RUBYCON

It is difficult to make a first rating in a new genre; especially, one like progressive electronic which is distant from the closest touchstones in other genres. As a result it is hard to put in perspective where an album should fit relative with its peers. That is the position in which I find myself when reviewing Rubycon. As a result my review feels personally biased. Thankfully reviews can be edited.

With that said, Rubycon is a sublime album. It is evocative of motion from the rhythmic base tones and wide sparse landscapes from its vacillating upper reaches. Overall the feeling is like riding a train through a vast shifting desert. Through the circling sands mirages, often haunting, are glimpsed. The train makes at least on extended stop in the middle and we are left a dark and disquieting station watching the shapes in the wind. The terminus for Rubycon is the coast of a rolling sea. I've had the fortune of travelling through Northern France the best imagery I can conjure for this sea is not unlike the Channel coast when socked in with fog. There are no bright colours everything feels chilled and damp. In the end of Rubycon, there is no comfort.

Rubycon is terrific in both the exalting and terrifying sense. Rubycon seldom gets too slow and by the same token neither is it bombastic. All the same it does not make for a light listening. I highly recommend this album. It has opened my eyes to the beauty of Tangerine Dream and to the possibilities of the progressive electronic genre. I give Rubycon five stars.