Twink, the Toy Piano Band! Twink, the Toy Piano Band!

Review of Twink, Supercute! and The Toy Box from Ektopia by Reevo

The obsession (I'm guessing it's more of an obsession than a hobby!) began when a guy, Mike Langlie, found a toy piano in a second hand shop more than 10 years ago. Over the years he ended up collecting dozens of them till he was having problems with finding places to store them all! At some point during this period Mike decided to start recording with them and the tunes sounded great. What's a guy going to do with a load of great sounding tunes apart from choose a name and release a record...Twink was the name he chose for the project and Twink was the title he chose to his debut release.

The tunes on Twink are amazing and beautifully recorded. I really love the sounds these toys make, it kind of reminds me of the extra sounds that you hear with flutes are recorded, those extra little squeaks and thugs of the mechanics of the instruments are just wonderful. Most of the tunes on Twink are pretty cute and child friendly. Simple, yet interesting, melodies played on the toy pianos are enriched with delicately used electronica in the form of beats, samples and synth sounds. However, Mike also enlisted the assistance of some other musicians to play parts on the tunes so you'll also hear some cello, flute, banjo, violin and accordion as well as some more standard instruments such as the theremin, giggle sticks, coffee cans, table tops, squeaky toys, clocks, busy box (what the...), musical saw, water glasses, hurdy gurdy (people don't say hurdy gurdy enough do they?) etc!

Anyway, there are lots of interesting styles of music with unique sounds and memorable melodies intertwined by harmonies into 25 imaginatively composed instrumental tunes. I also really dig the CD image, a little old vinyl record with helpful instructions to play side A at 530RPM! Now, what I haven't already said is that Mike is also an illustrator so it was always on the cards that he would design his own artwork for the release. Most people wound have been happy just to have got a release and just got it out in a nicely presented jewel case...not Mike! He's gone all out with the CD packaging and it's just superb. There's no case in site apart from a plastic sleeve in the back of a 32 page 15cm x 15cm picture book! The book tells the story of a toy piano playing bunny, called Hoppity Jones, who ventures into the woods to play some tunes with the other animals before accidentally falling asleep. I'm not going to spoil the ending but I can say that there's some "scenes of mild peril" (don't the descriptions that come with movie classifications just crack you up too?) before the obligatory happy ending...it's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen and should be animated for sure. It makes for a perfect companion while listening to the CD.

So, one Twink CD under his belt...what to do? Write, record and release a follow up record...and he did. Supercute!, which could easily have been the name for the first CD, got released in 2004 and it promises a "toy surprise in every song!" Dare I say that this is a more grown-up album?! It definitely sounds a little more experimental to me. The kids will still love it but there's definitely a depth to it that can really be musically appreciated. I love Twink (the first CD) for its pure unadulterated fun and cute factor but this one has a tougher edge to it...did I mention that there's a Twink cover of Metallica's "Enter Sandman"? Well there is and it twinks pretty damn hard! As well as all the other instruments that you'll hear on the first CD there's also ukulele, mandolin, toy sitar, metal chair, trombone, hand drum, pot and pan, electrical cord and cardboard box that have been put in the mix (or should that be "box?").

There's a great quote that was written about Supercute!: "Picture your stuffed animal collection at a late-night rave in an enchanted forest - Twink is the music they are dancing to." It's about as good a description of this CD as you'll get in once sentence. At this aforementioned rave there's one room that's playing some great tunes that bang away for the hardcore bunnies who just want to dance. The sounds of the "tech toy" leak from another room where the birds and bees can be found getting into the vibe. There's also the tunes for the chill-out room where the butterflies can be found catching their breath while listening to a little "toy jazz". Finally, there's the tunes that can only be heard in the head of the squirrel who has taken too much acid! All in all there's something to hear on this CD for the animal in all of us to enjoy! If I had to say anything negative about Supercute! it would be that the packaging isn't as special as the packaging that came with Twink. Don't get me wrong, it's beautifully illustrated but presented in a normal jewel case affair. Never mind, there's always The Toy Box.

I've yet to see another CD set that's as beautifully packaged as The Toy Box, the limited edition version of Supercute!. It comprises of a small cardboard box that contains three separate 3-inch CDs with all the tracks from Supercute plus 2 bonus tracks. The CDs are individually titled as well, there's "7 Pieces For Pling Plong," "Small Sound All Around" and "Welcome To The Jingle." Classy! Each of the CDs come in an individually printed cardboard case with its own little folded paper information sheet. So, I've established that it's a pretty neat little box but something is missing isn't it? Don't worry, there's also a tiny little book with Mike's cute illustrations inside. The story this times is about the time that Hoppity Jones went out to chase the wild toy pianos (it's not that raving squirrel narrating this one is it?!). There are more "scenes of mild peril" but nothing that's going to keep your kids awake at night! Taking the paper band off the box and delving into it for the first time was a real experience, kind of like looking into a treasure chest for the first time I imagine. Anyway, In my opinion it's definitely worth spending the extra money on.

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