| Where do I begin? It has been such a long ride and we have been so many places. To tell the truth, our recent tour began in November 2000, where we met in Longiano, Italy. We were the guests of Sandro Pascucci, a noted patron of the arts, who put his famous theatre, Teatro Petrella, at our disposal for a month. We were privileged to be able to rehearse there and put together a show to take out into the world. |  |
What we decided to do was play the album "Half Mute", our first one, in its entirety. In so doing, we were celebrating the re-release by DJ Hell of Munich’s Gigolo Records of remixes of songs from this record. Our first priority was to re-arrange things to fit our current line-up. We did this, with excellent results. |
| To make an epic story short, we took this show on the road, hitting such widely dispersed targets as Belgrade, St. Petersburg, Venice, Rome and Berlin. There was little collateral damage and we had a simply splendid time. A live CD from the concert in St. Petersburg is in the pipeline at this writing. (november 2001) | ||
There ensued a break in our endeavors, during which Steven retreated to Mexico, Peter to New York and Blaine to Greece
| Our next opportunity to get together (tough for a band to rehearse on a regular basis when its members are scattered so widely around the planet) was in Cagli, Italy, once again the guests of the renowned Sandro Pascucci. This time we wanted to get serious. We had two and a half months, from July to September, to compose and record new music, all on the house. The house in this case was another stunning theatre, complete with trompe l’oeil frescoes on the ceiling and a piazza full of lovely young things to ogle. | 
teatro communale. cagli, italia. summer 2001 photo by natale nitti |
We hit it in earnest, pausing to play festival concerts all over Italy, from Roma to Sicily to Reggio Calabria, ever in some piece of stunning Italian architecture from one culturally gorged period or other. Italy is that way. Culture comin’ out their ears.
| In the meantime, we beavered away on our music, taking our usual tack of jamming for hours in a state of trance and recording every minute (or at least those minutes deemed worthy of keeping by the owner of the recording device in question).
We were joined by Luc van Lieshout, trumpet man extraordinaire from TM’s "Holy Wars" period, the estimable DJ Hell and his posse of turntable men, and Coti K., a Greco/Italian producer and composer who has collaborated with us in the past to great effect. |
tuxedomoon beavering photo natale nitti |
| The results are some excellent tunes in a bright new direction. I wish you could hear ‘em folks. We decided, however that we need yet more material if we are to come up with a worthy work to follow the rest of our catalogue. Rest assured that your humble author (no names please, blaine) will keep you up to date. | There is, of course the recent release of the film "Downtown ‘81" a film project begun in 1981 and then lost for twenty years. It features the then barely known artist Basquiat who has since risen to prominence in Mr. Warhol’s general vicinity. Also featured is a young Tuxedomoon, performing "Desire" from the then fresh from the grill album "Desire". Other notables from the New York scene of that time, arguably one of the most lively in recent American cultural history such as Arto Lindsay’s DNA, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Blondie and etc. are featured and/or play roles in this film. Watch for it at your local megaplex. Then watch some more. Then check your video rental place or buy a ticket to one of the European or East-west coast arthouses where it has been playing to rave reviews. |
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Also worthy of note is the fact that we were joined there in Cagli by a writer from Belgium, a woman named Isabelle Corbisier (e-mail by clicking on her name) who has undertaken the task of writing a definitive book about the tragi-comic adventures of our erstwhile pilgrims all over this planet. The lives and times of Tuxedomoon. |
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There you have it, folk, the first entry in this catalogue of extravagance. I shall strive to keep it filled for your diversion and entertainment. ciao, Mister X
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