* En anglais uniquement
Releasing his first album well into his fifties, crooner
Louie Austen became an unlikely fixture on the Austrian dance scene thanks to his unique fusion of jazz-pop and electronica. Born
Alois Luef in Vienna in 1946, the classically trained singer performed on stages in L.A. and New York in the 1970s before taking a residency at the Cascade Bar in his hometown. A chance meeting in the late '90s with an experimental producer led to a collaboration that combined his
Dean Martin-esque vocals with modern electro-disco. In 1999, he released debut album Consequences, which was followed by
Only Tonight (2001),
Easy Love (2003), and Iguana (2006). In 2007, he formed his own label, LA Music, and released several EPs including My Amy, a series of songs dedicated to
Amy Winehouse, and in 2010, he released his fifth album, the two-disc Last Man Crooning/Electrotaining You!
Austen has also performed on tracks with
Peaches, Ada Fijal, and
Phonique, and appeared as a casino gambler in the Oscar-winning movie The Counterfeiters. ~ Jon O'Brien