Search - Twine :: reference:

Twine's debut satisfies while showing promise.

Thomas Yudichak | Austin, TX United States | 04/25/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"reference: is more of a sonic dreamscape than a collection of songs. While at times it feels a bit listless, it more than compensates with gems like "Churches" and "Illumination." These both somehow manage to be simultaneously hypnotic and startling, providing a novel and thoroughly satisfying aural experience.But these are merely the high points on a musically strong album which glides seamlessly between the melodious and the jarring (sometimes within one track). The artists have an undeniable skill in choosing and placing samples, and I get the sense that on reference: they have only begun to explore their potential."

Hard-hitting !

Thomas Yudichak | 10/12/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Digital Artifact Another unexpected pleasure from the Adastra camp this issue in the form of Twine and their hard-hitting album :reference:, a sample-heavy, rugged sound exploration of drum&bass and cut-n-paste breakbeat, blanketed by ambient overtone technology. The peculiar nature of this album illuminates the attractiveness of the whole package, where the album opens with a chaotic jungle offering 'Cords', yets drops into the madness of experimentalism with the edgy soundbytes of 'Fountain'. The ambient-structured frame of 'Churches' contains a vast array of futurism by way of aggressive samples and what appear to be lazer blasts. My particular choice for top tracks are 'RVO' and 'Shelf', where the former displays a keen sense of d'n'b, and the later showcases an electro-organic take on the chaotic side of ambient junglism. All in all a definitive release of breakbeat madness running rampant though a jungle of electronic connecter-cables, as Twine have provided an interesting perspective that expands the borders of what rich experimental d'n'b, ambient, and electro-organic synthesis can sound like when mixed together using an open mind. --- Alkemist"

Not afraid to drag you down while it moves your feet.

Thomas Yudichak | 10/12/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Alternative Press a Kent, Ohio, may not be the breeding ground for challenging electronica, but it works well enough for Twine. The group have cobbled together an album that sometimes simultaneously conjures disparate influences ­ Tech-step, drum & bass, In The Nursery, Etc. The musics grimy, decaying hues give Reference a gloomy, down-cast quality that is unusual for current electronica. Outside of the maelstrom of beats unleashed on the opener, _Cords_, Twine have created their own niche of gothic electronica ­ one that is not afraid to drag you down while it moves your feet. --- Bill Cohen"