Twine — Recorder

The times that ‘music’ had to feature melody, harmony and rhythm are long forgotten since Arnold Schönberg deliberately tried to root out traditional, Western harmony by introducing his 12 tone system. Later on ‘musique concrète’ broke down the last remnants of tonality and rhythm and total abstraction became a respected artform.

Attempts in finding new ways of musical expression have not always been listenable: extreme ideas tend to be hard to relate to because conventions built into the listeners by culture prevent it to sound familiar enough to be able to grasp it. If you get yourself used to listen to abstract music even there esthetics will surface the listener and the artist will be able to attach a meaning or even emotion to it. No matter how ‘unlistenable’ completely abstracted sound art might seem: it certainly serves as a liberating force. Extreme abstractions mixed with more traditional elements make the endproduct a little easier to digest.

Besides Schönberg the fact that music could be recorded made it possible for ‘art’ music to detach itself from the secular folk tradition and the luxury of European life in general made it possible for composers and musicians to make music more ‘art’ than a way to make a living. Extreme ideas were not always accepted by the general public, but its recordings made it possible for a group of people to get used to the abstract sounds of for instance Pierre Schaefer’s and Pierre Henry’s ‘musique concrète’.

Until early 1900 classical composers used popular tunes from the living folk tradition into their music (and the most catchy classical tunes returned to the streets again). Music was only performed live and the audience needed ‘hooks’ and other familiarities to enjoy the music presented on the spot, since you simply didn’t have the chance to let things sink in with multiple listens. Recording facilities enabled to 20th century art music to detach itself from the folk tradition. At the end of the 80s however, dancemusic like techno and acid house started to seek contact with the abstract sound traditions of artmusic. Thus folk tradition start to embrace the classical tradition which got stuck in total abstraction.

From ambient techno and ‘drill ’n bass’ by Aphex Twin up until the 'clicks ’n cuts’ and ‘microsound’ by Fennesz, the ‘dance’ element in IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) is completely lost since rhythm is quite important for dance in the traditional sense. What’s left is soundscapes mainly aiming for atmosphere and pure sound as a way of expression. Like in any other music, it sometimes works and sometimes it doesn’t. Like classical music is looking for a new tonality via new romanticism spearheaded by Gorécki’s 3rd Sympony, you see the same tendency in the microsound and clicks ’n cuts scene.

The American duo Twine consists of 2 members, Chad and Greg, who live far apart but can form a ‘band’ with the aid of the internet. Their music is a mix of electronic music like microsound and clicks ‘n’ cuts but they add conventional instruments and melody and rhythm to it.

Recorder starts off with None Some Silver, which pretty much showcases their style: guitarchords are strummed and electronics cut through the ambience. The atmosphere is dark and somewhat unfriendly. Microscopic electric sounds bounce from left to right with the guitar continuing to play its sad chords. The mix of organic and electronic, tonality and sound, makes this music a little easier to relate to than the completele abstraction of some other acts in this field of music. The second track Cign is very rhythmic with drifting clouds of sound. The album continues with varied constructs of distant ambience, dry clicks, static, rhythms and chords.

I think Twine presents a nice mysterious mixture of melodic elements to appeal on an emotional level but with enough excursions into abstract sound to keep the ‘avant garde’ interested. The CD also features a nice videoclip.