From "Blue Velvet Revisited" the original soundtrack written and recorded in 2015 by Tuxedomoon and Cult With No Name for the Blue Velvet Revisited documentary, based on footage shot by Peter Braatz in 1985 on the set of Blue Velvet, at the invitation of David Lynch.
Label: Crammed Discs
"Blue Velvet Revisited"
CD + LP
1. The Slow Club
2. Lumberton
3. Do It For Van Gogh
5. Now It's Dark
6. Dorothy
7. Lincoln Street
The film…
In 1985, a young German filmmaker Peter Braatz was invited by David Lynch to Wilmington, North Carolina, to document the making of his new film.
Over the following three months Braatz was given unrestricted access to set, cast, crew and director, collating hours of behind-the-scenes footage, in-depth interviews and over a thousand photographs. Featuring exclusive, never before seen footage, the new feature-length ‘Blue Velvet Revisited’ finally offers the most intimate and revealing insight into one of the greatest films of the 1980s, and one of the world’s greatest directors ever.
The music…
The soundtrack for this new take on an old masterpiece is equally as significant. Uniting the talents of acclaimed UK electronic balladeers CULT WITH NO NAME with legendary post-punk chamber music pioneers TUXEDOMOON, the music for ‘Blue Velvet Revisited’ is every bit as noirishly evocative as the billing would suggest. Fusing elements of contemporary classical (‘Lumberton’) to jazz (‘So Fucking Suave’) to ambient electronica (‘Do It For Van Gogh’) to krautrock (‘Jeffrey Nothing’), but never fully surrendering to any, Tuxedomoon and Cult With No Name have produced a suite that is as unique as it is representative of both artists. In addition, the album sees a contribution from electronic music Godfather JOHN FOXX, the eerie ambience of ‘Lincoln Street’ providing a perfect axis around which Tuxedomoon and Cult With No Name can weave their magic.
With glorious artwork featuring previously unseen photographs of David Lynch, Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini, Kyle Maclachlan and Laura Dern, ‘Blue Velvet Revisited’ is a truly special release.
A statement by Peter Braatz…
In July 2013 I first heard the album ‘Above as Below’ by Cult With No Name. As the song ‘As Below’ came on I immediately had the idea to use it for my ‘Blue Velvet Revisited’ project, and to edit a trailer to the track that would showcase my footage.
The editing of the trailer was effortless and the feel of the footage merged perfectly with the feel and tempo of the track. It was obvious that I would need this music, and more of it with this exact feel, for my film.
Very soon after Erik Stein from Cult With No Name first saw the trailer came the idea to collaborate. I had already heard a lot Cult With No Name’s music and was a real fan. I was impressed with its calmness, its elegance and the way in which they seemed to realize their musical ideas so freely and easily.
I was keen to hand over the making of the soundtrack to one group of musicians, particularly as much of my film would have no dialogue. The soundtrack would need to carry the feel of ‘As Below’ throughout. Erik Stein revealed to me that the amazing trumpet part on ‘As Below’ was played by Luc Van Lieshout of Tuxedomoon, a group I also knew well and greatly admired. Because it was the trumpet part that I found so perfect, we soon pitched the idea of a joint soundtrack between Cult With No Name and Tuxedomoon. The deal was then sealed at concert featuring both bands in Berlin, in March 2014.
In September 2014, I was able to first release the funding for the recording to properly get underway. At the end of the year came the wonderful surprise of an additional track from John Foxx, which I liked very much and fitted perfectly.
At the end of January 2015 the soundtrack was complete and by that time I had digitized all my original Super-8 footage and photographs. Delays relating the completion of another project pushed back my intended start date for the making of the film, and I’m only now beginning to edit the film.
I’m so very excited to see how this film takes shape against the fantastic music and the musicians behind it. This soundtrack is the stuff of dreams!
Peter Braatz, Ljubljana, 29th July 2015
A statement by Cult With No Name and Tuxedomoon…
From the beginning, it was clear that the approach needed by us to create a score to ‘Blue Velvet Revisited’ would be unusual. The Director, Peter Braatz, was adamant that the score should dictate the film and not the other way round. In other words, he would take his cues as music and would not begin making the film until the score had been completely finished. So, our raw material consisted only of a 3 minute trailer, a large number of photos taken on set and the devolved responsibility of knowing we were trading in (fragile) people’s often fragile and highly emotive memories.
Part of the process of creating this score would be to deliberately avoid referencing or being influenced by Angelo Badalamenti’s original score in any way. Why? Because this is not a David Lynch film, it’s a Peter Braatz film. It’s an outsider’s insider view. All it needed, therefore, was a few outsider musicians to complete the circle.
The process of creating the music itself was true to form. Following a meeting at a gig in Berlin with the Director (where both bands were on the bill), Tuxedomoon first recorded improvised rehearsals in June 2014 in Athens, whilst Cult With No Name created tracks at their studio in London. Both bands mined out what they wanted and developed their ideas, with Tuxedomoon recording their parts in Brussels (and some in Mexico) and Cult With No Name recording, editing and producing the overall score from their London base.
The result is intended to be dreamy, reflective and quietly evocative.
Cult With No Name and Tuxedomoon, 3 August 2015
Cult with No Name
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cult With No Name (often abbreviated to CWNN) is a musical duo from London, UK, comprising Erik Stein and Jon Boux. Influenced largely by electronic music, post-punk and modern classical music, they refer to themselves 'post-punk electronic balladeers'. Formed in 2004, the band were signed to Los Angeles label Trakwerx in 2007, founded by Jackson Del Rey of Californian post-punk band Savage Republic and 17 Pygmies.[1] Now on their own 'CWNN Music' label, they are distributed worldwide through Darla Records, home of Harold Budd and My Morning Jacket.
Career[edit]
Having contributed three instrumental tracks to 17 Pygmies' comeback album 13 Blackbirds, Cult With No Name made their full debut with the album Paper Wraps Rock in 2007.[2] The album was met with broadly positive reviews, although the band regard it as their weakest, with the renowned music journalist Mick Mercer in particular championing the band, and making them his 'discovery of 2007'.[3] The band's second album, Careful What You Wish For,[4] was released a year later and included the instrumental track "You Know Me Better Than I Know Myself",[5] which featured Tuxedomoon's Blaine L. Reininger on violin, and a piano-based cover of The Stranglers' classic "Golden Brown".[6] The album was met with positive reviews,[7] with supporters that include the filmmaker Don Letts. Former Suede frontman, Brett Anderson, also invited Cult With No Name to open for him at the launch of his solo album Slow Attack.[8]
The band's next project was to record a new score for the classic German expressionist silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which was released simultaneously as a DVD and digital download in 2009 and coincided with the 90th anniversary of the making of the film.[9] The score was notable for the inclusion of songs alongside instrumental soundscapes. In late 2010, Cult With No Name released their fourth studio album, entitled Adrenalin,[10] which expanded the band's sound to include elements of trip-hop and psychedelia.[11] The album includes the disco-pastiche, "The All Dead Burlesque Show".[12] The website Dso.co.uk hailed the album as a "serious contender for album of the year".[13]
Above as Below, Cult With No Name's fifth album, was released in January 2012. For the first time, it saw the band collaborate with a number of outside artists. Kelli Ali (ex-Sneaker Pimps) contributed extensively, including co-writing the song "Shake Hands with the Devil". Other contributors included Bruce Geduldig and Luc van Lieshout of Tuxedomoon, ex-Stranglers and Peter Gabriel guitarist John Ellis and Meg Maryatt of 17 Pygmies. The cover art and packaging for the album was designed by David Bowie and Damien Hirst collaborator Jonathan Barnbrook and manufactured using a letterpress. Mark Moore of S'Express described the album as possessing "such warmth, such style, such bliss".[14]
2012 also saw CWNN contribute the opening track to a remix album from the German band S.Y.P.H., which features ex-Captain Beefheart guitarist Gary Lucas and Rambo Amadeus, amongst others. In early 2013, Kelli Ali released her fifth solo album Band of Angels, which saw the band co-write and perform on two songs including the track "Eternity". The band's sixth album, Another Landing, was released in April 2014 on the band's own CWNN Music label. The album again saw the band collaborate with Tuxedomoon members Blaine L. Reininger, Bruce Geduldig and Luc van Lieshout, Kelli Ali and John Ellis, as well as Japanese electronica artist Coppe', and features the track "Swept Away".
2016 saw the band contribute to a cover of Tuxedomoon's 'Loneliness' to a Crammed Discs reissue of the band's classic 'Half-Mute' album, that also featured Foetus, Aksak Maboul, and Simon Fisher Turner.[15] Working once more with Blaine L. Reininger, Luc Van Lieshout and Kelli Ali, they also covered S'Express's 'COMA' for their 'Enjoy This Trip' remix album, which also included tracks from Chris & Cosey, Tom Furse from The Horrors, Billie Ray Martin and Reuben Wu from Ladytron.[16]
CWNN's music has been compared to Roxy Music, Tuxedomoon, the Pet Shop Boys, Colin Newman, The Nits, David Sylvian, and Scott Walker, amongst others. As well as performing in the UK, the band has performed in the US and Europe. The band were nominated for the UK's Exposure Music Awards in 2011.[17]
Blue Velvet Revisited[edit]
In early 2015, CWNN were commissioned by German filmmaker Peter Braatz to produce the soundtrack for Blue Velvet Revisited, a feature-length documentary film based around previously unreleased footage that Braatz had shot on the set of the David Lynch's classic film Blue Velvet, at the invitation of Lynch.[18] The band invited Tuxedomoon to collaborate on the project, with John Foxx also contributing music. The resulting soundtrack was released in October 2015 and received significant international press and extremely positive reviews.[19] The film premiered in October 2016 at the London Film Festival, with David Lynch selecting the film to be screened at his own Festival of Disruption in Los Angeles on the same weekend as the premiere.[20]
Other work[edit]
In addition to their studio albums, the band have contributed music to two comedic stage productions at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Moz and the Meal[21] and Bored Stiff,[22]and appear on several compilations.[23] The band have frequently collaborated with minimal techno artist Doudou Malicious for his Multi-Vitamins label. Erik Stein has also acted in several short films made by electronic music pioneer John Foxx as well as the 2011 short film Sonus produced by Ridley Scott Associates and Gustav (2012), which is on permanent display at Bletchley Park.
In 2016, Erik Stein contributed lead vocals on two tracks for Blitz Club founder and DJ Rusty Egan's solo album 'Welcome to the Dancefloor', which additionally features Peter Hook (New Order), Midge Ure (Ultravox!) and Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet]]).[24]
Album discography[edit]
- Paper Wraps Rock (2007)
- Careful What You Wish For (2008)
- Lightwerx: The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (2009)
- Adrenalin (2010)
- Above as Below (2012)
- Another Landing (2014)
- Blue Velvet Revisited (2015) (collaboration with Tuxedomoon)
Tuxedomoon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tuxedomoon | |
|---|---|
Tuxedomoon live in 2007
| |
| Background information | |
| Origin | San Francisco, California |
| Genres | Experimental, post-punk, new wave |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Labels | Ralph Records, Crammed Discs |
| Website | http://www.tuxedomoon.co/ |
| Members | Blaine L. Reininger Steven Brown Peter Dachert Luc Van Lieshout David Haneke |
| Past members | Bruce Geduldig (d.2016) Winston Tong Gregory Cruikshank Victoria Lowe Michael Belfer Paul Zahl Ivan Georgiev Nikolas Klau George Kakanakis Marcia Barcellos |
Tuxedomoon is an experimental, post-punk, new wave band from San Francisco, California, United States. The band formed in the late 1970s at the beginning of the punk rock movement. Pulling influence from punk and electronic music, the group, originally consisting of Steven Brown and Blaine L. Reininger, used electronic violins, guitars, screaming vocals and synthesizers to develop a unique "cabaret no-wave" sound. Bassist Peter Principle joined the band and in 1979 they released the single "No Tears", which remains a post-punk cult classic. That year they signed to Ralph Records and released their first album, Half-Mute. Eventually Reininger left the group and Tuxedomoon relocated to Europe, signing to Crammed Discs and releasing Holy Wars in 1985. The band separated in the early 1990s, only to reunite later that decade. They have remained together since releasing the album Cabin in the Sky in 2004.
Contents
[hide]History[edit]
In 1977, Tuxedomoon formed out of Angels of Light, an artist collective and commune, a group in which Steve Brown was involved.[1][2][3] He met Blaine L. Reininger in an electronic music class at San Francisco City College. Brown worked with Tommy Tadlock, of the Angels of Light, to create the final project of the class.[2] Tadlock would go on to be Tuxedomoon's manager. Reininger and Brown started playing music together at Tadlock's house. Reininger played electronic violin and guitar. Tadlock assisted with the sound and audio. He also created tools for the band, including a "Treatment Mountain", which was a pyramid made of plywood which held all of Reininger's effects pedals.[4]
They started playing music together in the mid-1970s, when punk rock became popular in the underground music scene. "The only rule was the tacit understanding that anything that sounded like anyone else was taboo", stated Brown on the band aiming the create music that sounded unlike anything else before.[2] The vocals were screaming and inspired by punk rock, and the band used any instruments they had around, including saxophones and a polymoog synthesizer. The band had no drummer. Bassist Peter Principle, performance artist Winston Tong and Bruce Geduldig, a filmmaker, joined the band during concerts. The band created new performances for each concert, creating theatrical performances and being described as "theatrical electronic cabaret".[4][5] The band performed frequently with Pere Ubu, The Residents, Devo, and Cabaret Voltaire.[1]
In 1979 they released the EP No Tears with the single "No Tears". The title-track is described as "one of the best electro-punk hymns of all times".[6] That year they also signed to Ralph Records and released their debut album, Half-Mute, in 1980.[1]
Career[edit]
1980s[edit]
In 1980 the band released their first album, Half-Mute, on Ralph Records. The band toured Europe in 1980 and moved to New York City.[1][3][7] While in New York, they performed in, and were featured on the soundtrack for the film Downtown 81.[3] They gained popularity in the Netherlands and Belgium.[8] They eventually relocated to Brussels.[3]after spending some months in Rotterdam, playing in Arena, Hal 4 and returned in 1988 to Lantaren/Venster, where they contributed to the Bob Visser movie Plan Delta, which was an astonishing performance. Trumpet player Luc van Lieshout joined the band.[3] In 1987, the band performed on the soundtrack for the Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire.[9]Tuxedomoon played in Athens, Greece, for the first time on December 1987, selling out the Pallas Theatre twice in one night.[6]
1990s[edit]
In the early 1990s, the band separated and did not reunite for approximately eight years.[1] Tuxedomoon reunited to perform at the Next Festival in Tel Aviv. The band hadn't played together in eight years, when Brown called the members to come together for the concert. They rehearsed in a studio for 10 days, in Tel Aviv, before the concert. Brown credits the Next Festival concert as being the key event in reuniting the band.[1]
2000s[edit]
Tuxedomoon performed in 2000, playing acoustic and electronic concerts of previously recorded material.[10]
Their 2004 album Cabin in the Sky would serve as their comeback record.[11] The majority of the record is instrumental. Reininger's voice, which was compared to David Bowie's during Tuxedomoon's early career, has been described as evolving into "Tom Waits" and a wolf from Tex Avery's "Baron Brown", by music critic Rod Smith. Filmmaker Bruce Geduldig performs backup vocals on the album.[3]
In 2006 the band released Bardo Hotel on Crammed Discs. Recorded in San Francisco, the album is a soundtrack to a film by George Kakanakis, which at the time of the album's release, remained unfinished. The album and film are named after the book Beat Museum – Bardo Hotel by Brion Gysin, which is named after the Bardo Hotel in Paris.[11][12] The soundtrack and film pulled influence from Gysin's "cut-up" method, which was co-developed with William S. Burroughs. The recording features samples of airplane sounds, BART announcements and other found sounds. New Orleans jazz and opera are two influences for the album's sound.[12]
Tuxedomoon released the album Vapour Trails on Crammed Discs in 2007.[11] The album was recorded at Reininger's home.[13] The band uses instruments like clarinets and flugelhorns along with their standard instrument setup.[13] In 2007, they also released a CD and DVD boxset of unreleased and rare music and videos.[11] Various Tuxedomoon members have extensively collaborated with the UK band Cult With No Name, and as a group Tuxedomoon collaborated to produce the joint soundtrack album "Blue Velvet Revisited". Members have also joined the FuturePlaces medialab for citizenship in 2010, 2011 and 2013, their participation documented in Bandcamp audio releases.
The Box, a 10-vinyl boxed set containing 9 of Tuxedomoon's major albums, as well as an album of previously unreleased material, came out in November 2015.
Current[edit]
Geduldig died on March 7, 2016, in Sacramento, California. David Haneke has taken over Geduldig's duties in Tuxedomoon for their 2016 tour.[citation needed]
Legacy[edit]
Scooter's "My Eyes Are Dry" from their album Mind The Gap is a cover version of "No Tears" with additional sections.
Musical style[edit]
Steven Brown cites the band's early influences as "Eno, Bowie, John Cage, Bernard Herrmann, Nino Rota, Igor Stravinsky and Ennio Morricone".[11] Later and current influences include Radiohead, Claude Debussy, Miles Davis, Michael Nyman and the Velvet Underground. Their music finds influence in genres such as punk rock, jazz, funk, tango, and post-punk.[6]
Music critic Simon Reynolds wrote that their sound has an "aura of jaded elegance", with a more European style musically versus what their American counterparts were creating at the time of the band's formation.[14] Seattle Weekly described their music as radiating "a discomfort that hints of existential hives."[3]
Lyrically, Tuxedomoon examined society, culture and psychology. "Holiday for Plywood", on Desire, examined consumerism and paranoia.[14]
Discography[edit]
Main article: Tuxedomoon discography
- Half Mute (1980)
- Desire (1981)
- Divine (1982)
- Holy Wars (1985)
- Ship of Fools (1986)
- You (1987)
- The Ghost Sonata (1991)
- Joeboy in Mexico (1997)
- Cabin in the Sky (2004)
- Vapour Trails (2007)
- Pink Narcissus (2014)
- Blue Velvet Revisited w/ Cult With No Name (2015)
References[edit]
- Reynolds, Simon. Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. New York: Penguin (2006). ISBN 0143036726
- ^ a b c d e f Brinn, David (27 September 2004). "Born again in Tel Aviv". Jeruselem Post. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ^ a b c Reynolds, 202.
- ^ a b c d e f g Smith, Rod (11 January 2006). "A Mug of Joeboy". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ^ a b Reynolds, 203.
- ^ Reynolds, 197.
- ^ a b c "Tuxedomoon: A lasting affair". Athens News. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ^ Reynolds, 211.
- ^ Sean Body (1 July 2001). Wish The World Away: Mark Eitzel and the American Music Club. SAF Publishing Ltd. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-946719-20-4. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ Roger F. Cook; Gerd Gemünden (1997). The Cinema of Wim Wenders: Image, Narrative, and the Postmodern Condition. Wayne State University Press. p. 261. ISBN 978-0-8143-2578-0. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ Chernov, Sergey (1 December 2000). "tuxedomoon: has-beens dupe 'tolerant' russian audience". The St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Gill, John. "Tuxedomoon". Interviews by John Gill. Paris Transatlantic. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ^ a b Grandy, Eric (6 July 2006). "Tuxedomoon". The Stranger. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ^ a b Gill, Andy (23 November 2007). "New releases". The Independent. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ^ a b c Reynolds, 204.
