GUTEVOLK - Twinkle

The little creature hiding behind this artistic pseudonym is Hirono Nishiyama.

The works released under this name are a perfectly calibrated hybrid between electronic intrusions and a love for acoustic instruments.

From the debut "The Humming Of Tiny People" (2002, on Daisyworld Discs), through the slightly more acoustic turn of "Suomi" (2003, Tokyo's Noble Records), up to the latest twinkling star "Twinkle", this formula has been applied in various forms and guises, always maintaining an enviably high average quality. The songs are as pure and simple as an autumn landscape, as warm and reassuring as a house with a crackling fire heating the air. "Twinkle Star's Cycling Bolero" gets under our skin and settles in with numbing pleasantness. An instrument that sounds like an upright bass is looped, Hirono's little voice is sweeter than ever, the xylophones are as crystalline as a flawless diamond, the drums do their job, weaving percussive patterns of rare beauty. Tiny bleeps are the icing on the cake. It's beautiful enough to bring tears to your eyes.

"Light Parade" is an obsessive keyboard note repeated into infinity, over which sound cycles overlap, watery beats, a river flowing in its bed during its calmest stretch. Minimal painting for a well-kept, polished room.

"Little Girl, Little Star" is an instrumental that has the flavour of indie-tronica, but it's much more than that. Piano scales, loops, notes from a vintage keyboard. Once again drums seem to set the pace for a war fought with water pistols, rifles loaded with candy, and cannons that shoot cotton candy. "Silo" is an unfinished sketch, a dazzling draft. Amid metallic comings and goings, notes set aside, and drawn-out refrains. Alienating counterpoints for a group of smiling souls.

The scant two minutes of "Moonlakers" enrich the formula with flutes and ferrous clangs that speak of compositional completeness.

"Wondering" is a truly shimmering, finely embroidered little gem. Strings give off crystalline, precious notes, a small, carefully tended voice speaks to us with these words: "Let me know and more than rest, let it talk and more than there".

Electronic scuffs tear apart a steady rhythm, an electronic drum machine is tender and delicate, a synth appears, fizzing away, and the blue sky opens up before us.

A handful of songs that could be a lullaby fit to send you off to sleep with a smile, a way to console your broken hearts, encouragement after a painful disappointment.

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30/04/2026