suffering for hundreds of families in Hull, Doncaster and Sheffield. Freak conditions for this time of year? Global warming the cause? Whatever the conclusion, it's a major topic in the media and already a subject for 'live aid' style pop concerts. But there's something hollow, something not quite right in our response to the problem. Hard to put into words but it's as if it's a kind of game, a fashionable badge to wear instead of a life and death issue. We're not doing anything near enough to redress the balance. Future generations will reap the terrible harvest of our casual attitudes, I'm afraid. Sometimes I feel as if the human race is a lost cause...Life fading fast on this bright blue pebble amongst the stars. Another great British cultural icon has passed away. The vibrant, colourful, joyous bundle of atoms that was George Melly has finally 'gone fission.' I never met him, (though my brother Ian did), but I liked him tremendously. George's great passions were jazz, surrealism, fishing, booze and sex. I'm somewhat fond of that sort of stuff too...but without the fishing. He was a bright, witty, intelligent and enthusiastic man who knew what wonders were hidden beneath the world's voluminous skirts. And he wasn't afraid to lift those skirts and have a good old lusty fondle. A bit mad and scary for some folks, our George. But for those of us who shared his wide-eyed hunger, he was definitely on the side of the angels. His autobiographical trilogy, 'Owning Up' should be compulsory reading for all those who think life begins and ends with reality tv and pop music. A force for the good and the world poorer without him. You'd think I'd have more to write about, considering how long it's been since the previous diary entry, but I haven't really got much else to say or the time to say it. Over the weeks I've made a mental list of topics to bring to these pages, but they've either faded from my memory or suddenly seemed inconsequential. It's all inconsequential really though, isn't it? Just babble... A brief note though: The ongoing demise of record stores. The rather wonderful Track Records in York is sadly shutting up shop. A result of the downloading malaise that is slowly eroding the way we access music, I suspect. Even our local Borders store is selling off cd stock at silly prices and has cut back on its album racking space Seriously junked its stock of jazz and other non-pop/rock records too. Some say it's the future. But it's greed really, cheapness and laziness triumphing over magic. And another step towards conformity of taste. It will strip the truly creative leaves from the trees, leaving only a sterile and barren thicket of fruitlessness. Thank goodness I'm not alone in thinking this. More and more critics and intellectuals seem to be coming 'round to the same conclusion. A recently published book presents the same argument: Basically it says that the internet is killing our culture and impoverishing truly creative musicians. There's too much plain old commodity and not enough treasure. Soon, no one will want to choose music as a 'career,' unless they're very young and desperate for attention. There will simply be not enough in it, either financially or aesthetically. No one will care in the way that my generation cared. We're the last of the line. Music, as a career or lifestyle choice will devolve to the lowest common denominator. The moronic will hold sway. What a marvellous prospect! Little enclaves of genuine music lovers meeting in secret, like Catholics at the gates of the reformation. The cathederals of record retailing in ruins, music as an illuminating force finally snuffed out in favour of free downloads, mediocre retreads and lousy sound quality...The enthusiast as the new outcast, an antiquated, nearly extinct species. Science-fiction's worst nightmares come home to roost and crouching at the foot of your bed, screaming. I once wrote to the NME, back in the '70's, pre-punk, with a manifesto for a renewal of 'real' music, music that needed commitment, energy and intelligence. Music that you'd be prepared to risk your life for. I wrote this under the humerous guise of 'The New Music Liberation Front' and signed it 'Christian Spink.' I didn't really think the NME would publish it, but they did, in heavy type, surrounded by a black border to make it highly visible on their letter's page. I had my tongue planted partly in my cheek but also, so I hoped, on the erectile tissue of the spirit of rebellion. There's nothing revolutionary about the current music industry, despite the dull, interminable trumpeting about so called 'new technologies.' It's just the same old tired, manipulative, nonsense, despite the gadgetry. Just another angle on the 'let's charm the pocket money out of kids sweaty hands' trick. Or, If we can't sell cds, lets flog 'em MP3 players, software, website subscriptions. Money for (very old) rope. People demanding music without any cost and an industry seeking profit without any risk. It will, I predict, all end in tears. No diary photo's this time. Too busy. When I get the film music completed, I'll hopefully find more time and energy for such things. Top of page

Heaven And Hell Volume Two album - 1991 Various Artists Production/Contribution Menu Future Past BILL: Contributed a cover of the Velvet Underground song "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", credited to Bill Nelson and The Roy Rogers Rocketeers. Producer and Keyboard on the Mock Turtles cover of the Velvet's "Pale Blue Eyes". NOTES: Bill's cover is not featured on any of his other releases, and remains unique to this tribute album. Production/Contribution Menu Future Past

Soluna Oriana Bill Nelson download single - 30 June 2010 Singles Menu Future Past TRACKS: 1) Soluna Oriana NOTES: "Soluna Oriana" is an exclusive instrumental piece composed especially for a fund raising campaign launched on behalf of former Japan bass guitarist, Mick Karn, who was then undergoing treatment for cancer. Sadly, on the 4th of January, 2011, Karn lost his battle against the disease. Initially Nelson had written an exclusive song to donate to the Mick Karn campaign called "Bluebird", spending a week working on it in June 2010. With the track nearing completion though, Nelson re-thought his plans, concluding that the lyric to "Bluebird" was not in line with his original intentions, and he immediately set to work on "Soluna Oriana". The download was made available through SoundCloud, where it remains as a tribute to Karn. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available as a free digital download on this page, or in the Free Downloads section . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Soluna Oriana has turned out to be an ethereal, floating, gentle piece, featuring an e-bow improvisation over a modal 'puzzle pattern' backdrop. It's a track that I would have been pleased to put on any upcoming album of mine but am excited to offer as a free download for those of you who would like to contribute to the Mick Karn appeal and receive a heartfelt little musical gift from me in return." _____ "I have fond memories of working with him in the 1980's. A wonderfully talented musician and artist." _____ "Like so many of my titles, the sound and juxtaposition of the words is enough to make the thing attractive to me, but...'Soluna' could be interpreted as a marriage of 'Sol' (Sun), and 'Luna' (Moon). Which, alchemically could be thought of as male and female, yin and yang, etc, etc. 'Oriana' suggests to me the 'Orient' and East, or even 'Queen Oriana'...certainly, to me, something royal and mystical. But above all, it feels poetic and exotically beautiful. In the context of the music it brings identity to the piece, but the real meaning is to be found in your own heart when you hear the music and understand the reason for its existence." Singles Menu Future Past

Clocks & Dials Bill Nelson double album - 1 November 2008 Albums Menu Future Past Purchase this download DISC ONE TRACKS: 01) Thunder Heralds The Fairylight Parade 02) Mystery Vortex (Oberon Touchstone) 03) Test Card 04) Clear Skies A' Coming 05) Rain Made Us Shine 06) Music For A Victorian Steam Cottage 07) A Town Called Blue Tomorrow 08) Searching For An Island Off The Coast Of Dreams 09) 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 DISC TWO TRACKS: 01) The Phonograph Bird 02) The Experimental Time Traveller 03) Dig The Sparkles 04) The Golden Roundabout Rides Again 05) Mellophonia 06) Electric Trains, Clean Oceans, Clear Skies, Pure Air 07) Yonder Gleams Your Star 08) Cinnamon And Mint 09) 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) Clocks Wind Slow 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) DISC TWO TRACKS: 01) The Phonograph Bird 02) The Experimental Time Traveller 03) Dig The Sparkles 04) The Golden Roundabout Rides Again 05) Mellophonia 06) Electric Trains, Clean Oceans, Clear Skies, Pure Air 07) Yonder Gleams Your Star 08) Cinnamon And Mint 09) 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) Clocks Wind Slow 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) ALBUM NOTES: Clocks and Dials is a vocal album issued exclusively for Nelsonica '08 on the Discs of Ancient Odeon label. As with the previous year's convention exclusive, Clocks and Dials was pressed in a print run of 1000 copies to avoid the clamour for copies after Nelsonica , and the price of second hand copies escalating on eBay. Clocks and Dials stands alone within the body of Nelsonica releases as the only 2CD set among them, and was presented in a special fold out digipack sleeve. The album was recorded concurrently with Golden Melodies of Tomorrow and had a number of working titles (In The Realm of the Unreal; The Experimental Time Traveller ; Signals From Earth ; and Modern Moods For Mighty Atoms ) before Nelson settled on Clocks and Dials . As soon as Nelsonica was over, the remaining copies of Clocks and Dials were sold through S.O.S, and on January 3rd, 2013, an announcement was made on the Dreamsville Forum that the album had completely sold out. A small number of purchasers reported playback issues, which were attributed to the inability of older CD players to cope with the lengthy playing time, rather than there being any fault with the discs. CURRENT AVAILABILITY: Available for purchase as a digital download here in the Dreamsville Store . BILL'S THOUGHTS: "Several of the Clocks and Dials tracks were originally destined for Golden Melodies ...However, the fact that those particular tracks were left off Golden Melodies had nothing to do with incompatibility, technical quality or conceptual suitability. They were shunted to 'C+D' simply because there wasn't enough space to include them. Nevertheless, these related Clocks and Dials tracks come from the same time and place, they spring from the Golden Melodies sessions and sensibilities, from the same concept." _____ "There's certainly a psychedelic pop flavour to many of the tracks. It's quite a technicolour dream in some ways." FAN THOUGHTS: tommaso: "Have just listened to Clocks & Dials ...There's so much inspiration and invention here that most other artists would be happy to create such an album as a 'regular' release [rather than a free CD to Nelsonica attendees]. Favourites after first listening: the somewhat dark and melancholy "Rain Falls Fast on Faded Ruin", the utterly beautiful "Cinnamon and Mint", and one of the most immediately catchy songs Bill ever wrote, "No Time Says the Clock" (both versions). Ah, great stuff! Perhaps the best Nelsonica album ever. I guess when the muse kisses Bill, she does it wholeheartedly." Paul Andrews: "This really is a stonking album. When I play CD2 I keep getting stuck on "The Experimental Time Traveller" - it's so good I can't get past it! Knowing that "Curate's Egg in Cup of Grass" is just down the musical road does help though. Clocks and Dials is an enormous piece of work. I need to spend more time with it to get everything that lies within it to the fore. Can you slow down a bit Bill? I'm trying to catch up you know!" Mick Winsford: "Having listened again to this album this evening I simply want to say that this is definitely my favourite Bill Nelson album since Orpheus , and one of the best of his career. It's just full of all of the things that have kept me tuned into Bill's music since January 1976. I refuse to swear in case it offends anyone but it's a %*&£$#^ great album!" sauropod: "I love all three discs [the 2CD C&D + Golden Melodies ]. A very fine effort. I'm afraid of wearing them out, playing them so much!" Peter: "I'm halfway through my second listen (I was in the living room at 5 this morning, headphones on, cat asleep on my chest), and am enjoying these very much. Too much goodness, too many great songs, to name...just more wonders from the amazing Mr. N!" Gompers: "Bravo Bill. For my personal taste, it's the best in a while. Very versatile sounds throughout. I even detected a bit of a 'Be-Bop Deluxe' style in a few of the tracks. Outstanding offering." BryanH: "Wow...absolutely brilliant. My favourite BN release for some time." Tony M: "There is so much music here that I had previously listened to one CD at a time, with too long a break in between listenings. As with all of Bill's recordings, something new with each listen. Nothing better than a cruise down the highway with the volume up near 10! So many good songs and many new favorites. One that sticks with me is "Artismo Loco". The guitar playing is fantastic. This song could go on forever, way too short. Many other gems on this one. Looking forward to my next long drive." ladesco: "Fundertuneful bundliscious warm and fuzzy specialty assorted ice creamy dreams of sailships and boats with steams that are quite content with wallace and grommeting their way thru skyscape city tides, waving the pearlescent sandy beaches treasured with half-buried bottles containing watery journeys yet to be unraveled and traveled from whence they came...the other side of the world, or universe? A time travelers dream!!!! Wow, Mr. nelson...WOW. There are so many of yours that are crowding my top 10 list by now, I just as soon float gently on a breeze, and love them all with gracious equalities." steve lyles: "I listened to Clocks and Dials a couple of weeks back and didn't move a muscle through the whole of cd 1...better than any drug or drink I've ever had..." Alan Cawthorne: "I find this album a very confident release. Mr Bill seems full of good tunes, screaming guitars and frantic beats (Always welcome), and dare I say it full of sex the way he sings certain songs...Talk about an album crammed with tunes...!! A thoroughly nice and warm listen. And not a filler in sight!" alec: "The happiness approaches urgency at times on Clocks and Dials . Some great lyrics, singing and melodies, too. Frantic details swimming around every track." "No Time Says the Clock [Version 1]": "is a Psychedelic Pop Classic. A hit." Pathdude: "Every single song is tremendously enjoyable. The trilogy of "Blue Tomorrow", "Island Off the Coast of Dreams", and "Signals from Earth" are some of the most beautiful signals I've ever received. I think that "Signals from Earth" was written especially for me as it's now my favorite BN song. And I can't say directly why. It's just the feeling I get within when listening to it." Chimera Man: "Highlight in particular for me is "Frankie Surfs the Milky Way" - what an absolute gem of a song. Lovely guitar sound, fab "pop" song really, and it bounces along with an uplifting sense that can only put a smile on your face. I kind of have an image of Bill in a big cowboy hat, sat in a rocking chair out on the veranda of some isolated farmhouse in the American midwest with a broad grin on his face playing this, just as dusk is settling...whoever Frankie is passes by overhead, catches the sound, stops, winks at him and moves on swiftly as Emi emerges with a mug of some warm beverage for her beloved !!" Gavin Baker: "Playing it last night for the first time I had 2 favorites materialise immediately. "Clear Skies a Coming" & "The Silver Darkness Whispers Yes". Loads of stuff on here & a grand mixture to boot! After one hearing I would recommend this to any of you that haven't got it. THANK YOU BILL FOR PROVIDING THE SOUNDTRACK IN MY LIFE." GettingOnTheBeam: "Ah, but the best track is "Mystery Vortex". What a masterpiece. One of Bill's best ever in my opinion." play my theremin: "This is a terrific album, one of my favourites by any artist...Its absence would leave a large gap in any BN fan's collection as far as I'm concerned." major snagg: "Bill is an ARTIST who's main medium is sound." Albums Menu Future Past

Acquitted By Mirrors - Issue Fifteen - Published early 1990 Back to Top

Silent Night Free Christmas download single Click image for cover Artwork Special FREE Christmas download single - Released December 2012. SILENT NIGHT Currently unavailable on any album Bill's instrumental version of the traditional Christmas carol. Watch the accompanying video in the Essoldo Cinema Performed, recorded and produced by Bill Nelson. All rights Bill Nelson 2012.