“Star Stuff”, an overabundance of earthy, surf, jazzy ethereal sounds, Chaz Bundick Meets The Matsson 2 take you on a dance between madness and sanity.
Chaz Bundick also knows by his previous projects as Toro y Moi. An‘80s electro psych rock reliving the 80’s pop era. Leaving Toro Y Moi project on the side to collaborate with San Diego natives Jared Matsson and Jonathan Matsson also knows as Matsson 2. Bundick’s last album was seen as unsuccessful, re-using rhythms and hooks. Bundick’s work with Matsson 2 shows his versatility as a vocalist with dreamy tones enhanced with Jared’s ‘80s style jazz rhythm guitar and Jonathan’s hard-bop style drum.
The album begin to take the listener down a calm river, guided by multitude of brass strings making sounds that only happen in dreams, the the guitar then fights with the drums for the listeners sanity. Like a wave of emotions the guitar takes you on a trippy dream where everything seems crazy. The drums then sucks you back into earth, rooting you with tribal drums beats until the guitar entices you to go back to the dream. The roller coaster of emotions are then confirmed with its first vocals “I think I gone and lost my mind,” although Bundick’s voice may be soothing and calm, the fight for the listener continues.
The album production gives a psychedelic tone to the album, by adding interesting sound and obscure samples. The samples and sounds are not in the forefront, but hidden underneath the rhythm which after listening to a couple times made a deeper textural rich sound. For example in the track “Disco Kid” the sample of crows can catch the listener off guard; when you hear it for the first time you question if you’re crazy or are you really listening to crows. Also on songs like “Star Stuff” the beginning of the album in particular had a Toro y Moi touch, an ‘80s electro pop sound which any Toro y Moi fan can notice.
“Star Stuff” gives a small snapshot of three artists trying to know each other’s musical preference, a delicate dance between three gifted musicians. They took advantage of not knowing each other bringing the best they had. Bundick’s voice softly giving the listener an impression of being inside a cloud of doubt and clarity, Jared’s guitar style brings memories of surf days, and calm rainy nights. In contrast to Jared’s mellow guitar rhythm is Jonathan’s hard-bop style, and complex tribal rhythm.
The Mattson 2 have Bachelor’s and Master of Fine Arts degrees in music from UC San Diego, and UC Irvine, respectively. They have worked with many up-and-coming artists like BADBADNOTGOOD, Cornelius, Silver Apples, Thomas Campbell and many more. They’re slowly making the way up the ranks in the current generation of artist in the L.A. area; now with the help of Bundick they can start to release albums of similar or better calibre. Chaz Bundick born in Columbia, South Carolina has a Bachelor’s in graphic design. He started his career in 2010 with his debut album “Causer of This”.
Pitchfork rated the album a 6.9/10. It feels they forgot to listen deeper into the album, missing those little things that gives the album its charm. Small samples deep within the rhythm that give the album a psychedelic ambiance strengthening the crazy genius sound of the album. But what is important is that Bundick finally met the Matsson 2 and made an album where both Bundick and Matsson 2 are able to just jam and make an album that should be rated 7.5/10 or higher.
