albums for when the party's over

February 13, 2011 10:04 PM

God, how I love Roxy Music's Avalon. Can you recommend other albums from that era that have a similar laid-back, late night glamorous feel?
posted by roger ackroyd to Media & Arts (30 answers total)

Have you checked out Bryan Ferry's solo albums from that period? They're not quite the same, but they're close.
posted by Nomyte at 10:23 PM on February 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

I was around to hear it back then first time on the radio. Sade from that era put me in the same mood. Makes me want to hear them both again!
posted by bebrave! at 10:24 PM on February 13, 2011

Try The Blue Nile. Different from Roxy, but definitely laid-back late night glamorous.
posted by carterk at 10:29 PM on February 13, 2011 [2 favorites]

Some Psychedlic Furs might work for you, although they rarely sustain laid-back for a whole album - you could try Forever Now and Mirror Moves.
posted by rodgerd at 10:29 PM on February 13, 2011

Seconding The Blue Nile.

Everything But The Girl early albums
posted by honey-barbara at 10:37 PM on February 13, 2011

Peter Gabriel created a lot of hauntingly beautiful stuff on the 'arty' side, and one of my favorite semi-mellow bands of the era was Simple Minds (get past that ubiquitous Breakfast Club song and there's a wealth of goodness).
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:54 PM on February 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

- nthing The Blue Nile. "Hats" is a classic post-party album.
- Bryan Ferry - "Boys and Girls"
- Talk Talk - "It's My Life" and "The Colour of Spring"
- Chris deBurgh - "Getaway"
- The Style Council - "Introducing The Style Council" and "Cafe Bleu"
posted by prinado at 11:52 PM on February 13, 2011

Man, by the time you get deep into Talk Talk, Avalon will seem like a misty memory. Main songwriter/singer Mark Hollis went famously off the rails in the band's later period, thereby producing some of the most opulent and idiosyncratic music of the decade. Cf., their albums Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, as well as Mark Hollis's exquisite solo album.

Talk Talk - The Rainbow / Eden / After the Flood
Mark Hollis - The Daily Planet

It's a tiny bit later, but Stina Nordenstam's first album conjures up some of this same elegant, but slightly sinister mystique. (But be warned, as each of her albums is bafflingly different from the previous.)

Stina Nordenstam - Memories of a Colour / Another Story Girl

And, lastly, David Sylvian's Brilliant Trees.
posted by mykescipark at 12:14 AM on February 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

Talk Talk are simply fantastic, all of their albums are worth getting. Pay attention to the cover artwork. Soundtrack to a large portion of the 80s for me.
Mark Hollis' solo album is well worth repeat listening and pays large dividends.
posted by arcticseal at 1:28 AM on February 14, 2011

That album is very similar to Bruce Cockburn's output from Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws (1979) through to Stealing Fire (1984) -- and maybe beyond; that's just where I gave up, preferring his earlier, folky stuff.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:35 AM on February 14, 2011

Lloyd Cole's album "Rattlesnakes" might appeal to you. Here is "Forest Fire" for example.
posted by rongorongo at 3:59 AM on February 14, 2011

Best answer: Earlier, and kind of obscure, but you really need to track down the 1976 album by the band Metro, featuring Duncan Browne.
posted by neroli at 5:59 AM on February 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

I may be mocked, but I'm gonna be brave: Spandau Ballet's True.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:41 AM on February 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Cut Copy's Zonoscope, which came out last week, reminded me of Roxy Music a lot.
posted by oreofuchi at 7:20 AM on February 14, 2011

For the obvious pick, how about Roxy Music's "Flesh + Blood?" It was their album just prior to Avalon. Aside from the cringe-inducing cover of In the Midnight hour (it's the first track so it's easily skipped), it's a solid album.
posted by Dr-Baa at 7:30 AM on February 14, 2011

Depeche Mode is a bit more synth but similar mood. Precious
posted by artdrectr at 8:46 AM on February 14, 2011

Not from that era but might as well be.... "Avalon" is the perfect album. I found other Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry to be so inconsistent that I gave up until recently when I heard a review for Ferry's new one, "Olympia." I can tell you that this new album is very much like Avalon. One song starts in an almost identical manner and may fool you for a moment. I think it is what you are looking for.
posted by Morrigan at 8:58 AM on February 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

You want The Lexicon of life by ABC. Particularly All of My Heart.
posted by tuesdayschild at 9:22 AM on February 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Seconding True. Love it.
posted by perhapses at 9:29 AM on February 14, 2011

Stina Nordenstam - "This Is..." and "The World Is Saved."
posted by rhizome at 10:09 AM on February 14, 2011

Check out the just-released Kaputt, by Destroyer, which is being hailed for its Avalon-like sound.
posted by Clustercuss at 10:44 AM on February 14, 2011 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, guys. Some great suggestions here. I'm going to start with the older stuff and work my way forward.
posted by roger ackroyd at 1:18 PM on February 14, 2011

David Sylvian, mentioned upthread, started out in a band called Japan. Their earliest albums, Adolescent Sex and Obscure Alternatives are more hard-edged, but I suggest you listen to their 3rd and 4th albums, Quiet Life and Gentlemen Take Polaroids. Here is their cover of Lou Reed's All Tomorrow's Parties.

I wonder why I can't walk into a menswear shop and say, 'Sell me something David Sylvian would wear".
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 4:19 PM on February 14, 2011

neroli mentioned that cool obscure Metro album, which is an interesting little piece of history.

Also: Dave Sylvian & Mark Hollis.
posted by ovvl at 5:39 PM on February 14, 2011

Much later again but Annie Lennox's Medusa has a similar tone of lush wistfulness.
posted by Morrigan at 7:05 PM on February 14, 2011

nthing prinado's picks which cover pretty much everything I was thinking of when I read your question...

I may be way off here but I also put on Red House Painters when I'm in a Roxy/Ferry mood.
posted by screamingnotlaughing at 1:15 PM on February 15, 2011

nthing the David Sylvian and Japan recommendations, as well as ABC's The Lexicon of Love.

Some of Thomas Dolby's stuff also has this feel, especially his The Flat Earth album. The Golden Age of Wireless also has some lovely after the party's over music, like Airwaves.

And how could I forget Ultravox's Vienna ?
posted by needled at 6:26 PM on February 16, 2011

Antony & The Johnsons' albums all have a touch of Avalon's sense of decadent exhaustion. I Am A Bird Now mixes up tempos and styles a little, but The Crying Light sustains a slow, thoughtful tempo and is almost inappropriate to listen to at any time other than while lying in bed late at night with the lights out and a stiff drink on the nightstand.
posted by ardgedee at 7:29 PM on February 16, 2011

Response by poster: Happy birthday to this question.
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:45 AM on February 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

I wish more people would do that, roger!
posted by mykescipark at 2:01 PM on February 11, 2012 [1 favorite]