06'02

TWINE Recorder (BLEEP11) Bip-Hop 2002 08 Tracks. 56mins01secs.

Abstraction is, or so it seems, a vaster concept than it was ever humanly possible to imagine, but also one extremely difficult for artists to grasp fully as boundaries are constantly pushed further, goal posts are moved, definitions are altered, ruled are only sketched to be infringed. Many painters, writers or musicians have tried too hard to embrace the concept of abstraction only to create empty work of art, devoid of the only element that gives it a purpose: emotion. Without emotion, abstract art means nothing, is nothing, brings nothing.  For four years now, Greg Malcolm and Chad Mossholder have been shaping their music into highly dense and conceptual forms, without losing sight of its emotional character. With each new release, Twine have developed their constructions further, experimented with sounds and ambiences and incorporated new elements. The rich soundscapes encountered on Recorder demonstrate the pair’s capacity to perfectly balance the intangible elements of their music with more human aspects. The electronic makeup is only a mean to generate intense organic atmospheres, and is in no way a point in itself. It is perhaps to emphasise this fact that the album opens with the guitar-led None Some Silver. If statics and clicks seem to dominate at first, the textural components, namely cyclic variations ranging from pure to distorted guitars, placed in the forefront contribute to a somewhat opulent expressionist moment. More traditionalist in its electronic settings, the rest of the album doesn’t however greatly depart from the approach adopted here. The guitars are simply replaced by a variety of processed found sounds, vocal interactions and other sonic oddities, while clicks flirt with more conventional types of percussions. More deconstructed, Cign introduces a harsher musical landscape in the shape of an extremely prominent percussive section, while subtle waves develop in the background, before being projected into a more evident position in Fine Music. This continuous change of focal point is one of the constant of Twine’s music. Here perhaps enhanced even more, it surprisingly gives Recorder an extremely consistent feel. If Player Piano or Factor are, in appearance at least, more subdued and straightforward, Malcolm and Mossholder equally influence their sonic models all along this record to expand their compositions in similar ways. The most impressive moment of this album is to be found on the closing There Is No One Else. Arguably one of the most melancholic moments heard on an electronic record for a while, the pure approach to sound and the complex positioning resulting is at once deeply poetic. Recorder is by all means an absolute masterpiece, achieving more than any of Twine’s previous albums the synergy between abstraction and emotion. Already on a par with the likes of Autechre, Twine are slowly making their own mark on the electronic world.

TRACK LISTING  01 None Some Silver 05 Factor 02 Cign 06 Curved 03 Fine Music 07 Touched 04 Player Piano 08 There Is No One Else

09'01

TWINE Circulation (ELVPRE03) Komplott 2001 07 Tracks. 41mins02secs.

Greg Malcolm, an audio engineer based in Cleveland, Ohio, and Chad Mossholder, a sound designer from Boulder, Colorado, formed Twine a while ago. Both artists have performed on their own in the past, but, since the release of Reference, their first album, last year, they have been concentrating on developing their common interest for unusual sound structures. Situated at the point where the hip-hop-based glitch of Autechre and the experimental sonic mutations of German label Mille Plateaux meet, Twine define their own space by way of oblique digital abstraction. Inspired by the work of John Cage, Stauckhausen and the electro-acoustic movement, the duo dissects noises, clicks and human voices to present sound in its purest form, decontextualised and destructured. Once the process of isolationism by negation complete, what is left is an ensemble of randomly formed organic spaces, organised within themselves and often interacting with each other. If Summary evokes VI Scose Poise, and both tracks are strategically placed at the beginning of their respective albums, it is because they act as some sort of guide to the more complex tracks to follow. Many of Autechre’s fans and detractors alike have condemned them for following a similar path to the one adopted by Twine. However, the result indicates a broad, visionary, approach to new forms of music. The sound constructions produced by Twine are everything but inhuman and cold. Quite the contrary in fact, as the band performs a crosscheck examination of our sonic society. This is circumstantial music. Twine’s evolutive rhythmic patterns and multifaceted use of the same sound sources create a unique collection of avant-gardist musical forms, firmly set into its own cultural landscape, but open to the outside world. The band’s compositions are welcomingly warm and inviting, and despite their abstract architecture, surprisingly accessible. Twine have created, with Circulation, an album full of extremely inventive textures all the way through. The duo presents a challenging, yet fascinating, record, and develop further their structural sound to near perfection.

TRACK LISTING  01 Summary 05 Voices 02 Phenet 06 Keys 03 Rono 07 Phlitt 04 Low

ALSO CHECK   REFERENCE AdAstra Records 1999 _ Cords Fountain Churches Monitor RVO Shelf Stem Illumination Labyrinths _ RESOURCE AdAstra Records 2000 _ Soil Center Remix Sindl Wind Wind Remix Center Sindl Remix Soil Remix _ CIRCULATION Komplott 2001 _ Summary Phenet Rono Low Voices Keys Phlitt RECORDER Bip-Hop 2002 None Some Silver  Cign  Fine Music  Player Piano Factor Curved Touched There Is No One Else

THE SURFER'S GUIDE TO TWINE TWINE Very complete site from the textural Twine. Includes discography, press releases, sound clips and more. BIP -HOP This young French label is starting to make a few waves with its excellent Bip-Hop Generation compilation. The label also edit an interesting webzine, with loads of interviews and features. KOMPLOTT With only a few releases, this excelent Swedish label is already making a serious impact on the music scene. The roster include Twin, Figurera and Komp.