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Twinset (formerly known as The Spider Men) hooked up at the start of their second year at the then Wellington Polytechnic Conservatorium of Music in 1996. Their first gig was at a warehouse party along with various Goth bands who splattered themselves in blood – needless to say, they were in suits & ties.
Since then this fine trio have been a regular live feature in Wellington, going under a variety of names (Los Tigres Del Norte, Moose Head etc) until Leon Matterhorn had the honour of eventually naming them Twinset.
As individual musicians, the members of Twinset are all much in demand and can frequently be found moonlighting with other capital city combos, from Fat Freddy’s Drop, The Eggs, The Sribes Of Ra, The Black Seeds and Deva Mahal and the Five Pleasures to folk-parodists Flight Of The Conchords.
Over five albums and countless gigs Twinset have grown an audience throughout New Zealand and around the globe. 'Flavour Country' is Twinset’s sixth CD, and finds the group laying out its usual persuasive grooves, while expanding into unexplored territories. At one extreme there is 'Space Legion', where eastern modes meet Martian soundscapes in an expansive yet beautifully controlled sixteen-minute jam.
And, as on previous albums, a few friends and colleagues have sat in on 'Flavour Country'. There’s The Phoenix Foundation’s Will Ricketts, whose percussion can be heard throughout the album, meshing with Hoskins’ drums to make this the rhythmically richest Twinset album yet. Toby Laing, from Fat Freddy’s Drop, brings his baritone horn, adding ballast to 'Birds Of Beltion' and 'Storms Boogaloo'.
And there’s The Black Seeds' Barnaby Weir, who blends his white chocolate vocals with the creamy tones of Lisa Tomlins on the album’s one non-instrumental: a reading of the Billy Joel standard 'Just The Way You Are'. Like everything else on 'Flavour Country', it is soulful, surprising, and couldn’t be anyone but Twinset, who have taken a near-forgotten sub-genre, given it a fresh breath of Wellington air, and made it their own.
Band Members:
Christopher Yeabsley (organ)
Daniel Yeabsley (saxophone)
Paul Hoskin (drums)
Artist Website
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