This is the way he always wanted the album to sound. Will Toledo aka Car Seat Headrest revisits his poignant body of work, Twin Fantasy. The highly regarded 2011 LP was recorded on a cheap laptop when Toledo was 19, and it was, as Brian Eno fondly put, "the sound of failure": "thrilling, extraordinary, and singularly compelling failure." For the re-do, CSH works with a full band, and he's had all the time he needs (8-months of mixing just to get the drums right!) to get the project to sound the way he intended it to sound. Obviously, the immediate concern here is Twin Fantasy being stripped of the grit and feeling that made it brilliant in the first place. But no need to worry, this is the perfect second take, through which he grows as a person and as an artist. Check out "Cute Thing," "Beach Life-In-Death," "My Boy (Twin Fantasy)," "Bodys," and "Cute Thing."

• re-recorded 2018 edition
• gatefold sleeve, each LP comes in a custom inner sleeve
• music label: Matador 2018

reviewed by rei kwondo 02/2018