TORO Y MOI
Causers Of This
(CARPARK)
[Rating: 3.5 stars]
Toro y Moi is the moniker for Columbia, South Carolina-born Chaz Bundick, an African-Fillipino electronic rock musician whose penchant for woozy and amiable synths married to an innocuous although captivating hip hop beat packs his debut: Causers of This. If recent, dizzy-to-the-core songs by artists like Animal Collective, Beach House, Neon Indian or Washed Out don’t eventually make you more spew-likely than sitting bitch in Wayne and Garth’s “Mirth Mobile,” then the swirliness of this release promises to add more welcome glow to your cerebrospinal fluid.
Sonically, the concept behind Toro y Moi is similar to the visual appeal of a Polaroid photograph: by blurring the details, an otherwise mundane scenario can portend meaning, authenticity, and nostalgia; no track in recent memory demonstrates this concept more than first track “Blessa.” Part J-Dilla, part My Bloody Valentine, “Blessa” starts with an intriguing introductory guitar and vocal loop, a casual and experimental warm up with subtle momentum. After an impeccable half-second total fade-out (like a split second of airplane turbulence) the song is reborn concisely with a tight, digital beat and a diamond of a guitar riff: simple, precise, and elegant. Fans of the Polaroid formula might enjoy Causers in its entirety despite Bundick’s inability to glorify the whole chill formula with more than one dose; queasier listeners needn’t listen past the first track.