NORTHERN DREAM

In terms of what has been readily available for listening online, Bill Nelson has always been made somewhat of an enigma to me. I would happily call myself a 'fan', I'd figure, if I simply knew more. Last I seriously listened to his solo material, it was the absurdly gargantuan 6-disc boxset release Noise Candy (regrettably unreviewed, go figure). It's one of those moments where it's hard to say there's actual regret in the time expended... As per his discography here, Northern Dream, Nelson's '71 debut, came out a whopping 10 years before his post-Be-Bop Deluxe 'sophomore' solo release, Sounding the Ritual Echo; likewise this precedes the latter band's debut album by 3 years.

A cool little glitch-out effect at the end of "Photograph (A Beginning)" really introduces us to the album, this opening track a remarkably short 19 seconds long. "Everyone's Hero" is a swampy Blues Rock, which, while yes, muddy in quality, immediately struck me as 'Lo-fi', given away by this unnatural, likely unintended, shift in outputted volume heard at the very start. Lo-fi as a label I'm fairly certain was seldom used contemporarily, even post-Velvet Underground [Is this an apt overview take on early, noisy alternative music?]. It should go without saying, yet admittedly, I was surprised to find myself won over in the end. Its slow crescendo[wn] reads as psychedelia, pure and simple; Folk music aside, a throughline of the whole album.

I guess I do hear a sort of summery beachiness in [what I quickly took for bucolic Progressive Folk(?)] "House of Sand", a short Folk-Rock tune; at 1:38, the shortest track aside from its bookends. Got me thinking. Perhaps a nod to Roy Harper, hearing what I've understood to be his influence on tracks from Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd (hadn't considered the latter band's relation to him much outside of his direct collaboration with them). Somehow stylistically a natural fit, though at least modernized, "End of the Seasons" is a sort of post-psychedelic dirge, simultaneously owing to that plenty older, killed-my-lady folk tradition ("Down in the Willow Garden" by the Everly Brothers often comes to mind). Loving the bridge, really bringing out its more overt psychedelic character, especially with that dark drone over this otherwise bright, optimistic section. The shift alone I reckon as progressive; I'm easy to please when it comes to overarching genre definitions. There are a few sonic touches that feel like pulls from, or nods to, The Beatles. Piano-drummer(?!) Richard Brown plays harmonium here, revealed neatly most clearly at the end [the origin of that aforementioned drone?], progressing finally in a white Raga. I like.

"Rejoice" was the first track I pretty immediately felt hooked to. I suppose more Progressive Folk broadly--an area of ignorance, no doubt--it's warmed effectively by flecks of psychedelia, surely rooted in its almost sluggish, lulling rhythm. The definitely-not-Jazz flute solo and drum circle percussion and jangling acoustic guitar certainly do a lot of work in this category as well. Joining the flute, really most tastefully, are some of those growling, lively guitar leads, the sound of which will definitely strike you as Bill Nelson; big impact before that instrument's own solo, played clear through till fade-out. All the while, unsurprising to note, I'm sure these vocal harmonies will be quite pleasing to the Lord ;) Very nice. Fadeout to "Love's A Way" was really done quite well. The hypnotic rhythm from past tracks continues here, and it sports a cool, just plain artful timelessness I find difficult to simply describe; [most simply] nostalgic and tender. All in all, it's extremely charming, beautiful. In '71, Bill would have been about 22, so I just feel there's something very exploratory and bold, albeit naïve, in its spirit. Interestingly contemporary to this album(!), hard for me not to compare it to Todd Rundgren's first couple albums post-Nazz, as much as I adore them (Todd's second being one of my all-time favorites... in a long list of favorites haha). I think the opening lines to the verses are melodically quite similar to the Bee Gees' early hit, "New York Mining Disaster". Given the folk influences alone, I can't say I'm too awful surprised if it was a direct inspiration on this. "Love's" is nothing like much of anything else that much more popular group did aside, but quite a bit in its compositional joie de vivre and instrumentation brings latter-days Beatles to mind (Ringo drag, as I call it, for one, and its daring change between sections evocative of Paul at his most adventurous and clever). Aptly titled, more American I guess, "Northern Dreamer" next is more of that lighthearted, pastoral folk influence. It closes with a happy, slithering backwards guitar solo.

Another shorty, a simulated live pub performance, I take it, "Bloo Blooz" is a, what(?), Chicago Blues song(?), the first to feature Bill's distinctive, higher register voice, as I recognize in him all these years from Be-Bop. Although I don't recall anything quite this straight-up Blues from that band. Not bad. Where "Northern Dreamer" closes as such, "Sad Feelings" rolls softly in with another quick backwards guitar solo (I wasn't expecting it, but it works). Blues Folk? It's cute, but I also don't feel a whole lot for it. It's maybe reaching for Grateful Dead; there's a very familiar rootsy something in it not too dissimilar in effect. Really not to say he isn't unique, wearing his influences on his sleeves early on, "See It Through" feels like early James Taylor, and again, [even] more in my ignorance, Roy Harper (thinking of that sharp, tinny slide guitar off Zeppelin III) [So... is that Roy's influence? Please help and advise; prepared to be totally off-base]. Then rolling in to effectively close us out at near-10 minutes, "Smiles" is up next, a contemplative Psych Folk for starters. I'd love to figure out how to get this effect, this almost drunken psychedelic swagger; like I said before, it's hypnotic, and, in that, powerful. After just a minute, we switch moods to stripped-down, driving Rock, just for a good 30 seconds or so before our return to the melancholic drag from the start. Approaching minute 4, the next section is a softened reversed-tape trip, then we pick back up for some sunny guitarings; like a Be-Bop Deluxe just closer to those old Rock n' Roll roots in a very real, practical fashion. A whole lot of backwards tapes over this album, but in its simplicity as a tape manipulation trick it pulls its weight. If we need any reminders that Bill can play, he shreds bluesily for quite a while, before the final section, not quite as slowed and much more upbeat in vibe; at the track's very end, a nod to the Who? Finally, harmonics at the ready, "Chymepeace (An Ending)" is next. And last.

All in all, certainly a debut album I was impressed with. Anything to remind me that this dude is the man is worthwhile to me; I guess I should just spin on through all of Be-Bop again soon.

True Rate: 2.75/5.00