Crammed Discs are happy to present a new volume in their revived MADE TO MEASURE composers' series: the original soundtrack written and recorded in 2015 by Tuxedomoon and Cult With No Name for the Blue Velvet Revisited documentary, based on footage shot by Peter Braatz in 1985 on the set of Blue Velvet, at the invitation of David Lynch.


The film…

In 1985, a young German filmmaker Peter Braatz was invited by David Lynch to Wilmington, North Carolina, to document the making of his new film.

Over the following three months Braatz was given unrestricted access to set, cast, crew and director, collating hours of behind-the-scenes footage, in-depth interviews and over a thousand photographs. Featuring exclusive, never before seen footage, the new feature-length ‘Blue Velvet Revisited’ finally offers the most intimate and revealing insight into one of the greatest films of the 1980s, and one of the world’s greatest directors ever.


The music…

The soundtrack for this new take on an old masterpiece is equally as significant. Uniting the talents of acclaimed UK electronic balladeers CULT WITH NO NAME with legendary post-punk chamber music pioneers TUXEDOMOON, the music for ‘Blue Velvet Revisited’ is every bit as noirishly evocative as the billing would suggest. Fusing elements of contemporary classical (‘Lumberton’) to jazz (‘So Fucking Suave’) to ambient electronica (‘Do It For Van Gogh’) to krautrock (‘Jeffrey Nothing’), but never fully surrendering to any, Tuxedomoon and Cult With No Name have produced a suite that is as unique as it is representative of both artists. In addition, the album sees a contribution from electronic music Godfather JOHN FOXX, the eerie ambience of ‘Lincoln Street’ providing a perfect axis around which Tuxedomoon and Cult With No Name can weave their magic.

With glorious artwork featuring previously unseen photographs of David Lynch, Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini, Kyle Maclachlan and Laura Dern, ‘Blue Velvet Revisited’ is a truly special release.


A statement by Peter Braatz…

In July 2013 I first heard the album ‘Above as Below’ by Cult With No Name. As the song ‘As Below’ came on I immediately had the idea to use it for my ‘Blue Velvet Revisited’ project, and to edit a trailer to the track that would showcase my footage.

The editing of the trailer was effortless and the feel of the footage merged perfectly with the feel and tempo of the track. It was obvious that I would need this music, and more of it with this exact feel, for my film.

Very soon after Erik Stein from Cult With No Name first saw the trailer came the idea to collaborate. I had already heard a lot Cult With No Name’s music and was a real fan. I was impressed with its calmness, its elegance and the way in which they seemed to realize their musical ideas so freely and easily.

I was keen to hand over the making of the soundtrack to one group of musicians, particularly as much of my film would have no dialogue. The soundtrack would need to carry the feel of ‘As Below’ throughout. Erik Stein revealed to me that the amazing trumpet part on ‘As Below’ was played by Luc Van Lieshout of Tuxedomoon, a group I also knew well and greatly admired. Because it was the trumpet part that I found so perfect, we soon pitched the idea of a joint soundtrack between Cult With No Name and Tuxedomoon. The deal was then sealed at concert featuring both bands in Berlin, in March 2014.

In September 2014, I was able to first release the funding for the recording to properly get underway. At the end of the year came the wonderful surprise of an additional track from John Foxx, which I liked very much and fitted perfectly.

At the end of January 2015 the soundtrack was complete and by that time I had digitized all my original Super-8 footage and photographs. Delays relating the completion of another project pushed back my intended start date for the making of the film, and I’m only now beginning to edit the film.

I’m so very excited to see how this film takes shape against the fantastic music and the musicians behind it. This soundtrack is the stuff of dreams!


Peter Braatz, Ljubljana, 29th July 2015


A statement by Cult With No Name and Tuxedomoon…

From the beginning, it was clear that the approach needed by us to create a score to ‘Blue Velvet Revisited’ would be unusual.  The Director, Peter Braatz, was adamant that the score should dictate the film and not the other way round. In other words, he would take his cues as music and would not begin making the film until the score had been completely finished. So, our raw material consisted only of a 3 minute trailer, a large number of photos taken on set and the devolved responsibility of knowing we were trading in (fragile) people’s often fragile and highly emotive memories.

Part of the process of creating this score would be to deliberately avoid referencing or being influenced by Angelo Badalamenti’s original score in any way. Why? Because this is not a David Lynch film, it’s a Peter Braatz film. It’s an outsider’s insider view. All it needed, therefore, was a few outsider musicians to complete the circle.

The process of creating the music itself was true to form. Following a meeting at a gig in Berlin with the Director (where both bands were on the bill), Tuxedomoon first recorded improvised rehearsals in June 2014 in Athens, whilst Cult With No Name created tracks at their studio in London. Both bands mined out what they wanted and developed their ideas, with Tuxedomoon recording their parts in Brussels (and some in Mexico) and Cult With No Name recording, editing and producing the overall score from their London base.

The result is intended to be dreamy, reflective and quietly evocative.


Cult With No Name and Tuxedomoon, 3 August 2015