Half-Mute

Half-Mute, originally released in 1980 by seminal San Francisco avant-garde post-punk band Tuxedomoon (now based in Brussels, Belgium), is one of the most remarkable records I have ever heard and one of the most important American contributions to the global art-pop music movement of the late 20th century. Taking cues from Brian Eno’s ambient recordings of the late 1970s, the nascent sounds of early new age experimentation, jazz, quartet music, and New York no wave, Half-Mute is constructed with suitably calm synth sounds, elaborate sax solos, atmospheric textures, and in those tracks with vocals, clever nonsensical lyrics. It’s an experimental record crafted as a rock record. The length of the tracks is just right. This is the first official remastered reissue from the original tapes and supervised by original members Steven Brown, Blaine Reininger, and Peter Principle to commemorate their first time playing the entire album in 36 years last fall in Europe. Highly recommended.

RIYL: The Residents, Los Encargados, The Lounge Lizards, Minimal Compact and the 1981 compilation Club Foot.

FCC CLEAN!
Recommended Tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10

1. (3:08) **Nazca – Instrumental track: part ambient, part jazz. Hypnotic.
2. (3:58) ****59 to 1 – Avant-garde medium-up tempo electro rock masterpiece. Future a la late 20th century.
3. (2:56) *Fifth Column – Instrumental recording: part electronic, part jazz. Gloomy. Free tours to the purgatory soundtrack.
4. (2:50) **Tritone (Musica Diablo) – Experimental electro piece with strings. Instrumental. Non-reversing mirror logic.
5. (2:57) *Loneliness – Medium-up tempo piece. Minimal, icy, theatrical.
6. (2:42) James Whale – Instrumental track: part ambient, part found sounds. Eerie. Visiting abandoned buildings in foreign lands.
7. (4:02) ***What Use? – Another avant-garde post-punk fast tempo electro rock masterwork. Timeless.
8. (2:49) *Volo Vivace – Instrumental track: avant-garde quartet music with strings and synths. Urgent.
9. (3:09) **7 Years – Slow tempo recording. Unnerving, histrionic, atmospheric.
10. (11:39) *KM / Seeding the Clouds – A long slow tempo track that summarizes all the ambitions found in Half-Mute in less than twelve minutes.