In October 1985, Tom Waits released Rain Dogs. The album was an instant classic and marked a new sound for him — a rough, dirty, neo-blues style with awkward rhythms and hard edges. Drummer and percussionist Michael Blair played on the sessions. His highly personal instrument set-up, which included a mix of regular drums and odd bits and pieces like trashcans, bedroom furniture and rusty bicycle frames, fit perfectly with the sound that Waits was looking for. The combination of Michael's timing, expression, and junkyard sounds created a rich and useful range of musical textures to accent Waits' own intricate storytelling. Michael toured with Waits, played on his 'Frank's Wild Years' album, and then went on to play with Elvis Costello ('Spike', 1989) and Lou Reed ('Magic and Loss', 1992). Spike became Costello's most commercially successful and sonically adventurous album to date. Michael also added his trash can consciousness to records by producer Hal Willner, in collaboration with avant-theatre director Robert Wilson, and on tribute albums celebrating the work of Kurt Weill, Allen Ginsberg, Walt Disney, and Charles Mingus. In a review of Lou Reed's poignant 'Magic and Loss' album, David Fricke from Rolling Stone magazine had this to say about Michael's work:

"Drummer Michael Blair is an almost invisible presence, combining lithe

percussive flourishes with the heartbeat simplicity of Maureen Tucker's timekeeping with the Velvets."

So, two rototom frames form a tonal hi-hat, a duck call suggests an alternative cowbell, tack drums from China become rack toms and putting the hubcap of your very first car on top of your snare seems like the right thing to do. Michael Blair crosses over boundaries of industrial, blues, ethnic, orchestral, and replacement percussion to form a unique sound. Twisted Kit EZX^® brings you that sound both in the recordings and in the MIDI files recorded by Michael.

Twisted Kit EZX^® was developed in collaboration with Michael Blair and Sontronics Microphones.

The Twisted Kit EZX^® by Michael Blair was sampled through the very best outboard gear. Distortion, reverb, compression, and attack effects are available in the internal mixer. This enables you to access mixer presets by STS 9, Richard Devine, DJ Amplive, sub-ID and Count Bass D. You can also save your own custom mixer presets with EZdrummer^® 1.1 or higher.