I had probably heard this guy’s music before, but I must have not grabbed the name – at the very least, I didn’t recognize who he was at first by name. A light-bulb literally just hit me, and Tyler, the Creator had a Summer Camp mix come out in 2011, and two of Toro Y Moi’s songs was on there. That’s why his voice sounded familiar – good thing I’m an Odd Future fan or I would have never known. The basis of the Summer Camp mix was a lot of indie rock, electronic, and hip hop inspired songs that encompassed it. It’s now clear to me where some (or most) of Tyler’s musical influence comes from, and it makes it even more clear as to where a lot of the underground electronic groups & solo artists (let’s say Little Dragon for example) are getting the attention of a lot of Hip Hop artists. It’s a new age, and it’s more experimental that the genre has ever seen. Not since Run DMC joined forces with Aerosmith. Shout out to Khalil for telling me to listen review this album though – great recommendation.

Toro Y Moi’s music, especially evident on this album, feels House Music inspired, but it’s still more ‘electronic’ than anything (whatever that even means) with synthesizers, heavy usage of reverb, and electric keyboards on the ready. As I was stating from the XXYYXX post, I was listening to this album prior to that, and it really had to take a couple of listens to really get into it, but it’s become a go-to album on a regular basis now. The futuristic sound, but the down-to-Earth love story that’s being told throughout the album, not only makes it an enjoyable album to listen to, but with the production being so high tempo, you can even play this at parties and any other social gatherings. You can’t do that with a lot of albums these days.

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            Toro displayed that you don’t need 2 or 3 verses in order to say what needs to be said, but he instead let the beats carry the stories he’s telling – it reminds me of EBTG’s (Everything But The Girl) Missing in a way based on the structure, but there’s more energy, and that song has been remixed a million times, but the point is that the context is similar. The format of all of the songs follow the same fundamentals: Less lyrics, more sound – and its consistency is what makes the album great. Anything In Return is Toro’s story of being with different girls and his pursuit of longing love – isn’t that what we all want, at the end of the day? Break up to make up is the recurring theme, but Toro’s singing to find out just what it is he’s trying to do with himself and the girl that he loves. So Many Details is the perfect example of the point I’m bringing up. When there’s not enough words to describe just how much one person means to you, it just leaves you speechless. We all have that one person.

The songs feel like they’re poems or electronic soliloquies that Shakespeare himself would have deemed fit for a love story. I like this album for the reason being that it’s consistent with the sound, and song after song, you want to hear more, based on production alone. It has a lot of replay value, and if you even listen to this on shuffle, it wouldn’t feel that different, because they maintain the same level of execution that can be appreciated. It’s also good because there are songs that you can probably relate to, man or woman. Cola is a strong one because we, as people, are often too busy to see the people we care about when we’re doing whatever it is that we do, but that urge to have them with us, it’s like we wish we could teleport them just to see what the experience is like – that’s what Instagram & Skype are for now, I guess. Grown Up Calls is another favourite simply because when you’re an adult, you have to make decisions that require a mature state of mind to carry on. Some work, some don’t, but we have to live with them, regardless. It’s not hard to understand just what’s being said, and the instrumentals help really embed the words into your system.

Through the combination of Hip Hop, R&B, House & Techno styles, it at times reminded me of the House music I grew up on, and even remnants of Afrika Bambaataa and their mash-up of Hip Hop & Techno (Planet Rock, Looking For The Perfect Beat. It’s something that often goes unappreciated by the mainstream, but it’s good quality and enjoyable music that I’d recommend to anyone of any age group to listen to. The increase of the amount of Electronic music I’m being introduced to is a good thing, because they’re enjoyable. I’m glad that I was re-introduced (or formally introduced) to Toro Y Moi’s music. I have to go back into his catalogue, but I’m sure there’s a lot of good music waiting to be found. So, for now, listen to this and enjoy it. This is my opinion, this is my review,

That’s My Word & It STiXX