Rough Spaces, by Tom Swafford

Rough Spaces

by Tom Swafford

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Comes in a sleek cardboard sleeve with artwork by Tom on the front and track listing on the back. Price includes U.S. shipping.

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1.	The Surrogate 03:25	info	buy track
2.	Worms 01:35	info	buy track
3.	Chaos Magicians 02:58 video	info	buy track
4.	Skittering 05:03 video	info	buy track
5.	Bone Popper 03:27	info	buy track
6.	Brain Pig 05:38	info	buy track
7.	Limberjack's Jig 05:40	info	buy track
8.	Wyoming 04:18 video	info	buy track
9.	Mistress Kittinu 01:13	info	buy track
10.	70's Bike Chase 03:47 video	info	buy track
11.	Peeking Around Corners 02:36	info	buy track
12.	Evacuate Now 03:54	info	buy track
13.	Melting Down 02:04	info	buy track
14.	Absence 04:27	info	buy track
15.	Safe-ish 03:42	info	buy track
16.	Floating Out to Sea 06:27 video	info	buy track

about

Rough Spaces is a set of solo acoustic violin improvisations I recorded in the spring of 2021 at Futura Productions in Belgrade, MA. It was mastered by Mell Dettmer (Eyvind Kang, Lori Goldston, Jesse Sykes). Some of the tracks include my found footage videos, to further enhance your listening experience!
I am especially happy with this recording because you can hear every detail in the sound. When I improvise, I pay close attention to all of these details (bow attacks, overtones, difference tones, scratches, slides, types of pizzicato, tone colors from different genres, etc.) and use them as structural elements in the music. The pieces have many different moods and reference different styles of music I have been involved with (punk, jazz, folk, classical, experimental, etc.).
For each piece, I tried to create the sense of a drama unfolding, although without a specific story in mind (except perhaps the bike chase). The album as a whole is a response to what my wife Molly and I experienced during the first year of the pandemic.
Until March of 2020, I made my living primarily by playing on NYC subway platforms. The pandemic made this impossible so Molly and I left our rent controlled Brooklyn apartment and stayed with various family members. . The title Rough Spaces refers to physical spaces we stayed in (basements and spare bedrooms used for storage, living room couches, etc.) and mental spaces (grief over lost loved ones, pandemic related uncertainty, and anger at the state of the world). The music itself is also in a rough space. The ideas are being worked out in real time and the violin tone is often intentionally gritty and noisy. The titles reference family stories, conversations, TV shows we watched, and experiences we had during this time.

credits

released October 5, 2022

Recorded April 14 and June 2, 2021 at Futura Productions, Belgrade, MA.
John Weston, Engineer.
Mastered by Mell Dettmer
cover art by Tom Swafford
all music copyright © Tom Swafford 2022

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about

Tom Swafford Providence, Rhode Island

Tom Swafford has been active as a composer and improviser for over 30 years. He has lived and worked in NYC, Seattle, Boston, Berkeley, CA, Amsterdam, and is currently based in Providence, RI. He has worked with Butch Morris, Jason Kao Hwang, Amirtha Kidambi, Aram Bajakian (Kef, Dalava), Wayne Horvitz, Zachary Swanson, Matt Crane (Golden Crackers), and many more. Photo: Peter Gannushkin. ... more

tomswafford.com

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