Pat Mastelotto: Recidivate

Pat Mastelotto celebrates more than three decades of record making with this two volume set, the first to arrive under his own name. The sometime King Crimson drummer says he’s never had the desire to throw himself into the world as a solo artist, hence the two discs here represent collaborative efforts with Steven Wilson, Stick Men (beside Tony Levin), California Guitar Trio, and Tu (with Trey Gunn, ex-King Crimson). There are others too––namely Terry Bozzio, Roy Powell and Cuon Vu, Tuner––as we have 42 tracks spread across two aural continents, one dedicated to acoustic trap kits (“Traps”) and another for electronic drumming and programming (“Buttons”). This doesn’t give us the whole Mastelotto story, which includes turns with Mr. Mister, The Rembrandts, and XTC, but those are stories for a different time. This is probably the truest portrait of the artist as an evolving drum.