(03.23.07) Zachary Mastoon’s myspace page for Caural self-stylizes his work as “Experimental / Shoegazer / Hip-Hop,” safely tapping three genre classifictions that, in isolation, can certainly be said to characterize his work. However, when you throw them all together (as Mastoon does more often than not on Mirrors For Eyes, his second record for Mush), the blenderization turns the music into something closer to dusky hiccuping improvisation or elegant and eclectic lounge music.
“Re-Experience Any Moment You Choose” is slow-burn dub with sleepy drum kit, digital time slices of forgotten back-up singers, a Hammnd Organ tickled and coaxed by a nimble-fingered suitor, and bridges made of leftover static from ancient My Bloody Valentine studio sessions. The rhythm section of “Cold Hands” is glitched up with Pole-style static, creating a whispering backdrop for Hrishikesh Hirway’s maudlin lyrics; while “I Won’t Race You” juxtaposes gliding vocal samples (choral shoegazer) with syncopated drums, highlighting Mastoon’s methodology of building the drum loops first before layering in swooping synth pads, tintinnabulation, and the delicate tracery of the vocals. “Hallucination Broadcast” veers away from the ethereal pacing of the early part of the record with its noisy drum exposition, a burst of thunder amid a drift of gentle rain. “Make Us Invisible” is an elementary school recess soundtrack with winsome woodwinds, stutter-step drum programming, and bubbling electronics, call it a bit of Boards of Canada naivette mixed with the Four Tet dance machine. “Sending You Colors” swirls waves of glamorous guitar melodies and lilting piano chords around a bed of digitized household noises–part straw broom whisk, part washing machine gurgle, part copper pan clatter, part utensil drawer rattle; while “Cruel Fate of Spring” features Paul Amitai doing tubercular emo while Mastoon arranges delicate organ melodies and finely granulated drum programming into a stately spring processional.
detail-oriented eye towards beat programming. This is the trick (or trap, really) of genre labeling. If the rhythms aren’t mathematically challenging enough to cause whiplash when you try to follow them, then it can’t be IDM; if they don’t lurch about, crashing into the walls, they can’t be broken. So what’s left? The same can be said for the inimitable wash of guitar noises: well, it’s got to be In the end, there’s only one track –“Transition Suite: Part 1 – Lady” –that actually features hip-hop vocals; the rest is simply informed by Mastoon’sshoegazer. And Mastoon hides a little behind the “experimental” tag, I think, using it as a catch-all to deflect criticism from ardent fans of either genre who come to fuss about the purity of his expression. I’m tempted to add the phrases “downtempo” and “acid jazz” and “minimal glitch” to the list, but that just complicates things, doesn’t it?
While Mirrors For Eyes is certainly a complex work, its subtle magic is the manner in which it enchants the listener.
Mirrors For Eyes is out now on Mush. Buy it at Amazon.com.
