This is an entry into the First Official Three•Legged Write•Off! Basically, two epinions members write as many reviews as possible, in their normal category, during the July 5-6th weekend My partner is the legendary Music Advisor, JennJoy. So be ready to view quite a few music write ups from JennJoy and myself, and we apologize in advance for clogging up the new review pages. For more information on this write up, visit http://home.earthlink.net/~epskids/index.html

And, now that my former room mates are officially husband and wife, and I am officially home from the wedding, reeling in a vodka-soaked, reception haze, here is entry number four:

Put this CD into your player, and you are fronted with a sad, mournful violin, followed up with a deliberate bass line. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a synthesizer produced Calliope appears, and you find yourself thinking gee, this might not be the most commercially accessible CD I could be listening to. Welcome to Tuxedomoon’s Desire.

Tuxedomoon formed in 1977 in San Francisco, during the dawn of the Punk Rock era. Blaine L Reininger (violins, keyboards) and Steven Brown (keyboards) were electronic music students at the University of San Francisco. Brown had connections in the local theater community, one of which brought in performance artist Winston Tong (vocals.) Tong, who had been a mime, brought a theatrical flair to the group, and they set out to make performance-oriented music. The music was often performed live in conjunction with performance art.

The usual revolving door of musicians story took place within Tuxedomoon, as Tong would leave the group, only to return to the fold. Peter Principle (bass) was brought on board, and the band signed to Ralph Records, run by The Residents. After a couple releases for Ralph, Tuxedomoon signed to CramBoy. Tuxedomoon eventually moved to Europe and immersed themselves into the European electronic music scene. The band scored a ballet by Maurice Bejart, released as Divine. The individual members of Tuxedomoon all released solo efforts during and after their time in the band, and Reininger would appear on works by The Durutti Column.

The CD release of Desire is on the CramBoy label and features both the Desire album and the groups debut EP, No Tears. The CD has a very experimental, avant-garde feel to it, and might be best sampled prior to making a purchase.

The Packaging

The cover is a blue, obscure photo of something that resembles an arm. The booklet contains the lyrics to the songs, and the credits for both albums are listed. Original release dates are included as well. The back has the song listing. The song listing is again included on the back of the jewel case, but the songs are listed separately by original album.

The Music

Desire clocks in at one hour and eight minutes. Here are a few of the highlights:

The opener to the disc is 14:50 long and split into four sections: East/Jinx/…/Music # 1. It took me a while to realize that … was actually a title. Such a long effort includes a bit of everything. A subdued, jazzy saxophone, a cello, a gypsy-sounding violin, and synthesizers. At one point a bit of a Bauhaus sound comes through, intentional or not. The Music # 1 section is basically a couple minutes of synthetic sound effects and sparse percussion. Victims of the Dance makes reference to Cassandra, the Greek Mythological figure who could tell the future, yet was not believed. The bass is groovy-cool, and the saxophone is at times subdued, at times breaking into David Sanborn type squeals. Tong alternates between reciting his story in sing-speak, and singing the chorus in an exaggerated, over the top manner. and Us?, What about us?, Drink, Let’s have another drink on the host, recites Tong.

Incubus (Blue Suit) is fast paced, featuring aggressive electric guitar riffs over a manufactured, synthetic beat. Tong sings underneath, lyrics such as someone handed me a gun, hit the switch and ran, I laughed, and shot at the ceiling, I laughed, and shot at the walls. The title track, Desire, features a funky synthesizer and a loud snare drum. At one point, if it was not for the snare drum, you would think the CD was stuck. Eventually, the saxophone, and multiple synthesizers build and converge into a chaotic, yet controlled, mess. Tong’s lyrics are of a confused nature. You’re the buyer or the seller, makes you want what you can’t have, I’m glad I made you cry, or sometimes I want to die in my bed, all I can think about is when we are leaving, everytime I think of you I want a cigarette.

Holiday for Plywood is a take on Holiday for Strings. Featuring a jazzy bass line and sax, Reininger joins in on violin, along with a synthesizer. New Machine, from No Tears, sounds like very early Devo, not surprising, considering Tuxedomoon opened for Devo in 1978. Even the lyrics are very Devo: This time get me home, I’ve got to build a new machine, I’m tired of what’s on your screen, I’ve got to build a new machine. A guitar solo at 2:57 adds a nice contrast to the synthetics. No Tears (the song) could be the early Cars, had the Cars decided to get really, really, weird. The keyboards sound left over from Greg Hawkes bag, and much of the guitar soloing resembles Elliot Easton’s work with that band.

Tuxedomoon is clearly not for everyone. Many (most?) will find it weird at best. However, Desire does feature some cool stuff on it, and if you are looking for dramatic, theatrical music with an experimental flavor, Tuxedomoon might be for you. I would recommend giving it a listen first. You might just like it. Of course, you may listen, wonder why the hell I reviewed this, take me off your WOT, stop reading my reviews, and put me on double-secret probation on epinions. But I hope not.

Desire - Tuxedomoon

Peter Principle - Bass, Percussion, Guitar
Winston Tong - Vocals and Backing Vocals
Blaine L Reininger - Strings, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Steven Brown - Horns, Vocals, Keyboards
Bruce Geduldig - Films, Mis en Scene
Paul Zahl - Modified Drums, Electronic Percussion, Vocals (No Tears)
Mikel Belfer - Guitar, E-Bow (No Tears)
Vicky Aspinall - additional Violin (Holiday for Plywood)
Ali Robinson - Cello (Holiday for Plywood, Jinx)
Produced by Tuxedomoon/Joeboy Productions with Gareth Jones (Desire) and Tom Tadlock (No Tears)

East/Jinx/…/Music # 1
Victims of the Dance
Incubus (Blue Suit)
Desire
Again
In the Name of Talent (Italian Western Two)
Holiday for Plywood
New Machine
Litebulb Overkill
Nite and Day (Hommage A Cole Porter)
No Tears


Recommended: Yes