Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Flipside Review of "Blue Velvet Revisited"

Tuxedomoon & Cult With No Name:
Blue Velvet Revisited:
Crammed Discs:
LP/CD/DD:
Out 16th October:

★★★★★★★★★☆

Interest in all things David Lynch is gathering apace with the Twin Peaks saga rolling on. Another of the man's most enduring works is also drifting into the spotlight soon by way of a new film dedicated to Blue Velvet and a newly-recorded Made to Measure soundtrack.

Blue Velvet Revisited focusses on behind-the-scenes footage taken during the making of the film in 1985 by German filmmaker Peter Braatz at the behest of Lynch himself. It's an intimate picture (judging by the trailer below), made all the more absorbing by the accompanying music provided by Tuxedomoon, Cult With No Name and (briefly) John Foxx.

Tuxedomoon's alignment with soundtracks is well-documented - the band and its various members have covered for numerous ballets, dance and film-works before. CWNN are no strangers to scoring either having provided pieces for the 90th anniversary of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari for a DVD release. That's when they're not crafting bruising but beautiful electro-pop, that is. As for Foxx, he contributes a short piece entitled Lincoln Street which successfully provides something of a break from the austere mood of the first portion and the denouement of the second.

From the moment the unsettling discords of The Slow Club throb into earshot, you know the journey ahead demands all ears. Lumberton demonstrates Tuxedo violinist Blaine L. Reininger's mournful but magical best, balanced precisely by evocative piano and atmospherics. I'm reminded of The The's recent Tony score during the gorgeous politely-pulsing Do It For Van Gogh - it must be the harmonica halfway through. I can't take my ears off of it.

A Candy Colored Clown comes closest to any form of breakbeat, before the hollow, hallowed menace of Frank creeps slowly into view. You remember Frank in the film. The terrifying sociopath who bears little mercy to his muse and dishes out violence and sexual terror like sweets. Dennis Hopper breathing through that mask. That's the fella. His prospects for being mistaken for an Uncle Cuddly aren't improved at all by the superbly portentous piece performed here.

There is some terrific musicianship on Don (the closing track on the vinyl) while CD bonus Sandy is worth the admission alone and, frankly, should have been on the vinyl.

Whether fans of Blue Velvet and David Lynch will 'get' Revisited's esoteric soundtrack remains to be seen but I'll just remind them of the name Angelo Badalamenti. As a standalone collaborative release, Cult With No Name and Tuxedomoon should seriously be up for some long-overdue honours for this harmonious triumph. Organisers of next year's Meltdown Festival could do worse than book this as an event.

Here's the trailer:


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