Night Air by Blaine L. Reininger

An expanded edition of the classic second album from Tuxedomoon member Blaine L. Reininger, originally issued by Crépuscule in 1984 and now newly remastered from the original analog tapes.

'Night Air' was recorded in Brussels between April and July 1983 shortly after Reininger left Tuxedomoon, and marked a fruitful collaboration with former Sleepers guitarist Michael Belfer. Other guests include Steven Brown and Winston Tong of Tuxedomoon, Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul, and bassist Alain Goutier. The final mix was supervised by Gareth Jones, famed for his work with Depeche Mode, Einsturzende Neubauten and Wire.

The part-instrumental album offers a sequence of bittersweet expatriate vignettes. "I suppose I should be grateful to the capital of Europe for providing the seed around which so much of my spleen could crystallize for so many years," explains Reininger, who hailed from Colorado via San Francisco. "Brussels provided me with such a rich source of melancholic poetry."

The 10 core tracks on 'Night Air' include popular single Mystery and Confusion, as well as Birthday Song (originally performed by Tuxedomoon), the elegiac Ash and Bone, and the exquisite baroque pop of A Café au Lait for Mr XYZPTLK. The 4 bonus tracks include 2 versions of Crash, written by Reininger and Belfer in 1980 for Tuxedomoon, and subsequently remixed by The Residents.

"Reininger is a consumate bricoleur, and even though they are usually anchored to an electronic beat, his Roma/jazz/cowboy/film noir themes are rooted in a mythical North America. It might almost be a drag act - Melville, Hemingway and Chandler all rolled into one. Perhaps the most important point of Reininger's work, though, is that it manages to be both humorous and beautiful at the same time." (The Wire, 2005)

Independent record label founded in Brussels in 1980.

lesdisquesducrepuscule.com
Twitter
Facebook