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Tone Poem

by Rubik

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1.
Come In 00:41
2.
Knives 02:02
3.
Blackwave 06:47
4.
Duet 03:45
5.
Sweet Nothings 03:09
6.
Interval 01:55
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7.
Mirror Museum 03:08
8.
Crinoline 00:36
9.
Shadows of Apple Blossoms 03:06
10.
Lacewing 04:20
11.
Half Widow 01:42
12.
True & Eternal Bliss 10:43
13.
Shadows of Apple Blossoms (Atki2 remix) 05:14
info

about

Partly inspired by Alex Ross' 'The Rest Is Noise', Tone Poem is a menagerie of samples accumulated by a deterministically random process - an exploration into the landscape of late nineteenth and twentieth century classical music via a cathartic endeavour to compose his own personal opera.

​Expressing method in perceptible madness, Rubik has long been compelled to make an album as a product of almost entirely stochastic processes. After deciding on a stylistic theme he sourced the backing tracks from a selection of 10 classical CDs from his personal collection. Assigning numerical values to specific elements of these works, he picked numbers from a bowl to determine sample length; the point in time from which the sample was taken; and CD/disc/track number sampled from, etc. All samples of a certain length would be used on the same track and thus a tempo derived. Notes were then manipulated within the samples for a more expressive and ‘musical’ result and additional instruments and solos were ‘bent’ to fit the backing track in the same way.

Lyrical themes include religion, ageing, paternal relationships, death/transcendence, acceptance of self, break-up(s), masculinity (and lack of perceived ideal), alcoholism, change.

The melodic, albeit slightly off-kilter, classical overtones provide some semblance of alleviation for any challenging listening, as if Billie Holiday’s ‘Lady In Satin’ had been warped in dystopia. Consider Rubik a more mortal David Sylvian or Krzysztof Penderecki, a twisted Sondheim, or merely a contemporary of L.Pierre or Hype Williams. And consider Tone Poem a nightmarish Disney production telling of one man’s everyday existence in Tottenham.

ELECTRONIC SOUND
"It’s one thing to have a concept like this, but a whole other to actually deliver it. And while that might sound like an indictment, it’s nothing of the kind. It is, in fact, all rather fascinating."

credits

released May 11, 2015

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all rights reserved

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about

Domestic London, UK

Domestic is a record label set up by Rubik in 2007 to release his own music and others by likeminded artists.

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