steven brown
solo catalogue on ltm

Chicago-born musician Steven Brown is renowned worldwide as a songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist. In addition to his prolific and varied work as a solo artist, Steven is also a founder member of the cult avant-garde band Tuxedomoon. To read his biography click here. To purchase CDs click here.



STEVEN BROWN "DECADE (SELECTED WORKS 1982-92)" (LTMCD 2344) £10
The definitive overview of Tuxedomoon mainman's solo writing and work between 1982 and 1991, including tracks originally released under the TM banner. This superb collection includes both vocal and instrumental tracks, with guest contributions from Blaine Reininger, Peter Principle, Luc Van Lieshout, Benjamin Lew and Marc Hollander. Digital remaster, full sleevenotes. Full tracklist: Voxcon 1, Audiences + Stages, Decade, Last Rendezvous, The Thrill, In the Still of the Night, Lorelei/Overture, Ombres Chinoise, Music #2, r.w.f., L'arrive dans le Jour, Tori, Kwan-yin, Moments, Lowlands Tone Poem, Close Little Sixes, Waltz, This Land, Out of My Body, You (Remix), Halo of My Memory.

Reviews: "Brown has emerged as a leading force of the new music, which rejects the conventional separation of pop, classical and avant garde music - forceful and subversive" (Vox, 9/91); "There are sublime moments on Music for Solo Piano, which never panders to easy-listening" (Melody Maker, 1989)


STEVEN BROWN "MUSIC FOR SOLO PIANO" (LTMCD 2357) £10
The classic all-instrumental Music for Solo Piano was originally recorded for Les Disques du Crepuscule in 1982/83 (TWI 110), and remains one of Steven's best regarded works. The solo piano pieces range from modern composition and avant garde to neoclassically, and on several tracks Steven is joined by Tuxedomoon cohort Blaine Reininger on violin. These include selections from TM's ambitious 'opera without words' The Ghost Sonata. CD features original album artwork and detailed liner notes. Full tracklist: Piano #1, Waltz, The Ball, Hold Me While I'm Naked, Close Little Sixes, Fanfare, Egypt, The Fall, Fantasie for Clarinet and Violin, r.w.f., Rotterdam Lullabye, The Ghost Sonata #1, The Ghost Sonata #2*, Music #2*, Basso Pomade, Licorice Stick Ostinato, Music #2 (Reprise)

Reviews: "This 1983 album of instrumental chamber sketches somewhat perversely belies its title, featuring Brown on clarinet as well as Debussian piano, while fellow Tuxedomoonite Blaine Reininger adds weeping violin flourishes. Stripped down outtakes from the Ghost Sonata float over tasteful snatches of whimsical intent. Close Little Sixes and RWF hiint at off-kilter travelogues for 60s spy soundtracks, with enough wide-open spaces to gaze longingly over whatever border was going" (Glasgow Herald, 3/03); "It's absolutely fantastic. Steven Brown came out of Tuxedomoon and it's just almost Eric Satie-ish, it's heartbreaking. If I had one album left it would have to be that" (Lydia Lunch in Mojo, 3/04)


STEVEN BROWN "SEARCHING FOR CONTACT" (LTMCD 2362) £10
Searching for Contact is Steven's third solo album, recorded in 1987 for PIAS Records with collaborator Nikolas Klau and inspired by the works of Genet and Burroughs. The original eleven tracks include the excellent Habit, Voxcon 1 and Tuxedomoon live staple This Land, plus all four tracks from the 1986 mini album Me & You & the Licorice Stick, plus rare pieces Tori and A Spirit Ditty and the 7" single edit of Last Rendezvous. Digitally remastered, detailed liner notes. Full tracklist: Habit, Audiences + Stages, Doe's Day, In Praise of Money, Manner of Means, This Land, The Street, Last Rendezvous, The Ship, Die Hamburger Veermaster, Voxcon 1, Gone With the Winds, Am I Home Yet?, Besides All That, A Gift, A Spirit Ditty, Tori, Last Rendezvous 7" edit.

Reviews: "Out of immediate contact with with its time and place, and all the better for it. Perhaps the contemporaneous work of Foetus and Marc Almond are the nearest parallels, mashing a slew of ideas - big band blasts, industrial-crawl beats, dark arrangements, and singing with brooding passion - into an often striking combination" (All Music Guide, 6/04); "Another meticulously documented collection of solo material, and it is beautiful. 'What's it like out in the audience?' he sings, Lou Reed style, almost absent mindedly, to his own soulful clarinet responses in Audiences and Stages. He sets up Zappa-like band pieces and scenarios from an inferno of cultural nightmares, and he does folkloric sound experiments, and exquisite piano melodies with harp" (Whisperin' and Hollerin', 05/04); "The mood is suitably edgy and bleak. Last Rendezvous has soul to spare and is the clearest sign of the feelings of loneliness inherent in the tone of the album" (Leonard's Lair, 07/04); "Combines ethereal keyboards, exotic vocals, echoic saxophones and volumes of amorphous, whirring mechanical noise" (The Big Takeover, 9/04)


STEVEN BROWN "HALF OUT" (LTMCD 2412) £10
Half Out is Steven's third solo album, recorded in 1991 for Les Disques du Crepuscule. Backed by an impressive ensemble band that includes fellow Tuxedomoon members Blaine L. Reininger, Luc Van Lieshout and Ivan Georgiev, this eclectic yet dazzling set covers the waterfront from skewed swing (Boom Boom, In the Still of the Night), careworn confessional (Decade) and modern chamber music (Violorganni). Half Out has now been digitally remastered with four bonus tracks, three of them previously unreleased. Cover art by Patrick Rocques. Full tracklist: Decade, A Quoi Ca Sert L'Amour, Moaning Low, San Francisco, The Thrill, Voodoo, In the Still of the Night, Out of My Body, Violorganni, Boom Boom, Miles in Moskow, The Way, Love Yes (Ebony Mix).

Reviews: "His reeds recall the keening of John Surman or Jan Garbarek, his ravishingly simple grand piano the spaciousness of Satie. But when he plugs it in, his sequencer kicks like a burro. Brown is also a closet romantic. He has a penchant for lyrics that resemble automatic writing, and his gravity counterbalances Reininger's wackiness in Tuxedomoon. His fuck-off-and-die sublime brass/electro on Miles In Moskow, which blows both Lalo Schifrin and the Davis himself out of the water, is actually a Whitmanesque rumination on love. In fact, the entire CD (check his blowsy, cross-dressed cover of Billie Holliday's Moaning Low) seems to be an Imagist celebration of male-male romance" (The Wire, 08/05)


STEVEN BROWN "BROWN PLAYS TENCO: STUDIO & LIVE" (LTMCD 2428) £10
Digital remaster of Steven's unique Italian adventure from 1987, originally released as a mini album on Industrie Discografiche Lacerba. Brown Plays Tenco offers interpretations of five songs by cult Italian singer/songwriter Luigi Tenco (1938-1967), who scored hits throughout the 1960s, but shot himself dead at the San Remo Festival, allegedly in protest at the judges' poor taste. The studio tracks are complemented by a further twelve tracks recorded live in Italy in 1988, including Tenco material and unique acoustic renditions of Brown originals. Guest musicians include Peter Principle and Nikolas Klau. 15 tracks, 70 minutes of music. To read Tenco liner notes click here. Full tracklist: Lontano Lontano (English Version), Un Giorno Dopo L'Altro, Ciao Amore Ciao, Vedrai Vedrai, Mi Sono Innamorato Di Te, Lowlands Tone Poem (live), Besides All That (live), What Use? (live), Vedrai Vedrai (live), Egypt (live), What Use?/Lowlands Tone Poem (live), Lontano Lontano (live), Un Giorno Dopo L'Altro (live), RWF/Mi Sono Innamorato Di Te (live)

Reviews: "Expect Steven Brown to do one thing, and you can bet money on him doing the exact opposite. In a career wedded to an almost wilfully contrarian ahistory and stubborn resistance to fashion, this collection of subtly charged pop tunes by the late Italian chart idol finds a current of bittersweet self-awareness" (Paris TransAtlantic, 05/07); "Luigi Tenco's best work is quite magnificent, and Brown's convincing versions of his material (in both English and Italian) has an air of tragedy and the wistful quality of slightly unhinged Bowie. The backing is terrific, with suitably sparse piano, sax, double bass, clarinet and light percussion, and the bonus live tracks make Tenco a consistent and appealing record" (Brainwashed, 02/08)


BLAINE L. REININGER & STEVEN BROWN "LIVE IN LISBON 1989" (LTMCD 2431) £10
Live In Lisbon 1989 was originally released in shorter form by Les Disques du Crepuscule as 100 Years of Music. This pristine 60 minute recording captures the Tuxedomoon duo live in Portugal, performing selections from their celebrated piano and violin show. As well as solo material, the set includes Tuxedomoon classics and selections from their several soundtrack collaborations. Full tracklist: Iberia, Egypt, The Fall, Les Odalisques, Piano No 1, L'arrivee dans le jour, Music No 2, Salad Variation, Fanfare, The Waltz, Licorice Stick Ostinato, Volo Vivace, Litebulb Overkill, Souffle Coupe.

Reviews: "Triumphant! Lean, articulate passages of truly gorgeous, avant and original classical pieces" (The Big Takeover, 03/05); "Beautifully remastered, the studio quality of this recording of modern classical music is a document of the partnership at its peak. The opening Iberia is a mournful piece rivalling Ravel's Bolero for swooning grace, Brown's solo piano compositions drip with an elegiac quality and L'Arrivee Dans le Jour is a piece of pastoral loveliness" (Leonard's Lair, 03/05)


MOVING SOUNDTRACKS LTMCD 2514 £10
Commissioned in 1983, Moving Soundtracks collects cover versions of movie songs and soundtracks by an international Crepuscule roster, now expanded and updated for this remastered CD edition. Features Chinatown by Steven Brown. Cover image by Michel Duval. 20 tracks, 74 minutes of music. Full tracklist: Blaine L. Reininger, Le Mepris; Antena, Les Demoiselles de Rochefort; The Pale Fountains, We Have All The Time in the World; Paul Haig, The Persuaders; La Muerte, Experiment in Terror; Quando Quango, Low Rider; Virna Lindt, The Windmills of Your Mind; Thick Pigeon, Moon River; Gabrielle Lazure, A Childrens' Tale; Tot Taylor, Blowproof; The Wayfarers, Arabesque; Cosy Corner, You Only Live Twice; The Dream Makers, La Chanson d'Helene; Kerr & Langford, Seabirds; Blaine L. Reininger, Le Derniere Amant Romantique; Steven Brown, Chinatown (Theme); Be Music, Theme (Hommage a MGM); Alan Rankine, Can You Believe Everything I See?; Snakefinger, 8 1/4; Tuxedomoon, Connie's Wedding.

biography
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