As I pontificated with regard to the 1980's the first time I posted a couple of cuts from Glasgow's The Blue Nile over on Art Decade:
"I hated the self-congratulatory stench of delusion. I hated the graphics. I hated the cheap looking suits and shady haircuts. I hated the flippancy of the music foisted on me in every bar and nightclub. And, above all else, by the end of the decade i wanted to grab Brett Easton Ellis by the scruff of his Armani Wall Street jacket and jam a copy of "American Psycho" right up his smugly winking arse."
I refuse to concede I was by any means too harsh.
I did like this album rather a lot, though. The band was originally commissioned by Linn Hi-Fi to publicly demonstrate the fidelity of their high-end audio equipment, as it goes.
Robert Bell: bass, synthesizer;
Paul Buchanan: vocals, guitar, synthesizer;
Paul Joseph Moore: keyboards, synthesizer;
Nigel Thomas: drums.
Written by Robert Bell and Paul Buchanan. Recorded at Castlesound, Edinburgh.
Paul Buchanan: vocals, guitar, synthesizer;
Paul Joseph Moore: keyboards, synthesizer;
Nigel Thomas: drums.
Written by Robert Bell and Paul Buchanan. Recorded at Castlesound, Edinburgh.
▼ THE BLUE NILE: EASTER PARADE from "A Walk Across The Rooftops" LP (Linn) 1983 (UK)
4 comments:
Linn records? Any connection to Roger Linn there?
Good question, Emmett. Roger Linn of the drum machine ?
No, so far as I know. Linn Products was founded in Glasgow in 1972 by Ivor Tiefenbrun; a pioneer of turntables. Their stuff is notoriously expensive. I remember that at some point in the 1980s they established a service whereby a representative would call at your home to map the optimum acoustics prior to delivering a Hi-Fi peckage. They were also famously dismissive of the vogue for Compact Disc Players.
Thanks for the info, ib. I'm afraid I was a bit too eager in my haste to connect anything & everything to Roger Linn, and should have read your explanation about Linn Hi-Fi more carefully.
Regardless, the engineering on these Blue Niles jams is amazing. IMO, it's music like this for which CD is actually the preferred format. You know, Roxy Music Avalon, etc... stuff where pops & ticks ruin the glassy clarity, but you want maximum fidelity. This is when CD is optimal.
I definitely agree with your observation here on CD and clarity. Linn, however, were resolute on delivering a turntable which eliminated all vinyl surface noise while maintaining the natural warmth of valve amplified sound.
The catch, however, was the cost in securing this performance; the equivalent of purchasing a small yacht. Their enthusiasts tended to be very moneyed.
Post a Comment