Posted on: February 4, 2013 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Though not as top-of-mind to most as peers like Bryan Ferry and Kate Bush, Scottish ambient/soft rockers The Blue Nile built up a tight cult following thanks to an impressive collection of songs in the 80’s spread out over two solid albums: A Walk Across the Rooftops and it’s follow up Hats. They had a comeback album of sorts in the mid 90s and again 10 years after that, but neither could match their first two efforts.

Digging into the crates, the folks at Virgin/EMI have re-released those albums with an added CD each of previously unreleased songs and mixes. The additional CDs are far from a massive dump of anything old lying around (A Walk… only includes seven additional songs and Hats includes a half dozen), but the additional songs and mixes just continue to add to the band’s reputation for building beautiful, cinematic sounds.

The synth-heavy trio has long been a fav of critics and fans, but their JD Salinger-like sparse output has been a tad bit frustrating, making these re-releases all the more satisfying. The band last played together in 2008 and is on to other projects, so this very well could be the last new music fans hear from the group. 

The Blue Nile – A Walk Across the Rooftops and Hats/4 CDs total/Virgin/2013 41kF18T9KgL._SL500_AA300_

 

The Blue Nile A Walk Across the Rooftops and Hats review

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