The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
CD Reviews  |  Classical  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features
2_StudentSurvivalv2_1000x50

Toro y Moi | Underneath The Pine

Carpark (2011)
By LIZ PELLY  |  February 23, 2011
3.0 3.0 Stars

 toro
Chaz Bundick's previous record, January 2010's Causers of This, pegged him as a seminal chillwave artist alongside other psych-pop bedroom recorders like Neon Indian and Washed Out. But just 13 months later, the 23-year-old South Carolinian a/k/a Toro y Moi is ditching the layers of glo-fi ambiance and going instead for the tighter, retro sounds of funk pop and space disco. Bundick moved in this direction with his pulsing, club-ready side project Les Sins, but Underneath the Pine is more personal and, occasionally, sad. (It was written the day after a friend's funeral, and its title refers to where Bundick will be buried when he dies.) Where Causers of This saw Toro y Moi acting as producer and remixer, the mostly home-recorded Underneath the Pine features all live instruments. Opening track "Intro/Chi Chi" is a middle ground between the textured, elusive qualities of Causers and his slicker new sound. But by track two, "New Beat," the soulful avant-pop is in full force. The new release is most solemn on the lyric-less "Divina" and the minimal, finger-picked guitar riffs of "Before I'm Done," but strongest on "Go with You" and "Got Blinded," where soft, slow-grooving beats, '60s pop vocals, and a gauzy sheen make for a distinctly post-chillwave sound. So what subgenre tag is appropriate now? Is this discogaze? Funkwave? Only time will tell.
Related: Washed Out | Within and Without, Review: Teengirl Fantasy | 7AM, Photos: Neon Indian's South End ''secret show'', More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , retro, Toro Y Moi, chillwave,  More more >
| More
Add Comment
HTML Prohibited

 Friends' Activity   Popular   Most Viewed 
[ 10/05 ]   "Mixed Taste: Tag-team Lectures on Unrelated Topics: Robot Opera and Clam Chowder"  @ Remis Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts
[ 10/05 ]   The Antlers + Explosions in the Sky  @ Orpheum Theatre
[ 10/05 ]   Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn  @ Lyric Stage Company of Boston
ARTICLES BY LIZ PELLY
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   PRINCE RAMA RISE FROM BOSTON'S UNDERGROUND  |  October 05, 2011
    Before Animal Collective's Avey Tare discovered their bouncy, Bollywood-inspired psychedelia at SXSW 2010, the group Prince Rama channeled "Now Age" chants and sang Sanskrit in Jamaica Plain houses and DIY art spaces.
  •   INTERVIEW: JAMES BLAKE'S DUB SOFT-SHOE  |  September 28, 2011
    Poised in a distinctive middle ground between leftfield electronica and soulful R&B, 23-year-old Londoner James Blake has been making a name for himself of late.
  •   CAMPUS SAFE SPACES OFFER COMFY COUCHES AND OPEN MINDS  |  September 28, 2011
    Two months into freshman year, I was sitting in a friend's dorm room when Melissa, the broadcast journalism student who lived down the hall, burst into the room. She was near tears.
  •   TWIN SISTER | IN HEAVEN  |  September 20, 2011
    It's one of 2011's finest pop records: 10 tracks of dreamy, weirdo hi-fi pop that grooves, sparkles, and hums with clipped beats and smooth drums.
  •   SOMERVILLE'S FIRST ARTSHARE DELIVERS  |  September 14, 2011
    Instead of buying into harvests of organic fruits and vegetables, shareholders pay a one-time fee of $300 for nine original pieces by local artists.

 See all articles by: LIZ PELLY

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed