Serj Tankian ‘Cinematique Series’ “Illuminate”

Serj Tankian (System of a Down) has released new instrumental music in a two-part collection being called ‘Cinematique Series’: “Illuminate” and “Violent Violins.” See streams below.

Today’s announcement says, “The 12 tracks that comprise Cinematique Series: Illuminate weave through classical arrangements and instrumentation, while the 13 compositions within Cinematique Series: Violent Violins find Tankian coalescing traditional cinematic compositions with a more modern approach, incorporating moody synthesizers and distorted electronica into the mix.”

They add, “Writing sessions for songs from both compilations span over multiple years and as the titles amassed, the idea to craft them into proper collections was born.”

Tankian explains further, “Starting with Elect The Dead Symphony in 2009 I’ve been working on classical compositions and film scores while touring with various orchestras around the world. In this time I have amassed quite a large collection of classical and cinematic compositions. Some of them have been used in various film scores when appropriate and others are unreleased. The two collections here are comprised of compositions curated as records from light to dark, classical to modern, transcendent to dissonant.”

The announcement continues, “Over the past couple of weeks Tankian has been releasing videos of titles from both Cinematique Series collections almost daily across his social media channels and on YouTube. Each full suite of music videos from Illuminate (full playlist: [LINK]) and Violent Violins (full playlist: [LINK]) is being curated into respective playlists on Tankian’s YouTube page.”

‘Cinematique Series: Illuminate’ tracklist:
01. Entitled
02. Film Piano
03. Blues
04. E-Motive
05. Free Thoughts
06. New Like Glass
07. Free The Piano
08. Bellissimo Piannissimo
09. Sad Romance
10. Flying Phone Medley
11. Snow On Ararat
12. Opera Sundays

‘Cinematique Series: Violent Violins’ tracklist:
01. Rasputin
02. Waiting For The Submarine
03. Cyber Criminal
04. Love At The Border
05. Grieving Banner
06. Spitfire Bombs
07. Prelude To A Diss
08. Minor Jazz
09. Discovery Of Self
10. Pretty Cinematique Of You
11. Cinema Piano
12. Play Her Piano
13. Stringolopous Choir

The presser adds, “Tankian has a few more musical releases queued up for later this year. Aug. 31 will see the release of the soundtrack for “Truth To Power,” the documentary film released in February of this year by Oscilloscope that explores Tankian’s venture into the rocky yet exciting intersection of music and activism. In mid September the soundtrack to the critically-acclaimed documentary film “I Am Not Alone” will be released. Before year end, Tankian also plans on releasing a pair of live concert albums recorded on the heels of the release of his first solo album Elect The Dead with his backup band the FCC.”