I try not to get too nostalgic because I realize I’ve been reviewing for almost as long as many of you have been alive, but Twink is one of those weird cases where I covered his stuff like, 12 years ago, then lost track. I had assumed the sands of time swallowed his ambitions whole (hey remember Annuals?) but, turns out, he’d been tinkering around with his sound all along, refining it to the point of razor-sharpness. Now, Dust Bunny arrives at my door, packaged as lovingly as possible (seriously, take notes y’all: ‘fragile’ on package; tape applied liberally for a tight seal; two cardboard stiffeners, one on each side of LP, taped to prevent escape; AND, most importantly, vinyl removed from jacket to avoid seam splits), and I’m falling in love with Twink’s all-encompassing aural environments all over again. I should say that, for the record (no pun intended), I’m not hearing a TON of difference between Dust Bunny and older efforts like Ice Cream Truckin’ and A Very Fine Adventure. But that doesn’t mean the innovation isn’t there; it’s just been awhile and as time passes specific details turn to mealy mush, particularly when one reviews wayyy too much music like I do. Suffice to say, I can’t rightly remember all that much of Twink’s past save the eye-popping art and, as always, use of toy pianos. What I hear this time around is a lot of sprightly, bouncy beats, stuff you might hear on a Warp release, buttressed by more restrained, percussion-less entries that seem to aim for more of a contemplative feel. While the latter might not get you pumping your fists and dancing, it foreshadows what I see as a successful career providing the soundtracks to movies. Who knows, maybe he’s already doing it, he’s a resourceful guy by all accounts. Point is, you can’t go wrong with this guy; two in the pink, one in the Twink never sounded so appetizing (can’t believe I just wrote that). While there’s a sense of wide-eyed exploration to his material and always has been, he’s also a serious guy who gets things DoNe. I respect that, and if you give him his due by endowing your collection with Dust Bunny, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised whether you’re a longtime Twink tweaker or just a punter off the street. There’s nothing like his groove, sorta like that Mike Patton/Kaada collab from years back. (Remember that amazing thing? So inspirational.) Think Twink.
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