Foxx John & Harold Budd - Nighthawks

Facts 2015 reissue; originally released in 2011. I was at art school. A girl I was in class with played Gymnopedies on the lecture piano one afternoon, June 1966. I remember the scene exactly - old Victorian art school, doors open to a long avenue of trees. River beyond. Summer glistening outside. I was very young and everything seemed magical and infinitely promising. Completely captivated in a moment of stillness and wonder. It was also a first exposure to successful minimalism - the music was so simple, yet profoundly elusive and subtle. Never forgot it. Everything else followed from that single moment -John Foxx. The Nighthawks album is dedicated to Ruben Garcia, who, sadly, died in 2013. John Foxx: Harold Budd recommended Ruben Garcia's music to me - and that alone is a significant achievement for any musician. His album Room Full of Easels illustrates why Harold was so intrigued. It's inventive, tranquil and joyful music from a pure spirit - a truly independent and idiosyncratic artist. I count myself very fortunate to have been involved with a small part of the recorded music Ruben left behind. Nighthawks was originally released in 2011 and is now part of the Metamatic label's catalog for the first time. It's a moody, cinematic album, very noir and New York, still full of wonder but with a sense of unease and a colder atmosphere blowing through the late-night piano strikes. John Foxx and Budd are keen to do more work together, but, as Budd says, I have no idea about what's coming up next. I suppose I should be concerned about that. I don't like counseling people to be blasé, because if nothing was happening for a long time it would be maddening, but I'm not there yet, so I don't know.