Indie Rock Hit Parade Live Session: Chaz Bundick Meets The Mattson 2

Chaz Bundick Meets The Mattson2 | Photo by Eric Schuman for WXPN

Our latest Indie Rock Hit Parade Live Session is with a trio of artists whose collaboration might take some explaining. Chaz Bundick has released several albums as Toro Y Moi (and one as Les Sins), and twin brothers Jonathan and Jared Mattson have released many of their own albums as the Mattson 2. When the Mattsons were opening for Toro Y Moi on a recent tour, talk of a collaboration naturally came up. Star Stuff, credited to Chaz Bundick Meets The Mattson 2, was released earlier this month through Bundick’s own Company Records. Combining Toro Y Moi’s pop/R&B leanings with the Mattson 2’s omnivorous eclecticism, the album is a collision of both artists’ finest. Early in the morning on Easter Sunday, Bundick and the Mattsons came to our studio to camp out and record a live session.

The session begins with “JBS,” which also served as one of Star Stuff‘s advance singles. It serves as a great introduction to what this project is about: Jared Mattson’s woozy guitar interplays with Bundick’s phased bass and Jonathan Mattson’s drumming shifts and swerves throughout the song’s movements. The album’s title song, “Star Stuff,” comes next, showing how this trio of virtuosos have also mastered the art of tight songwriting. Next is a new composition, “Omaha,” which was released just this week as part of the Our First 100 Days compilation. If Jared’s Tortoise shirt wasn’t enough of a nod toward this collab’s influences, the jazzy, stop-start of “Don’t Blame Yourself” arrives to take the session back to outer space. There’s a quick diversion into Bundick’s own material, as the trio puts a new spin on “The Flight,” a highlight from Toro Y Moi’s What For?. Rounding things out is the quasi-instrumental that opens Star Stuff, “Sonmoi.” Be sure to listen for a quick vocal sample that snuck its way into a rainstick clip.

Listen to the complete Indie Rock Hit Parade session with Chaz Bundick Meets The Mattson 2 below, and check out some photos from the studio, too!