Wizards of Twiddly
Formed in Liverpool 1988 the Wizards of Twiddly stuck out like a sore thumb. Creating wildly ambitious music from a vast and colourful palette with large chunks of humour and theatricality. On their own Fracture for Pleasure label they produced two idiosyncratic albums 'independent legs' (1992) and 'man made self' (1994). Largely ignored by the mainstream music press ('Scouse Gets' NME 1993) they managed to attract a collection of committed supporters including Cardiacs' Tim Smith, Radio One's Mark Radcliffe and the late,great Vivian Stanshall.
In 1994 the Wizards of Twiddly embarked on a year long collaboration with the very legendary Kevin Ayers. In 2000 Market Square records released the live 'Turn the Lights Down - Live in London 1995' with the band accompanying Kevin on some of his greatest tunes. Wizards of Twiddly also collaborated with Kaboodle Theatre Co (Threepenny Story1991/2) Liverpool scrap musicologists Urban Strawberry Lunch and comedian Terry Titter. In 1993 the band won the best band at the first Liverpool Echo Arts Awards.
Since 1996 a Twiddly or two can be found on Shack's latest album (2006), The Coral's 'Magic & Medicine' (2003), Gorky's Zygotic Mynci 'Moon Beats Yellow' (1995) & 'Barafundle' (1998) and Super Furry Animals classic debut 'Fuzzy Logic' (1996) and countless releases by Zappa specialists The Muffin Men. Wizards of Twiddly reformed in 2004 and hope to release a new studio album at the end of 2008
Website: www.myspace.com/wizardsoftwiddly
Email: wizardsoftwiddly@googlemail.com
wizards of twiddly - the upendium (volume three) (cd)
Assembled over many months by bass player Andy Frizell, The Upendium features previously unreleased tracks from 1990 to the present, including unreleased favourites ('Friendly Fire' 'Scattergun'), home demos of Twiddly classics ('Man made Self' & 'Large Geographical Features'), as well as insane, half-forgotten outtakes ('Bleepers' 'Air Shares').
Tracks1. we are not free
CreditsAll material written arranged and performed by wizards of twiddly
ReviewsUpendium Vol 3 is a compendium of studio and live tracks, demos and outtakes, some of it in pristine quality, some of it not.For those of you who made the Kevin Ayers/Twids gigs all those years ago, what's really exciting is that many of the tracks that were played there, which were new at the time and therefore not on CD, are now showcased, notably 'We Are Not Free', 'Scattergun' and the gobsmacking 'Friendly Fire'.....
Phil Howitt, 'Whats Rattlin' ?' Forum |