Toro Y Moi is a fairly apt name for the solo work of producer Chaz Bundick. Forcing a couple of different languages together in his moniker (‘toro’ – Spanish for ‘bull’, ‘y’ for ‘and’, with ‘moi’ – French for, of course, ‘me’) hints at the process that goes on in the actual music. This is a slamming together of Animal Collective psychedelia with the sturdier bass music of R&B, early 90s house and, most significantly, some of the post-production tricks taken from places like trance. The music itself sounds nothing like trance, but we’ll come back to that in a moment.
The first, most obvious reference is the Animal Collective one. This comes mostly from the sound of Bundick’s voice and the melodic similarities he shares with the Baltimore group. There is also a hazy layering of sounds which brings them to mind. But Bundick adds other sources to the mix as well. ‘Imprint After’ is built around very Italo-house sounding piano riffs, albeit at a woozier lethargic tempo, while ‘Lissons’ switches between R&B and disco-funk rhythms. ‘Freak Love’ also explores the rhythmic pulse of J Dilla R&B with layerings of out of tempo delays reminiscent of some of Four Tet’s work. Then there’s ‘Low Shoulder’ which comes straight out of Ibiza, 1989, with some P-Funk synth squiggles thrown into the mix. The album closes with ‘Eden’, an early 80s synth funk workout with Beach Boys vocals over the top. It’s a fairly engaging mix overall, with enough jumps to hold interest, but enough cohesion to keep it a unified work.
The one aspect that really stands out to my ears, though, is the use of sidechained compression. Over the entire album, every time a kick drum pounds, or a bass line booms, all the other, more mid and treble sounds drop in volume and the bass lifts in volume. This means that the bass and treble alternate in volume for every beat. As you can imagine in beat based music, this is therefore constant. I’ve been listening intently trying to work out if it’s been done by an overzealous mastering engineer. But I don’t think the main vocal lines are affected with all the other higher sounds, which leads me to believe it’s a ploy used by Bundick himself. This is a technique that was pushed to ludicrous levels in late 90s trance, giving the whole mix of a track a constantly pulsing volume rhythm. It has the desired psychedelic effect, making everything feel like it’s phasing all over the place constantly, disorienting the listener with the music coming and going four times every bar. And it does suit Causers Of This on one level. But then I get to the end of the album and realise I’ve spent most of the time concentrating on that pulsing, trying to get my head around it, to find a place inside it where I can settle. I’ve actually completely missed the majority of everything else – the songs, the riffs, the sounds, the lyrics – as all I can focus on is my own disorientation. Which, in itself, is quite an interesting and enjoyable reaction to music. But I’m also fairly certain, given the attention that Bundick gives to all the other elements in the music, that this is not meant to be the focus. Which leaves the album constantly fighting against itself.
There is a great deal to like about Toro Y Moi and Causers Of This. But you really need to fight hard against that one production element to notice all the other bits. So I’m torn – do I just settle into sonic disorientation and forget the rest, or do I fight it and hear everything else? I’m just not used to working this hard to listen to my pop music!
Adrian Elmer
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