| Is Caural not a legend yet? Well, I guess this is only his second album. Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself a little. Remembering Today is Chicago-bred bedroom producer Zachary Mastoon collecting session highlights recorded around the time his well-received Chocolate Industries debut was released and his subsequent move to the Big Apple. As such, this is an almost breathtakingly coherent release that, to my mind, sounds greatly improved over Star On My Ceiling. If not stylistically disparaging, Mastoon's unique brand of ambient, surreal, otherworldly glitch has certainly hit its stride in mature fashion. The first two tracks after the grinding, "Do Not Fire!" (Madvillain)-like, warbly Nokia-sampling opening track "I'm Way Too High" employ similar lazy, hollow-sounding beats that I just find tasty, though the mood for both cuts is quite different. "Bleached Platinum" puts Caural's extensive worldwide musical education to work, as he richly strums out some contemplative chords with pieces of an unreleased Transmission track, while "They'll Make A Video Game Out Of Killing People Like You" makes the beat more in-yer-face as seen under a menagerie of 8-bit sounds. By that point, you should have a pretty good idea what Today is all about, and damn if you wouldn't be lucky to get more of the same. People who meditate know trip-hop, so quit thinking (yes, that's a joke) and just buy it already, will ya'? Finally, a day worth remembering. - Tiny Mix Tapes |
1XLP/Out Of Print