Here's a swarthy lad, nonplussed with his current environment (JBTV studios, Chicago, 1995-ish), unwittingly having an effect on me and countless other musically-aspiring fans:
There's nothing flashy going on. Minimal kit, very few fills, no stick-twirling antics - just clean, professional drumming. Matt Johnson played his part perfectly behind Jeff Buckley, and he's at it again with Annie Clark, AKA St. Vincent.
After seeing him play live with St. Vincent for the second time, my best description of his style is the Shaolin master, who uses minimal movement to exert maximum force. He reverts the argument back from Fruity Loops to human touch despite having seemingly redundant analog and digital equipment. While his setup still looks minimal, but it's anything but, and whether it's connected to a computer or a stretched skin, he's hitting it with precision.
Fills are still minimal, but when they appear, they are staggering. And then, the doubled hi-hat on Birth in Reverse with the funky pulse to boot - just awesome. See for yourself:
He looks more like Christoph Waltz than Neil from the Young Ones these days, but he seems to have only gotten stronger. I'm certain I'm missing tons of information on him from the gap between Buckley and Clark, but that's what Google is for, eh?
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