Rather than the Big Beat flavor of his blockbuster remix for Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation," Junkie XL (a.k.a. Tom Holkenborg) seems to be channeling some of the great Modern Rock groups of the 1980s on his "Today" CD by fusing four-to-the-floor dance beats and pumping bass lines with layers of spidery strummed guitar work. Joining Holkenborg on the album is newcomer Nathan Mader who adds his strong yet plaintive vocals to more than half the tracks on this set. Mader's contributions shine brightly on uptempo selections like "Youthful" and the soaring "Today" where he is placed amongst throbbing backbeats and dizzily guitar strummed arrangements that hypnotically descend and meld into the layered rhythm tracks, as well as on the melancholy midtempo "Drift Away" or the gently driving "Yesterdays." Intermixed amongst the vocal cuts are instrumentals like the dancefloor-friendly "Such A Tease" and "Mushroom" or the breezily flowing "I Have Got A Xerox To Copy" where the focus on keeping the guitar work as prominent as the keyboards and drum patterns further harkens back to musical trendsetters like Joy Division, New Order, or The Cure.