Review of Dust Bunny from Babysue
Twink is, without a doubt, one of the coolest musical bands/projects ever created. While the overall idea of the band remains constant (creating music using toy pianos and other toy instruments)...over time Twink has evolved and become it's own unique form of art. If you think the idea of making music with toys would wear thin and become samey, think again. Mike Langlie (the man who is Twink) continues to challenge himself and his listeners by continually spinning new takes on his basic idea and slowly but surely expanding the ways that toys can be used to create music that can be appreciated by just about anyone.
Dust Bunny is yet another wildly successful endeavor and this time around the results are even more heady and progressive than normal. If we had to sum up this album in a single word, that word would be...magical. Langlie has even created his own word to describe his genre...Toytronica. That said, he has effectively catapulted himself into being the Brian Eno of Toytronica. Looking into the future, we could easily see the two artists working together at some point. Now wouldn't that be interesting...?
Even though this is not music box music, the songs on this album are likely to give you the same feeling you might have while listening to a music box (with some interesting mental tweaks and unusual swerves, of course). We should also mention that Dust Bunny is the first Twink album to be released on vinyl. And what a work of art this one is. Featuring magnificent cover artwork courtesy of Kate O'Hara (a truly fantastic image of a bunny with a mirror image of itself as a skeleton...wild and weird stuff...), the album itself is pressed on colored vinyl and looks like toy spin art. And each one is unique, no two look exactly the same. Only 300 (?!!) copies are being made available so if you want one you'd better act fast.
The attention to detail here (the music, the artwork, the overall concept) is remarkable in so many ways. Twink is one of our all-time top favorite artists ever. Few folks have refined their idea to the extent that this man has. Hats off again to Mike Langlie for being both entertaining and exceedingly thought provoking and unique. Highly recommended. TOP PICK.