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NBHAP Rating: 4,2/5
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[one_half last=”yes”]TORO Y MOI
What For?
Release-Date: 08.04.2015
Label: Carpark Records
Tracklist:
01. What You Want
02. Buffalo
03. The Flight
04. Empty Nesters
05. Ratcliff
06. Lilly
07. Spell It Out
08. Half Dome
09. Run Baby Run
10. Yeah Right
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A Varied Sound
In the latest album from Chaz Bundick aka TORO Y MOI, we’re offered yet another slice of this artist’s varied tastes and musical interests. What For? is somewhat of a diversion from his 2013 album, Anything in Return, which combined House music with poppy vocals. With psychedelic vibes that wouldn’t be out of place on a dance floor inhabited by a younger, groovier John Travolta, What For? alludes to TORO Y MOI’s 70s influences from start to finish. But this album is anything but retro for retro’s sake. Don’t worry: TORO Y MOI is probably not hoping that you don a pair of flares to listen to this. He incorporates synths, rifts and acoustic guitar in an interest to make those funky vibes ardently modern and take ownership over them.
Not So Retro
TORO Y MOI riffs off his influences throughout What For?in order to fuse the retrospective and the modern. The Flightguides the listener through a series of ideas sparked from TORO Y MOI’s sheer range of inspiration. Neither the synth, nor the guitar solo, nor the accompanying piano act as appendages within the track; instead all of them work to create a diverse yet unified piece of music. This seems to be a theme of the album; he keenly focuses on the intriguing combinations within each track. However, at times, TORO Y MOI overlooks the harmony of the album as a whole.
And in Completion?
Nobody could call What For? monotonous but, conversely, it does appear restless. It continuously jolts the attention of the listener as a new style is attempted, a different influence brought to the fore. TORO Y MOI illustrates his wide-ranging ideas when he situates Spell It Out’s funky melody in between the smooth harmonies of Lilly and the heavily synthed Half Dome. What may, at times, appear to be confusion and insecurity in his sound, for the most part, remains effective. Each track, in isolation, is individually intriguing and, while the album as a whole loses some harmony, TORO Y MOI is quick to demonstrate his successful attempts at combining several genres and themes. His work fascinates and, very importantly, indulges the listener in an array of often very upbeat sounds. What For? is a series of engaging and artfully composed pieces that continuously allude to the developments in TORO Y MOI’s varied musical influences. Despite the prominence of past inspiration on this album, he never succumbs to mimesis, each influence is taken and made very much his own.
‘What For?’ is a series of engaging and artfully composed pieces that continuously allude to the developments in TORO Y MOI’s varied musical influences
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