About Me
twi the humble feather
music for spaceships & forests cd digipak
[FG05]
release date 6/10/08
also available at othermusic or soundfix records
REVIEWS::
One of the great joys of being an avid music listener is hearing a record that seems to make everything stop, that seems so new and so fully formed that it is hard to believe it could have come into being without anyone noticing. The kind of records that have you looking around and saying to yourself, "What is this and why haven't I heard this before?" Twi the Humble Feather -- the improbable name of the band at hand -- has made such a record. In fact, Twi (rhymes with "why") has been quietly toiling away on this little gem of a record for the last several years, playing increasingly frequent, intimate shows in New York City and Brooklyn to unsuspecting gatherings of people who undoubtedly find themselves asking the aforementioned questions. Less like songs than a continuous 25 minute composition in five movements, Music for Spaceships and Forests was made with the relatively modest means of three voices, two nylon string guitars, a steel string and a few subtle electronic sounds. But there is so much exuberance, clarity and openness to this music that the means of its facture -- and the personalities of its makers -- seem to fall away, leaving only the well-lit, pattern-like trails of phasing arpeggios, angelic, often wordless choral harmonies and warm, womb-like silences. The record has a certain purity to it and even its densest moments are executed with such harmonious precision that they provide the listener with a seemingly infinite amount of space for discovering new things to hear. Though harmony is the unifying substance of this music --whether it be in the classically-inspired, contrapuntal guitar inventions that propel these pieces forward or the choir-like vocal arrangements that seem to coalesce and vanish at will like some kind of cosmic ether -- the pieces move along with an irresistible sense of rhythm, usually created by catchy strum patterns, bell-like harmonics and an unlikely but wholly successful use of vocal percussion. A lot of times it seems like these guys are imitating wind or pounding rain with their voices -- and having a great time doing it -- and the sparingly used swathes of electronics sounds and field recordings of birds and natural sounds also contribute to this sense of both the otherworldly and the earthly idyllic.That Twi will shoulder comparisons to Animal Collective is somewhat inevitable, but there is a vast world of musical strains of influence present here, including everything from baroque and flamenco guitar music, and the phasing patterns of Philip Glass and Steve Reich, to the minimalist by way of early music choral works of Arvo Part, that are much more instructive in pointing to a musical trajectory that is entirely this band's own. A classical sense of composition and discipline are central to the music here, but fortunately Twi has the good sense to put precision at the service of what can only be described as a totally unpretentious and intuitive commitment to making enjoyable music. Though totally different sonically, in the sense of the happy commingling of the esoteric and the folk -- and I use that word in reference to its most literal, essential definition as opposed to the genre that bears the same name -- a comparison to Johanna Newsom's first album, The Milk-eyed Mender, might be another appropriate contemporary touchstone. But whereas Newsom's records seem more concerned with a radical transmutation of the antiquated, Music for Spaceships and Forests is a resolutely forward-looking album; and having just polished off a string of dates with Jose Gonzalez and as the buzz about them grows on the blogs and boards, the future looks bright indeed. It's been a long time since I've heard a record as unabashedly full of joy and generosity of spirit as this and the fact that it is a debut is great cause for rejoice. I cannot recommend it highly enough. [CC] (Released 2008) Other Music
Twi the Humble Feather is the perfect soundtrack to: A) moonlit treks through the woods, B) Christmas nights when mom and dad don’t fight, C) taking baths in rosewater. Rhythmic and breathy, the music has an organic feel that hushed up Glasslands in Williamsburg November 21. The acoustic trio focuses on the sound’s ebbs and flows and acts as a live-action tape-loop, repeating soft riffs as they build to a chorus of crescendos that luxuriously slink away into whispers. Twi the Humble Feather don’t tell stories, instead they set the stage with each song connecting to the next with quiet crooning to create an evening of delicately-crafted soundscapes.
- Erin Roof (thedelimagazine.com)
There are lots of bands out there lauded simply for their originality, bands that otherwise don’t deserve much attention. Twi the Humble Feather, while sounding like nothing we’ve ever heard, is not one of them. The exclusively acoustic three-piece come across as a live-action tape-loop of sorts, their chanting falsettos bleeding through cycles of finger strumming dwindles and swells. It’s part Gregorian chant, part Christmas carol and part Panda Bear’s Person Pitch unplugged. The forthcoming album is called Music for Spaceships and Forests.
-L MAGAZINE
