Steven Brown was an integral member of the left-field collective Tuxedomoon, a band whose works encompassed jazz, space rock, avant garde and electronica often in the space of one song. It was an artful and often confusing brew and much the same can be said of Brown's 1987 album 'Searching For Contact', his third release as a solo artist. Inspired by the work of William S. Burroughs, the mood is suitably edgy and bleak with Brown showing his proficiency in clarinet, sax, keyboards, percussion and even vocals interspersed with snatches of filmic dialogue. Crucially the best moments of the record are when the sound is less cluttered. 'In Praise Of Money' ticks all the right boxes for haunting and foreboding atmospheres and 'Manner Of Means' rattles along like 'Red Mecca'-era Cabaret Voltaire. 'Scene 2: The Bar' (also included here titled as 'Last Rendezvous' in its single form) has soul to spare and is the clearest sign of the feelings of loneliness inherent in the tone of the album. The bonus offerings include the 12" single 'Me And You And The Licorice Stick' in which Brown adds some morbid clarinet to a background of industrial noises with eerie but great results. With Tuxedomoon having reformed who knows what they will produce next?