Best Albums Of 2011: 15-11

30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1

#15: Toro Y Moi - Underneath The Pine

The soulful and space-age bachelor pad grooves found on Underneath The Pine make for an assured good time this holiday season. However, the real story is progression of Chaz Bundick, the man behind the sounds, from holding the title as the Godfather of Chillwave to new funk upstart. Those buried, gauzy effects are restrained or altogether left behind like training wheels. No longer recording in the bedroom or basement, this self-made indie star bounces between genre and influences and finds out what he can do from the Prince flavor on "New Beat", the delicate Franco-tinged "Before I'm Done" and the Stereolab homage "How I Know". Just when you have forgotten this is a Toro Y Moi album, he throws in a chillwave stunner on "Light Black", just to keep you guessing.

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Toro Y Moi - New Beat

#14 Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde

This one took a while to grow on me. Everything from the obvious derivatives on Dye It Blonde to the stories and rumors of bad behavior in concert and interviews had tempered my view. Once I had the right frame of mind, Smith Westerns finally won me over with this flowering garden of glam rock and retro-pop in full bloom. The guitar chorus on "Still New", the tongue-in-cheek Beatles reference on "Imagine, Pt. 3" and the T.Rex sleaze on "End Of The Night" are all places to before you even need to hear the Tommy Hilfiger sales pitch on "Weekend" one more time.

Stream the full album here.

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Smith Westerns - Still New

#13 Bon Iver - Bon Iver

This people's champion of 2011 is the self-titled sophomore effort for Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver. Who wouldn't love this story going from obscurity and isolation for the recording of an album to guest starring in Kanye West's cirque de grandeur. For the follow up, Vernon aims high by adding strings, percussion and woodwind and reaches those perfectly fragile moments when expressions of emotion meets tempered subtlety. Bon Iver is such a beautifully captured work until it reaches the horrendously ill-advised finale "Beth/Rest" that reminds of the worst ballads found in the annals of music history. Either the listening public is tremendously forgiving or frighteningly irresponsible.

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Bon Iver - Two Tracks

#12 Low - C'mon

Being known for making the saddest music in the world is a heavy moniker to carry. With a new band member on board for their ninth effort, the Duluth MN trio chose to travel an unfamiliar, yet sanguine, road. The result is an album full of hushed moments, leaving behind the emotive clatter on the past two Low LPs. C'mon has an earnest nature on "You See Everything" and "Witches" that sets up for the eventual weight "Especially Me" and "Nothing But Heart". Despite being ready to try a more positive approach, Low never seems to lose that element of beauty in their music.

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Low - Try To Sleep

#11 Washed Out - Within and Without


Chillwave took some interesting turns this year with some artists' latest efforts fumbling in quality or even abandoning the genre altogether. A couple of these soldiers stayed the course and in the case of Earnest Greene, made a lovingly brisk and freeing album of smooth and coolly effortless synth grooves. Most of the tracks on Within And Without are distant yet enticing with a glacial beat creating an atmosphere with all of the striking beauty of a early evening snowfall.


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Washed Out - Amor Fati

Album Review: Toro Y Moi - Underneath The Pine

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Ah yes, chillwave. That oft-referenced, uber-hip, bastard child of other established and celebrated genres has definitely made its mark. This musical reinterpretation of organic beauty as filtered by technology has produced a handful of noteworthy artists, albums and songs proving it much larger than a microgenre. Still, how will we know when chillwave is on the downturn and its fifteen minute fame clock begins to flash in red? Let's start with Exhibit A. One of the beneficiaries of the genre's crest is Chaz Bundick, aka Toro Y Moi. His first album Causers Of This is considered one of the foundation elements of chillwave, featuring instruments that are bent and phazed beyond recognition. It is more of a experience than a listen as the tracks carry only remnants of the sounds his instruments and voice originally made. Definitely challenging, always striking and at times undeniably beautiful, Toro Y Moi established that he could take his influences, push them through the meat grinder of studio tricks and make something entirely fresh. On his next effort, Underneath The Pine, it seems that Bundick abandons the chillwave construct with a hefty sense of bravery opting for less studio process and revealing a confidence that no longer needs the arctic blanket that swathed his earlier music.

The opener "Intro/Chi Chi" is pure shoegaze with no chaser that sets a misleading expectation right away. It is grand and sprawling which makes the next track "New Beat" a bit jarring with its non-filtered funk flavor. The loving groove is flush with influence: Prince, Chicago house, Hammond organ via Blue Note. It feels like the shackles of second guessing have been removed causing Bundick to throw his hands up to rejoice. Tracks such as "Go With You", "Got Blinded" and "How I Know", with their otherworldly bleeps, xylophone tickles and retro organ settings, channel the space-age bachelor pad sound that Henry Mancini and Burt Bachrach created and Stereolab modernized. "Divina" and "Before I'm Done" get drowsy and atmospheric as Toro Y Moi comes down with a case of Francophilia. By this time, any consideration for Toro Y Moi's past sound is forgotten as the music throughout Underneath The Pine is endearing, joyous and, above all, fully coherent.

Toro Y Moi gets back to the business of getting funky on "Still Sound" where the groove is so smooth, you expect to see backup singers stepping in sync for the music video. (Check out the actual video at the bottom of this post.) Although his vocals are thick with reverb, this is a throwback R&B jam to make you blow the dust off those Commodores LPs. Finally, Underneath The Pine gets around to showcasing some chillwave chops on "Good Hold". However, the slight pitch bends and breezy synth soundscapes are no more than a slight afterthought, proving that his bag of tricks is capacious, varied and accumulating in perpetuum. Finishing up is the languishing "Elise" that at least loosely carries the chillwave aesthetic. The song drifts along and fades away as if the simple groove could last forever. It becomes noticeable upon the finish of Underneath The Pine that this was a statement record for Chaz Bundick, proving that he much more than a purveyor of chillwave. As for the genre itself, it remains to be seen if we are in the midst of the final bows. Losing someone as talented as Toro Y Moi doesn't help.

Toro Y Moi will be headlining two shows at the Empty Bottle on April 5. Buy your tickets here.

Right-click to download "Still Sound" for free here. Right-click to download "New Beat" here.

Purchase Underneath the Pine here.

Toro Y Moi - New Beat


Toro Y Moi - Got Blinded


Toro Y Moi - How I Know


Toro Y Moi - Still Sound

Two New Tracks From Toro Y Moi, New Album Out February 22

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When music historians consider the chillwave explosion over the past two years, the name that will be heading up the first chapter is Chaz Bundick (aka Toro Y Moi). His release last year, the future-is-now, zero gravity bliss of Causers Of This, became the best example of the genre. Icy beats collide with sunny melodies as the vocals straddle the wall between soul and robotics. Now one year later, the new album from Toro Y Moi entitled Underneath The Pine will be out February 22 on Carpark Records. The first leaked track "Still Sound" dropped in mid-December and a second teaser, "New Beat" is now available to whet your appetites.

Compared to Causers Of This, there is a huge shift in style and presentation on Underneath The Pine. Both tracks are deep soul grooves showcasing funk bass lines and smooth vocal performances with minimal effects. "New Beat" has a disco tempo and early 80's Prince keys that cry out for your sweetest dance moves. "Still Sound" is also slick and seductive with some falsetto balladry without the bravado typical of R&B. It seems that Chaz Bundick is making a statement with Underneath The Pine that his reach goes way beyond the composed circuitry of chillwave, arriving with a more organic and accessible sound that gives a larger tent for his growing fanbase. Listen to and download the new tracks below, then enjoy the bonus video for "Still Sound".

Preorder Underneath the Pine here.

Right-click to download "Still Sound" here.

Right-click to download "New Beat" here.

Toro Y Moi - Still Sound


Toro Y Moi - New Beat