Toro Y Moi/ Causers Of This

Toro Y Moi
Causers Of This
(Carpark)

South Carolina can be added to the list that includes Baltimore and countless other backwaters that have thrown up some wilfully, almost militantly electronic music. On Causers Of This, 23-year-old Chaz Bundick (here calling himself Toro Y Moi – probably better than Bundick) causes much confusion; rather than treading the fine line between all-out experimentation and tangible pop structures, he waddles around without structure and creates impressions of songs rather than the final product itself.
This makes for a distorted, bracing affair that never truly reaches a stable footing. Animal Collective have recently demonstrated just how delicate a walk it can be, and how far an audience will go to appreciate it. Still, he’s probably sick of that comparison.
There are occasional flashes of pop convention, with the tremulous ‘Talamak’ coming closest to any kind of melodic focus. It’s a shame, because Bundick is clearly a tremendously talented excavator of created sounds – he just hasn’t quite figured out how to turn his youthful meanderings into either a loveable, listenable whole, or an experimental master class.