The Last Of The Neon Cynics is a collaborative project by Bill Nelson and comic book artist Matt Howarth. The download includes a 110 page high-rez full colour PDF graphic novel and all the original CD artwork. All music composed, played and recorded by Bill Nelson. Comic book graphic novel story and artwork by Matt Howarth.
The enigmatic Bill Nelson was born December 18, 1948. Esoteric Recordings is pleased to announce the launch of a new imprint, Cocteau Discs, the home of Bill Nelson’s catalogue between 1971 and 2001. The series of ongoing releases begins with the re-release of Bill’s classic album Northern Dream, recorded on rudimentary equipment at Holyground studios in Wakefield in 1971. One of the first truly independently produced albums to be released in Britain, the album featured wonderful compositions such as Everyone’s Hero, End of the Seasons, Love’s a Way and Smiles . Championed by John Peel, the album paved the way for Bill’s future career with his bands Be Bop Deluxe and Red Noise and for his highly regarded solo career.
This album contains the music he was commissioned to write for artist Rob Ward's "Crimsworth" installation. This comes in the form of two lengthy tracks…
ESOTERIC RECORDINGS imprint Cocteau Discs, the home of BILL NELSON’s catalogue between 1971 and 2001, continues their series of on-going releases with the newly remastered and expanded release of his 1986 album "GETTING THE HOLY GHOST ACROSS”. Released in 1986, the record was Bill’s sole album for the Portrait label, and was a superbly realised work. Previously released on CD as strictly limited edition of 500 copies on Bill’s Sonolux label, the album is hugely sought after on CD by collectors.
At the end of March 2011, Bill Nelson and the Gentlemen Rocketeers, along with one hundred plus guests, populated Studio A at Metropolis, West London, for a dynamite concert reminiscent of the Marquee club in its heyday. A blistering fourteen song set from the band, which covers much of Bill’s career to date, was the result. We’re delighted to present that set here on both CD and DVD, together with an interview with Bill and a sublime four track solo set as DVD extras.
It's possible to find through-lines of the new romantic strain of pop throughout this Bill Nelson release, with washes of synthesizer and dance-of-electrocution rhythms going on all over the place, but the true fascination is the mix of a post-ironic tone and a cultured sensitivity to art and beauty. While Nelson puts his guitar chops on display periodically through the album (much of it with E-bow in hand), this is far from being a guitar album - all of the disparate elements are too well-integrated for any to assume a point of focus. There is a sweetness and a lightness to a great deal of the work Nelson put into this album, and this makes it infinitely listenable. In some respects, this is also a record that will teach listeners everything they need to know about Bill Nelson - it touches on all aspects of what he does.
This is volume one in a series of albums designed to gather together rare and previously unreleased home recordings from the ‘80s onwards under the series title 'THESE TAPES REWIND'. From the mid ‘80s and into the early '90s my home studio, ('The Echo Observatory'), used a reel-to-reel analogue 16-track recorder. I mixed down via an analogue desk onto a very early SONY PCM F1 digital stereo machine. Whilst I released several albums recorded this way, there was a huge amount of material left 'on the shelf’.