On Wednesday, Toro Y Moi played The Bishop, creating one of the best shows I have seen in a long time. Before I continue, I should apologize for the blurry pictures - low lighting and projected screens do not make for a well-focused picture.
The first opener of the night was a band called Adventure. I suppose they would fit in the ill-defined Chillwave genre. The instrumentation was mostly composed of samplers and synthesizers (and probably leaning a little heavier on the samplers). The set was very danceable and fun, but I was a little disappointed with the lyrics. I'm not normally someone who pays attention to lyrics (probably due to the years when I only listened to classical music and jazz). However, it was obvious that no one in this band has a feel for words. As fun as the songs were, most of them just featured a few oft-repeated phrases ("Feels like Heaven" being the most memorable one). I would have been happier if they didn't bother singing at all. It would have allowed me to focus more on the music.
Which presented another problem. Before one of their songs began, one of the guys at a sampler started a loop going while he finagled a microphone. Once he was set and the band started playing, I realized that the loop he had started probably accounted for the majority of the song's instrumentation. If all he had to do was press a button, what was the point of even showing up and performing the song? I don't want to beat up on musicians who make use of samplers, I think they can play an important role in certain music genres. But there's a point at which it doesn't seem like people are creating music anymore, just turning on a tape. If this musician had just waited to start the loop until the song proper began, I might have thought he was actually playing some kind of notes, and this wouldn't be an issue. Unfortunately, he didn't, and it made me feeling like Adventure was overly mechanical and sterile.
I should mention that my initial assessment was much more positive; I really liked their set, although it was a bit short. It was only in hindsight that all the samplers started to bug me. If that's not a turn off for you, I would recommend checking this band out.
The next band to play was Braids. I enjoyed their set, but I'm not certain that they were the right group for this show. Although Adventure was nowhere near as good as Toro Y Moi, their music at least had some superficial resemblance to Toro. Braids differed not only in style, but mood. The band's Wikipedia page notes that some critics got a "Feels" era Animal Collective vibe on their album, "Native Speaker." I would agree with that assessment. Many of the songs were meditative, with swirling clouds of sound in the background. The lyrics were used for their potential as sound, not to convey any kind of meaning (if only Adventure had tried that).
I appreciated that there were two guitars in the band. Having grown up on guitars, it's a little sad to see bands who have forsaken them. I would direct interested parties to "Native Speaker," the band's debut album. It's really an impressive album. The music just didn't gel with this particular show.
And then it was time for Toro Y Moi. The band is essentially the solo project of Chaz Bundick. He is a multi-instrumentalist who played everything on this year's "Underneath the Pine," which is impressive considering that none of the parts on that album sound amateurish at all. The reviewer at Pitchfork made the revelatory connection between the drumming on that album and Stevie Wonder's drumming on "Innervisions," meaning that Bundick's drumming is also nicely on the back part of the beat and incredibly funky. I actually hear more of a connection to classic Stereolab, however. There are plenty of keyboards and Moog synthesizers and organs on "Underneath the Pine."
Toro Y Moi's set opened with the opening second of his latest album, followed by one of its singles, "New Beat." I just love this song; it's super funky, but the silly Moog line makes me laugh without turning the song into a joke. I was a little worried when the song started, because Bundick's vocals seemed a little off, like he couldn't quite find the pitches. That would have been a real shame, considering how well he layers vocals on his albums, but luckily it turned out to just be a fluke. The rest of the song through to the end of the concert featured vocals in fine form.
In short order, Toro Y Moi played most of their new album, with occasional songs from "Causers of This" thrown in. I was a little surprised that they played the other single from the new album, "Still Sound," only about halfway through the show. That meant that the bulk of the last section was devoted to the first album, a strange choice. I really enjoy that album, and it's a close second to "Underneath the Pine," but I wish he would have devoted even more time to the newer album. Instead of focusing on the danceable beats, the newer album is all about funk, usually a dark funk. Something about that combination just works perfectly for me, whereas some of the songs on "Causers of This" are just a little too bright for me to play anytime.
Although I would have preferred even more from the new album, the older stuff still worked well (and it's only from 2010, so it's not that old). I was impressed with how well the band played it. Bundick was joined by a bassist, a guitarist/keyboard/sampler guy, and a drummer. They were great at replicating the feel of Bundick's original parts on "Underneath the Pine," but they also did a good job of replicating the songs on "Causers of This" that weren't made with any real instruments. There wasn't an obvious break when those songs started.
After the final song (probably something from "Causers of This"), the band exited the stage while the sold-out size crowd waited and cheered. Unfortunately, there wasn't an encore planned. That probably has something to do with only have two full-lengths to mine songs from, but it was still a disappointment. It's hard to reach an action potential at The Bishop, but this time there were finally enough people. Unfortunately, the band hadn't planned on an encore. It was a disappointment, but didn't prevent the concert from being great. Most fun I've had in a while.
-Brian Marks
