Beachey wrote this one up for us.
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Toro Y Moi and Unknown Mortal Orchestra stopped by Minneapolis last Sunday for a fantastic night of music. Both bands lived up to their hype, but UMO had a hold on the audience that Toro was just beginning to grasp.
The Portland trio had relentless energy and surprisingly clean and tight chops for a band that lets fuzz and crackle dominate their recordings. They play perfectly as an ensemble in a way that isn’t quite detectable on their lo-fi debut. Some drunk guy next to his blushing girlfriend in the front captured everyone’s latent feelings when he repeatedly screamed “YOU GUYS ARE BETTER THAN IRON MAIDEN!!!!!!” The comparison wasn’t exactly relevant, but the conviction was.
Toro Y Moi played in front of a trippy projection of colorful Rorschach test-like blobs that continuously floated by for the duration of the set. It was a good visual compliment to songs that flow into each other. A Toro show is a relentless dance off, one where no one on stage can compete with the audience; Chaz and company seemed too focused in turning the knobs on their delay pedals and arpeggiators to notice the crowd more than a few times during the show. Regardless, they played a lively and well paced set, mostly of tracks from Underneath The Pine. Crowd favorites like Go With You and Still Sound were some of the strongest performances of the night.
Make sure to check out this very bloggable duo if they stop by your town.
We’re very excited and honored to be presenting this mixtape (alongside Mostly Junk Food and Potholes in My Blog) by one of our favorite musicians, the wonder that is Datahowler. He’s crafted this one in honor of the heatwave/drought that Texas experienced this summer from which they are just now recovering. In his own original work he draws from a myriad of influences, so it’s only fitting that this would be an eclectic bundle of joy. More than just a mix, it’s an explorative journey of sound. Stream it through his bandcamp here, or grab the .zip of mp3s. He’s also nominated for two Dallas Observer Music Awards (Best New Artist and Best Electronic Artist) so show him some voting love here. In addition, he has a few free albums floating around on his bandcamp, so dont sleep.
Tracklisting:
Beck – Mixed Bizness
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – How Can U Luv Me
The Players Association – The Things You Get Me To Do
Eugene Wilde – Personality Split
Broken Bells – The Ghost Inside
Apples In Stereo – Joanie Don’t U Worry
Javelin - Lindsay Broham
Ariel’s Pink Haunted Graffiti – Round & Round (Datahowler Edit)
Ivy – It Must Be Magic
Bibio – Light Sleep
Dirty Gold – California Sunrise
Toro Y Moi – You Hid
Madlib – Do You Really Think (Datahowler Remix)
Botany – Waterparker
Bonobo – Terrapin
SBTRKT – Wildfire
Sun Glitters – Everything Could Be Fine
The Union – Fences (Remix)
Shlohmo – Places
Tobacco – Hair Candy
Com Truise – Datebar
Star Slinger – Mornin
Flying Lotus – Melt (Datahowler Edit)
Substitute Teachers is our (semi)regular mix series, where we let go of the reins for once, and allow someone else to teach you a thing or two about music. This episode is brought to you by Akutou, a designer and all-around badass. I was instructed by a trusted friend to listen to his Fiesta de Go! mix a few months ago, and I never looked back. He’s crafted this magnificent mix for us entitled SWARMTH, and there isn’t much to say except we highly recommend you press play and let it wrap you in its hazy arms during these last days of summer.
Substitute Teachers – Akutou (SWARMTH) [44 min]
Tracklisting:
Serenades – “Birds”
Javelin – “TWYCE”
Norton – “Two Points” (Caveliers of Fun remix)
Sweater Beats – “Like That (Make You Feel It)”
Comanche – “Octubre”
HEARTSREVOLUTION – “Life Will Tear Us Apart”
Toro y Moi – “Still Sound” (Comanche remix)
Lovelife – “1994″
Mr. Little Jeans – “The Suburbs” (Arcade Fire cover)
John Maus – “Do Your Best”
The Naked & Famous – “Young Blood” (The Sound of Arrows remix)
Toro Y Moi is dropping some material through a new EP titled Freaking Out. So far, the collection of songs I’ve heard sound like a definite nod to his earlier, electronic-based aesthetic, which comes as a big change from the “live” sound of Underneath the Pine. In many ways it sounds like a continuation of Causers of This, which is a welcome treat to my ears. He does well merging some of the better reinventions of disco, 80s synth-pop, and off-the-grid beatology flying around out there with his unique production style and signature vocal presence. You can check out tracks Freaking Out and All Alone while you wait for the full release to drop next Tuesday.
