- Artist: Bill Nelson
- Rating:
- Release Date: August 05, 2003
- Type: Lyrics are included with the album
- Genre: Rock
Review
This two-CD collection includes both volumes of Bill Nelson's Whimsey project. What separates Whimsey, parts one and two, from his boatload of other homemade studio projects? This is not another odds and ends collection, but a construction of song-oriented material with lyrics, dreamy atmospheres, and killer guitar sonics. Right: this is Nelson's first really song-oriented project since 1992's Blue Moons & Laughing Guitars. There were songs on other albums, but the pair packaged here are structured albums of songs, as opposed to studio experiments. Tracks such as "Slumberlife," or "Switch Off That Desert Sunset," or "The Fundamental Blues" from Whimsey come off as being close in spirit to Be Bop Deluxe, rather than to any of his other solo material. The big surprise is that on Whimsey, Part Two, tracks such as the opener "Showtime," "When We Were Young," and "The Fabulous Fountain of Your Savoir Faire" are all songs written in an entirely new direction. In architecture, David Bowie could have learned loads from Nelson about how electronics, ballsy guitars, and looped beats work in composition forms. These are tight, smart, and elegant songs, all of them short, slightly lopsided, and always quirky and off the beaten path, offering Nelson' fans something to really celebrate; and for those just coming to his solo work, this is a fantastic place to start. ~ Thom Jurek:Õ, All Music GuideTracks
CD 1
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Nostalgia (For the Future) | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:44) |
| Slumberlite | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:22) |
| Let Flow the Wine | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (2:53) |
| Switch Off That Desert Sunset | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (4:42) |
| Magnetism Made Me Do It | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:14) |
| A Simple Thought Flashes Through My Mind | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (4:19) |
| Senor Mysterioso | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:56) |
| Ocean Full of Wishes | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:10) |
| Swept Away | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (4:18) |
| Islands in the Sky | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:49) |
| Always Summer | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (4:16) |
| The Fundamental Blues | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:14) |
| My Favourite Urban Chrome-Green Sky | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:55) |
| Dizzy in the Head | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:13) |
| I Looked at the Sea | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (2:58) |
| The Girl Who Disappeared into a Cloud | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:13) |
| Whimsy | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:11) |
| So Far | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:30) |
| The Violins of Autumn | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:24) |
| Will | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:42) |
CD 2
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Showtime | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:03) |
| Dumb Palooka | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:38) |
| Garage Full of Clouds, Pt. 2 | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (4:08) |
| Organola [Instrumental] | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (1:48) |
| Perfect Bliss | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (2:49) |
| Powder Blue | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (4:07) |
| Here We Go | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:22) |
| When We Were Young | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:24) |
| Fairyland Before the Fire | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:24) |
| Cowboy Christmas | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (2:21) |
| Struck Dumb by Beauty Again | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:35) |
| Don't Be a Stranger | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:37) |
| The Light This Universe Attracts | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (5:16) |
| Sing Ye Golden Sunbeams, Sing | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:19) |
| Superslippy | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:22) |
| The Fabulous Fountain of Your Savoir Faire | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:25) |
| A Star Named Desire | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (2:57) |
| Buzz Was Honey | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (3:30) |
| Over the Moon | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (6:41) |
| Close Your Eyes (The Sleepy Town Symphony) [Instrumental] | Bill Nelson | Bill Nelson | (5:42) |
