Twink is out to make you think with his stinky blinks of wink-wink children’s television shorts. His mission is simple: to demonstrate, once and for all, that good music can come from anywhere, whether it be the slow rip of the crotch of yer grandpa’s pants or the clip-clip of a toenail clipper or the pounding of a judge’s gavel.
Tiny Mix Tapes
A man walks…no, not into a bar but a thrift store and finds an old toy piano.
What follows is a story of mad scientist and musician/magician Mike Langlie (a.k.a. Twink – The Toy Piano Band) – since 1999 he’s been steadily building a discography of releases that sound like long lost Disney soundtracks rewritten for a new age. Twink’s records display all kinds of obsessions – bunnies, first and foremost! Beyond the latest LP, there’s also the self-titled picture book/CD that chronicles the adventures of a lost bunny:
Cartoon bunnies also grace covers of 2004 “Supercute”, 2008 “A Very Fine Adventure” and 2011 “Itsy Bits and Bubbles”:
Then there’s a general obsession with critters (2014 “Critter Club”) and even inanimate objects (2014 “Happy Houses”). Latter comes along with a video for “Close to Home” that features main protagonist stealing cartoon houses:
Then there are obsessions that have nothing to do with cuteness or naivette – “Critter Club” lists nearly 20 instruments in addition to toys and electronics! The music may be whimsical, the toys and artwork (courtesy of both Mike and Kate O’Hara) cute but the amount of work that goes into every LP shows nothing but serious dedication to the craft.
Call it “toytronica” or call it “cartoon pop” – there’s simply nothing else like it out there and the labels that released Twink’s music (including Seeland run by art-terrorists Negativland) all seem to agree on this.
Further reading:
The Weirdest Band in the World