Casiotone For The Painfully Alone Twinkle Echo Black Vinyl Ediiton

“Never has electronic music sounded warmer or more human than Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Owen Ashworth uses equipment that could be considered antique (sk-1 or Mt-100 models of Casio keyboards) to provide a humming, squeaking, buzzing backdrop for his tales of pained love.”

"That was taken from the 2003 press release for Twinkle Echo, the third album I made under the name Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Originally released on German electronic label Tomlab Records, Twinkle Echo has been out of print for nearly a decade, slowly building a cult audience from a new generation of DIY & indie music enthusiasts, thanks in large part to the album’s availability on streaming services. I’d previously reissued vinyl editions of two later Casiotone for the Painfully Alone albums (2006’s Etiquette & 2009’s Vs. Children) on my own label, Orindal Records, but I had some hesitation about reissuing Twinkle Echo, partially because its hyper, overdriven sound felt so far removed from the music I make now with Advance Base, & partially because this music came from a difficult period of my life that I just didn’t care to revisit. I’ve finally come around to the idea, thanks to the encouragement of some old friends & new listeners.

Twinkle Echo is a rawer & more lo-fi affair than the later Casiotone releases, with its fourteen brief, abrasive electronic pop tunes performed almost exclusively on the cheap, battery-powered synthesizers that gave the project its name.

The new vinyl edition of Twinkle Echo features the original artwork by Heidi Anderson on an extra heavyweight, reverse board jacket, plus a recreation of the original handwritten lyric sheet."—Owen Ashworth