American composer Toby Twining (b. 1958) studied composition with Ben Johnson at the University of Illinois and piano with Helen Haupt at the University of Houston. From the shortest of biographical details we also deduce that his music is heavily centred around the human voice, that he founded a vocal group called Mouth Music in 1989 (which made its debut in Seoul, Korea) and three years later founded the vocal group Toby Twining Music heard in this recording. He has also worked extensively with choreographers, including Mariko Okamotoh and Gus Solomons. Jr.
All the music presented on this CD makes use of extended vocal techniques, many of which are derived from ethnic cultures such as Mongolian overtone singing, vocal fry from Tibet, rhythmic panting from African and Inuit music and pygmy yodelling. However. these techniques are blended further with elements that derive from pop, rock and jazz, contemporary music (Berio, Ligeti and American minimalists spring to mind) and even early chanson music. At times they can even sound like an up-market version of the Flying Pickets!
The overall effect of this strange melting-pot of styles is actually quite hypnotic and certainly not an unpleasant experience for the listener. However, whether one could often return to this disc is another matter. One of the most effective and successful pieces on the disc to my mind is the hypnotic and extremely atmospheric final track, ''Himalaya'', an excellent example of both the vocal tour de force that Twining and his group are capable of and the exceptionally well-engineered sound quality of this disc.'