Customer Reviews

B-Movie Matinee

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Long ago, I bought Nile's first solo record, "Adventures In The Land of the Good Groove" and loved all the songs on it. Later, I heard about his second record and the single, "Let's Go Out Tonight" but never saw the disc on the shelves at the stores.

Fast forward to 2005.

I found "B-Movie Matinee" on cdnow.com and swooped in on the opportunity to buy it! I wondered how Mr. Rodgers could possibly follow up "Adventures..." - a largely ignored record that was truly worthy of greater recognition. Unfortunately, Nile and his partner-in-crime were being celebrated more for the music they created for other artists. I only heard "Yum-Yum" (extended version with a beautiful guitar passage) once on an R&B station and somebody had to tell me about the title track. It appears the same is true for this set as well, as sad as that is.

There is some really good music on this disc. It follows the lead set by "Adventures..." with programmed drums and lots of synthesizers - only moreso.

My favorite is "State Your Mind" - a song with a strong steady beat, as if former Chic drummer Tony Thompson was holdin' it down. Nile delivers another great guitar solo on this tune. The chorus is sung with the type of deliberation that Chic used in "Give Me The Lovin". There is a timeless quality to this song - it almost could have made the cut for Chic's later CD, "Chic-ism" which was out in 1992!

The most commercially oriented cut, "Let's Go Out Tonight" features Chic vocalist Alfa Anderson. It features a touch of Japan including Japanese rap.

"Groove Master" is a synthed-out track highlighting Nile's skills on bass and guitar, while "Stay Out of the Light" takes it a step farther with a spaced-out, Twighlight Zone sound. With its chorus repeated over and over, it manages to evoke earlier Chic cuts like "So Fine" from "Take It Off", "City Lights" from "Tongue In Chic", and "You Got Some Love For Me" from "Believer".

"Wavelength", the ballad, is breezy and relaxed compared to the kinetic energy of some of the other cuts.

This CD has pretty good production quality for a disc that was released years ago. A small strip across the upper left corner announces that this is a digital recording - which was a big deal in those days. There is also the ever-present reverberation of the "Chic sound" - after all, Nile Rodgers is one of the two masterminds behind that sound!

It's a shame that this album went largely ignored; this is fun music! The contrast of synthesizers/drum machines/vocal effects against Nile's guitar makes for a unique sound that's irresistibly music to my ears!

Nile Rodgers himself has made it clear he became something of a public enemy#1 during the anti disco freeze out. Lucky for him it all ended around 1983. Of course that was also the time Chic came to an end. For awhile anyway. All of a sudden with the merging of new wave and brit funk around this time bands such as Duran Duran,Spandau Ballet and even Level 42 were highly influenced by the melodies and guitar breaks Nile became so associated with while Chic were still around. So starting with his first solo release Adventures in the Land of the Good Groove,released the year Chic split up Nile decided it was time to bring it all back into his orbit. He could've easily just stuck with his huge hit work with Madonna and Duran Duran. But he had his own musical ideas to express.

Musically it's surprising how much of an extension of Chic's final first run album Believer this tends to be. Even more so then his first solo album. Choosing the theme of B-movies as stated in the title,this album starts out with the Ed Wood sendup of "Plan 9" and yes-Nile's old metaphorical wit equating UFO related paranoia to the similar Reagan era attitudes. He returns to a similar theme on "Doll Squad". These songs are definitely Chic type grooves-there's no doubt about that. But Nile also entered the world of digital synthesizers and sequencers. He uses them to enhance the music rather as the rhythmic basis-something not commonly done in the mid 80's. On "State Of Mind","The Groove Master" and "Stay Out Of The Light" it's more straight ahead 80's dance funk and the electronics isn't as evident.

This is not an album of ballads. Only the midtempo dance number "Wavelengh" comes close,with it's textured electronic orchestration. No matter how you cut it,Nile never does take his finger of the groove,or the melody or for that matter his witty and satirical concepts. It was very important during this time. As funk and soul was transitioning slowly into the hip-hop era,the electronic dance music that grew out of the 70's was actually very much involved in that. And even as the implicit lyrical message was dying down,it was also at an important peak. This rare CD,a full digital recording very much captured this spirit. Chic would be back in the 90's and Nile would become something of a pop culture icon. At the same time this album has a lot of it's own to offer,despite it's rarity.

From 1985, Nile Rodgers's second solo album continues along much of the same pattern as "Adventures In The Land Of The Good Groove." Not nearly as brilliant overall as AITLOTGG, but still a great album, and absolutely worth getting for "State Your Mind," one of the catchiest, funkiest songs ever to bear his name.

Rodgers had a novelistic approach to many lps, something he recognized himself. In this '85 album, he uses the B-movie monsters and aliens as a simile for his own unique blend of geekiness and club kid. The album as a whole reads as a man using bad film revivals as way to date a doubtful woman. The B-movies reflect a youth of lonely imagination while the club tempos convey a party-hearty attitude. In the tension between these, the protagonist feels both frustration and insecurity when the object of his desire hesitates with his overtures. The one song he didn't write demands the woman ignore her stuck-up friends and State Your Mind, someone else's song neatly conveying Rodgers' challenge. The end result is a dance-oriented lp using freestyle-type percussion to bring the Sci-Fi paranoia to life and to tempt the woman into clubbing after the film. There's less sonic variety than on Rodgers' '83 lp, but Matinee contained one of his very few charting singles ("Let's Go Out Tonight" charted #35 R&B, #38 Dance, #88 Pop). The electronic-freestyle fusion continued on Rodgers' next project, Outloud in '87.

I bought this LP back in 1986 and played it over and over - am I the ONLY one to love it? It seems like NO one remembers this album. Buy it for LET'S GO OUT TONIGHT, one of the best Nile Rodgers singles - complete with Japanese female rap. Seriously underrated grooves.

I first bought this lp back in 1986 and had to travel 300 miles to london to find it, and boy was it worth it. As nile traveled and produced the best of the 80's, this solo work is a work of art trying out new skills. A few stand out tracks such as 'state your mind' and 'lets go out tonight', sung with alfa ( now a high school principal) but the high lights has to be 'Groovemaster', a funky dance tune that gets your groove going. And a track thats in my top 10. Nice to see it on normal sale, my cd was a jap import with a mass of info all in japanese. An over looked cd that desreves a fair hearing.

We all know that Nile rodgers is formally of the band Chic and we all know that he has produced some really Big named people in the music business and also played on a lot of famous people on their albums or should I say CD's and he also has done movie sound tracks also. Not bad for a guy that's trying to get his record label off the ground.
But how could we over look this gem of an offering that he put out in 85. Oh! I know how because, we were too busy paying too much attention with his bringing out BIG records from Madonna, David Bowie,and Diana Ross that we over looked his album?CD.
from this CD came a few hits like "Let's go out Tonight,Wavelength, and Stay out of the light" but if you really want to hear a good dance CD that has some pretty cool beats check this ont out because, If it came from nile then you know it has to be some kind of funk that will make you move.

Don't expect something like Chic - songs are mainly constructed with crude 80s sampling and drum machines. There are some songs with good bass lines and also rodgers' very percussive guitar technique. These are interesting but they don't make it worth the while to import the CD.

I HAD THIS LP GLAD ITS ON CD BUT I ALSO HAD THE ORIGINAL CD FROM 1985 NOT THE IMPORT REISSUE ANYWAY THERE BOTH GOOD BUT THE ORIGINAL CD FROM 1985 CAME WITH THE 3D GLASSES DON'TNO ABOUT THE IMPORT REISSUE BUT STILL A MUST TO HAVE IN YOUR COLLECTION.