Causers of This by Toro Y Moi
LABEL: Carpark

It's not often that a record presents itself that is at once as self-indulgent and broadly enjoyable as Causers of This by South Carolina electro-artist Toro Y Moi, aka Chaz Bundick. It's obvious he's having fun with the studio, but in a captivating way that never seems to take absolute control away from the listener.

The album is a wash of volume swells, reverb and lush arrangements that conjure up some celestial ocean at dusk with a host of other intergalactic partygoers. Oddly enough, it's not a far cry from what some melodic post-rock artists are currently up to, expressed through an ear sensitive to electronic and even, at times, disco. The lo-fi glaze washed over the mix steers clear of harsh tones and instead aims for an even greater ethereal quality. All the instruments meld into a composite form to provide aural shapes.

“The lo-fi glaze washed over the mix steers clear of harsh tones and instead aims for an even greater ethereal quality”

Through the azure haze of the CD, Bundick makes two nearly fatal missteps on Causers of This. Almost every track, especially as the listener makes it past the halfway point of the album, utilizes the same staccato, lo-fi volume swell technique and it really starts to fatigue the ears (especially for those of us on headphones). This similar production also makes the album blur into itself without a clear demarcation for each track. You feel as one song bleeds into the next that you've heard this all before. Taking the album in as a whole, this may not be a bad thing, but it does show a lack of range either intentional or not.

In spite of these dangerous shortcomings, Causers of This is still worth a listen for its atmosphere and the simple fact that there are very few records you will listen to that sound like this. It's obvious that Toro Y Moi creates very confident and individual music which may indicate even better work to come.


REVIEWED BY NEIL LEVENS
NEIL'S FAVORITE TRACKS: "Minors" • "Freak Love" • "Talamak"

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Toro Y Moi - Talamak from jburg chillan on Vimeo.