Twine (band)

Greg Malcolm and Chad Mossholder went to the same high school in Cleveland, Ohio, when they began making music together.[1] They shared a common interest in skateboarding and attended Akron University together for a year.[2] The group formed at Kent State University in 1997[1] as a collaboration between Mossholder and David Graves. They were working under the name "The New Severe Theatre" before Graves moved to Maryland a few months later.[2] Mossholder then asked his old friend Malcolm to join, and they changed the name of their pairing to Twine.[2] Both Malcolm and Mossholder have formal educations in computers and technology.[1]

The group's first album Reference, was released in 1999.[1] The second, Recorder, came out in 2002, followed by an eponymous release in 2003.[1] There followed a five year wait until their fourth album, Violets, which finally arrived in 2008.[1] The majority of work on the album occurred from 2003–2004.[3] Commenting on the delay, Malcolm stated, "After four years, I felt personally hopeless about the release and lost faith basically in the entire indie-electronic music business."[3] Mossholder, on the other hand, said that both the band and label Ghostly International wanted to "release something special for the listener".[3] Both men were also busy with their personal careers in the interim, though they continued writing and recording new material, and have a large collection of unpublished music.[3] Mossholder has done extensive work writing music and doing sound design for video games,[3][4] while Malcolm works in the commercial photography industry.[4] In 2011, Malcolm said that the duo would attempt to "re-launch" Twine that year.[4]

Mark Richardson of Allmusic said that the duo "combine samples, digitally generated tones, and processed instruments into an electronic mix that defies easy categorization."[1] Malcolm also said of their sound: "I can't define it, but I know what it is when I see (hear) it."[4] Mossholder said of their collaborative style, "We create a common virtual space where we can deposit ideas, sounds, song fragments, and sometimes complete thoughts."[4] Malcolm commented that the pair were "like Voltron: able to operate independently," but able to "come together when needed, and make the sum greater than the parts."[4]

The pair's second album, Recorder, was positively received, called both "dark and deep"[1] and "an achievement".[5] Their fifth, Violets, was described as "powerful" and "really worthwhile".[6]