Toro y Moi
He pours out his pineapple mango smoothie. Takes a sip. He pours out his chocolate banana milkshake. Takes a gulp. Chaz straps on his helmet, boards the Bundick Explorer, and blasts off to the potassium galaxy, Glipsik.
Minutes later, Chazwick Bundick is back with 11,006 jars — jars brim-full with über foreign sounds. With dregs of fruit, ice crystals, and cocoa bean lingering, the two blenders consume a helping of spacey samples. Plug ‘dem spinners in; this nebular malt is about to get topped off.
Rubbing index finger to thumb, Chaz sprinkles in the funk. “It needs a kick.” He tosses in Nike Pumps. “Something is fishy.” He tosses a largemouth bass to the choppers — “we’ve got deep bass.” Interview and sources excluded, you are now a witness to Toro y Moi’s music making process.
On stage, the man of flavor has the presence of two; some critics rave he embodies both a man and a male cow. I’m utterly serious. No bull.
OK, bull. Toro y Moi, which multilingually translates to “The Bull and Me,” is Bundick’s tune title turning the corner to Madison this Sunday night to headline at the Barrymore Theatre.
Since Bundick’s 2010 debut, Causers of This, a multiplicity of acts have tried to capture the album’s synth-driven melodies that now characterize the genre dubbed “chillwave.” From Neon Indian to Washed Out, the style has been copied to the point where further emulation becomes clichéd and thoroughly boring. Yet, before the genre’s ultimate demise, Bundick perfectly demonstrated his mastery over the chillwave’s distinct elements. Here are four essential tracks that epitomize Toro y Moi’s perfect melodic electronica blend of machine-driven beats and wave-like synthesizers:
“Blessa”
“Minors”
The opening segue on Causers of This pits two different, yet sonically characteristic, themes Bundick expresses throughout his discography. Guitar loops in “Blessa” interlock with a resonating bass underpinning; all the while a wispy female voice echoes his lyrics. Yet as marimba-like staccatos fill the song’s ending, “Minors” crashes over the soothing aesthetic with abrasive but poignant drum kicks.
“New Beat”
Had “New Beat” been released during the height of the 1970s disco revolution, Studio 54 might never have played Chic’s iconic “Le Freak.” The wavy and peculiar synthesizer melody evokes electro’s earliest pioneers (i.e. Tod Dockstader and Kraftwerk) but creatively vamps on those structures through muddled bass undertones and ethereal background voicing. And people say disco is dead.
“Rose Quartz”
If “New Beat” summons the disco impulse and electronic’s earliest roots, “Rose Quartz” reaches further into the depths of dance’s history. Its synths rise and click among a swirl of distorted vocals and one could easily see the track’s development from celebrated DJs such as LFO, Drexciya, or even DJ Shadow. Bundick certainly knows his elders and pays sincere homage, but his innovativeness sets him apart from this genre’s middling performers.
Classixx
Never would I nametag Michael David and Tyler Blake’s music as minimalistic. Yet the production duo Classixx tilts heads with Kunu’s philosophy: “The less you do, the more you do.”
Like any intricate art, electronic music requires a fine-point brush. There are dozens of thousands of sample-horny disc jockeys drenching tracks with superfluous transformer sex noises. Let’s save the drenching for syrup on Monday’s pancakes. On Sunday, you’re lining up to see the pinpoint collaborative Classixx at the Barrymore Theatre.
As the opener for chillwave funk-boss Toro y Moi, Classixx accepts the role of lava to your sensory eruption.
A sensation typically audible, Classixx’s sound is arguably a taste. It’s an inhalation of crispness that floods the veins with air. The raw, vitalizing, and intrapersonal experience seeks company — the company of fellow concertgoers down to get down.
Classixx’s dance-driven melodies certainly complement Toro y Moi’s sound, which will transport this evening back to the murky dance halls that gave birth to America’s dance scene in 1970s New York City. With glitchy hits like “Holding On” and “All You’re Waiting For,” Classixx will undoubtedly impress listeners who are unfamiliar with the duo’s work. Even more impressive is the group’s ability to remix other popular groups. Passion Pit, Phoenix, and even Lana Del Rey have fallen prey to the breakbeat grooves inherent in Classixx’s sound. Combined with Toro y Moi’s spacey grooves, Classixx’s jungle-based electro will give the Barrymore a much needed funk revival.