Monday, March 7, 2011

Toro Y Moi - Underneath the Pine

Album Review
SPIN
April 2011
Link 
8/10


Cover Art: Toro y Moi, 'Underneath the Pine'








Not chillin' but wavin', synth popper wades deeper

With 2010's Causers of This, Chaz Bundick ambled to the front of the bedhead synth-pop scene -- dubbed chillwave after a blogger's in-joke. The South Carolinian's second album as Toro Y Moi keeps that unhurried glide, but ditches the electro-R&B samples for ornately funky lounge pop, often with a live, improvisatory feel. David Axelrod's plush grooves, Ennio Morricone's CinemaScope expanses, Brian Wilson's tragic kingdom: Underneath the Pine has deep roots. And, beneath woozy sighs and richly varied arrangements, deep uncertainties. "I can wait," Bundick insists on psych-pop stunner "Elise." Save the last laugh for him.

Search This Blog

Press Mentions

"Goes over the top and stays there to very nice effect."
-- David Carr, The New York Times

"I wasn't fully convinced. But I was interested."
-- Rob Walker, The New York Times

"...as Marc Hogan wrote in Spin..."
-- Maureen Dowd, The New York Times

Blog Archive