Felix Kubin
Takt der Arbeit
2017 Editions Mego

Originally developed as a film score, Takt Der Arbeit is inspired by a handful of industrial and instructional films from the early 1960s until the early 1990s that portray different forms of work. Felix Kubin translates these historic documents into a musical poem of conceptual depth. Takt Der Arbeit - "the beat of work" - is not only serving as a title but also as constructive element in this endeavor. Being hunted down by the ever-accelerated pulse of our reality is an omnipresent issue in capitalist societies of the Western world. Living in times of constant exhaustion, it's not only our bodies that have been disciplined by and synchronized to the rhythms of working processes, but also our minds that rage in the tempo of our surroundings. Following an almost analytical effort, Kubin and an ensemble of three percussionists investigate the different qualities and intensities of time that are catalyzed in working processes. While picking up precise temporal and motoric motives of the films, condensing paces and excavating rhythmic patterns, the ensemble maps out an animist choreography, shifting from a time when labor was still relying on bodily efforts to a time when machines and ticking clocks seem to reign and model human perception. While side A is dedicated to procedures that are still based on manual and mechanical movement, side B is inspired by the digital age, marked by invisible processes and subcutaneous pulses that humans internalize. The result is a critical and poetic reflection on the rhythms of our daily life and yet another example of Felix Kubin's skills as a composer, placing him in the field of orchestral music. Works commissioned by NDR das neue werk (North German Radio). Personnel: Felix Kubin - organ, electronics, sampler; Miłosz Pękala - vibraphone, xylophone, sampler, percussion, effects; Magdalena Kordylasińska - marimba, percussion, effects; Hubert Zemler - glockenspiel, drums, percussion. Artwork by Stephen O'Malley; Engineered by Robert Migas; Mixed by Tobias Levin; Mastered by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.