Blog Posts

« Polygraph » is intended as a portrait of human relationships turning to the sour, hinting at the necessity of constant kindness and genuineness. The suite lasts about ten minutes and is composed of the following four sections : « Exposition, » « Confrontation, » « Deliberation, » and « Vindication. »

While the introductory movement describes a heated yet still somewhat civilized exchange, the second chapter, « Confrontation, » aims to depict the often difficult yet cathartic experience of havin

« Sooner Or Later » does not comes from Poligraf's catalogue as such. Rather, it is a piece for solo guitar that I intend to publish on an album of about ten acoustic compositions, all featuring the classical guitar, either playing solo or accompanied by other acoustic instruments.

The original title of this piece was « Maybe Later, » but I never liked it that much because of the element of doubt and uncertainty that it conveys, which doesn't fit the music. I reworked some parts while getting rea

("Watching The Arrival Of The Mothership" by Mark Brumfield)

The Lepufology Project started as an instrumental composition meant as a tribute to Robert Anton Wilson's book « Quantum Psychology » in which he coins the word lepufology to refer to the study of rabbit-related UFO encounters.

As the composition was intended from the onset to remain instrumental, I decided to write a basic synopsis, more a list of scenes actually, in order to give the piece direction and structure :

1. Alert ! Possible A

("Dance of the Lord of Death" by Jean-Marie Hullot)

« Between Worlds » is a composition that started as a song entitled « Requiem » which was written in response to the deaths of my father and maternal grandmother, both due to cancer, at the beginning of the 1990s. Inspired by « The Tibetan Book of the Dead, » the piece eventually turned into a suite in five movements intended to present the successive stages of the death process as described in Tibetan culture.

« Dissolution » is a very short sec

("Maitreya the Conqueror" by Nicholas Roerich)

I read the The Tibetan Book of the Dead twice. I started with a French translation, and then read the Robert A. F. Thurman version. My motivation at the time was to learn more about the death process and what comes after.

At the time, I was agreeably surprised to discover that the text, which is traditionally read to the dead and is intended to guide them through the experiences that the consciousness has during the interval between death and the nex

("De Profundis 1" by Kate Parry Evans)

« Lifeforce » is the story of a personal catastrophe, an individual end of the world, beginning from a state of inspiration and hyperactivity, through doubt, destabilization, failure, consternation, collapse, and then on to relativisation, assessment, the return of hope, and renewal.

The story is told in non-linear time, beginning just after the collapse, and its various stages are presented as objects of an introspection which will lead to appraisal and pea

("Buddha painted on a rock wall in Tibet" by Unknown Artist - photography by onwardtibet.org)

« Between Worlds » is a suite in five movements that started as a song entitled « Requiem » which was written in response to the deaths of my father and maternal grandmother, both due to cancer, at the beginning of the 1990s. The original draft eventually became what now constitutes « Departure, » the introductory section of the whole composition.

A few years later, after discovering Buddhism, I acquired

("Two portraits of Ryogen" - Author Unknown - copyright holder is Kiemon Tsuruya)

« Creeper » is an allegory wherein destructive mental processes are compared to creeping plants. The piece depicts four stages of a confrontation between creeper and host : introduction, growth, conquest, and extinction.

The audio clip presents the introduction and verses. As the lyrics suggest, the creeper really represents insidious suggestion, worry, negativity, or doubt, which are generally rooted in ignorance o

("A Little Boy Riding a Donkey" by Niko Pirosmanashvili)

« Ignorant » is one of my first compositions ever, and was originally written for acoustic guitar and vocals.

The general idea behind the piece is that of lack of knowledge, and how it can lead to damage, even in the absence of ill-intentions, by leaving a door open for misguidance to come in.

The song ends on a call to integrity, hinting at the idea that happiness does not need to come at the end of a relentless pursuit, but rather that it i

("A derelict-looking British Rail Class 07 shunter" by Paul Miller)

« Lifeforce » is the story of a personal catastrophe, an individual end of the world, beginning from a state of inspiration and hyperactivity, through doubt, destabilization, failure, consternation, collapse, and then on to relativisation, assessment, the return of hope, and renewal.

The story is told in non-linear time, beginning just after the collapse, and its various stages are presented as objects of an introspection which w

("Akshobhya Buddha" by VanemTao)

« Between Worlds » is a composition that started as a song entitled « Requiem » which was written in response to the deaths of my father and maternal grandmother, both due to cancer, at the beginning of the 1990s. Inspired by « The Tibetan Book of the Dead, » the piece eventually turned into a suite in five movements intended to present the successive stages of the death process as described in Tibetan culture.

The last section of « Between Worlds » is entitled «

« Into The Ashram » is the first chapter of the « Entering The Stream » trilogy, which also comprises « The Chrome Lake » and « Leaving The Ashram. »

The composition is intended to depict the progress of an individual getting fed up with their day to day life to the point of taking an extended time off for reflection and introspection.

The piece is an instrumental which counts the following four movements :

• The Ordinary
• Running Out Of Breath
• Dweller On The Threshold
• Jambudvipa

In the cosmology of Buddh

("Underwater World" by Felipe Skroski)

« The Dam » is a 22-minute long suite in 8 movements that uses the metaphor of water flowing from source to ocean to illustrate the process that we affectionately refer to as life.

As the title suggest, the focus is directed on one major obstacle/life-changing experience, symbolized by a dam on the river, which the protagonist/narrator has to conquer in order to reach their intended destination.

The storyline is inspired by my own life and struggle to reach th

("Scylla by William Pye" by mira66)

« In The Vortex » is an energetic instrumental put together while toying with leftover ideas from « Informaëlstrom » and « Leftoverturned. »

The intent here was to communicate the experience of feeling enthusiastic and determined despite being faced with a demanding or overwhelming challenge.

The title refers to Esther Hicks' concept of the vortex, or to be more precise, to the experience of being in that vortex, a state of mind characterized by purposeful joy an

("The Dhyani Buddha Akshobhya" - Unknown Artist)

« Between Worlds » is a composition that started as a song entitled « Requiem » which was written in response to the deaths of my father and maternal grandmother, both due to cancer, at the beginning of the 1990s. Inspired by « The Tibetan Book of the Dead, » the piece eventually turned into a suite in five movements intended to present the successive stages of the death process as described in Tibetan culture.

« The Dance Of The Archetypes » culmin

("QTC Recycled" based on "Plastic recycle logo PVC" by Tomia)

« Questioning Tasteless Creepers » is one in a series of rehashes which come from reengineered ideas left over from other works. Other pieces of the band's repertoire, such as « Leftoverturned » and « Reinfused, » have also seen the light of day from that recycle/don't-throw-out-anything process.

At the beginning of 2008, Poligraf was selected to perform in the semi-finals of CONGA 2008, a local band contest, which had some specific rul

("The Crystal Ball" by John William Waterhouse)

« Uncertainty Principle » gets its title from Heisenberg's quantum mechanics principle which states by precise inequalities that certain pairs of physical properties, like position and momentum, cannot simultaneously be known to arbitrary precision. That is, the more precisely one property is measured, the less precisely the other can be measured. In other words, the more you know the position of a particle, the less you can know about its velocity,

(Detail from "American quilt" )

When I complete a composition there are often unused ideas left. Some of those I find actually pretty good but if I can’t see how to fit them into the piece then there’s not much choice but to discard them. For a while.

I rarely delete stuff, I archive. Once in a while I browse the archives and listen to such ideas in no particular order, and sometimes I get to see a way to combine some of them. Then I have the seed of a new composition.

“Leftoverturned” is a rehash

(Ratha Yatra Festival in Puri, India / Painting by James Fergusson)

Juggernaut. Lots to say about this one. Make sure your seat is confortable...

I’ve started the writing for this singular piece on November 2, strangely enough beginning with the epilogue. I “completed” it over the following weekend, on November 9. The lyrics, and thus the vocal melodies, remain to be addressed, mainly because I’m not sure which approach is best : the symbolical, the theoretical, or the experiential. The vocals wil

(Detail from a Postcard, Unknown Artist)

“Leaving The Ashram” is the third chapter of "Entering The Stream," a trilogy describing an episode of intense introspection that will most likely open our second album.

An instrumental suite in four movements (Meditative Walk, Running The Last Stretch, The Tabla Master’s Enigma, and The Ordinary II), it was originally put together in 2004, way before the other two chapters, “Into The Ashram” and “The Chrome Lake.”

Once reflection and healing have taken p