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.
5/5 |
