Re-release of the first Tuxedomoon LP from 1980, which originally came out on Ralph Records (The Resident's label) in the US.

Like the Cabaret Voltaire box set recently reviewed in the gullbuy, this LP provides a direct trace from 1980 to the fashionable electro scene of today.

'59 to 1' is a vocal track that particularly strikes me for its relevance to today. The B-side starts with 'What Use?', the cut that DJ Hell and a host of others remixed last year on a 12' for this label.

Tuxedomoon were not strictly an electropop band. 'James Whale' has the same type of melancholy (through the use of bells) that Black Sabbath conjured on the song 'Black Sabbath.'

'Volo Vivace' uses violins in the same way as the blind man in the original Frankenstein movie. '7 Years' has a bit of a Hawkwind feel to its violin (and vocal) sound.

Half-Mute's epic song 'KM/Seeding The Clouds' crosses all sorts of bounds. It has a sound like the helicopter in Apocalypse Now, but instead of leading into The Doors 'The End' (one of the only disappointments of Apocalypse Now, a movie 23 Skidoo sampled perfectly in 'F.U.G.I.'), the blades waltz with a bass and a clarinet before lyrics come in to enunciate the gloom, followed by an 'Aladdin Sane' (Bowie) styled piano part. As 'they're seeding the clouds today' is sung I am reminded that Tuxedomoon are still around today.

It is great that DJ Hell has put his much publicized love of Tuxedomoon into action with this release on the popular label he runs. It will bring this LP to the attention of many who will love it.