Tuxedomoon is an experimental avant-garde post-punk New Wave group formed in San Francisco, California consisting of core members Blaine L. Reininger, Steven Brown and Peter Principle, Luc van Lieshout and video artist Bruce Geduldig.
Formed in 1977 by multi-instrumentalists Blaine L. Reininger and Steven Brown, then two students of electronic music at San Francisco City College, with technical assistance from video artist Tommy Tadlock, Tuxedomoon started playing salons and accompanying performances by The Angels of Light.
httpv://https://youtu.be/_Mv0ztfd5Yg
Brown’s connections to local theatre gave the band access to vocalists Gregory Cruikshank, Victoria Lowe, and, most frequently, Winston Tong. The band gained some level of recognition in 1978 when they opened for Devo. Michael Belfer, (guitarist), and Paul Zahl, (drummer) joined the band in time to help with the group’s first EP, No Tears. Lowe left prior to the album’s release in 1978.
Soon afterward, Tong and Belfer left the group temporarily, and bassist Peter Principle joined the lineup. In 1979, the group signed to The Residents’ Ralph Records, with whom they recorded their next two albums, Half Mute in 1980 and Desire in 1981, after which the band relocated to Rotterdam for a short time and moved on to Brussels, believing their sound better fit the electronic scene in Europe.
httpv://https://youtu.be/pclN0M6q6_M
In Brussels, the band soon created the score for a ballet by Maurice Bejart, released in 1982 as “Divine”. In 1983 Reininger left the group in order to pursue a solo career, and trumpeter Luc Van Lieshout joined. In 1985 Tuxedomoon had its largest success commercially with the international release of Holy Wars. Tong left the group again soon after its release.
Multi-instrumentalist Ivan Georgiev was brought in to perform on the group’s next two albums, 1986’s Ship of Fools and 1987’s You. The band remained inactive through most of the 1990s, although never technically broke up. On July 20, 2004 a reborn Tuxedomoon, consisting of Steven Brown, Blaine Reininger, Peter Principle, and Luc Van Lieshout released a new studio album, Cabin in the Sky.
httpv://https://youtu.be/LE4mOY5tEL4
They continue to work and tour together and have since released Bardo Hotel Soundtrack in 2006, with upcoming projects coinciding with the group’s 30th year anniversary, the Vapour Trails album and the boxed set 7707.
Pink Narcissus, the first new release in 5 years consists of original music written and recorded in 2011 at the instigation of French film festival L’Etrange Festival, as a new score for the eponymous, scandalous cult film of the same name from 1971, directed by James Bidgood. Tuxedomoon performed this soundtrack during a screening of the film in Sept 2011 in Paris. This 53-minute opus ranks amongs their best instrumental suites ever.
Tuxedomoon
Tuesday, 16th September 2014 | 21:00 CET
Roter Salon in der Volksbühne | Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz | 10178 Berlin/Mitte
tuxedomoon.co | crammed.be | volksbuehne-berlin.de
