Brijean signs to Ghostly International, releases “Moody”
Photo by Jack Bool Brijean, the duo of percussionist/singer Brijean Murphy and multi-instrumentalist Doug Stuart, returns with a new single and some pretty big news. They've signed to Ghostly International, current home of Tycho and Shigeto, among many others. Ghostly has also re-released the duo's excellent debut album Walkie Talkie. Both members of Brijean are accomplished in their own right; Murphy has toured internationally with Poolside, Toro y Moi, and U.S. Girls. Stuart has performed with a host of Bay Area bands for the past decade plus, including Bells Atlas, Meernaa, and Luke Temple. Together, the two musicians [...]
Toro y Moi releases ‘Soul Trash’ album, video
Berkeley-based Toro y Moi (Chaz Bear, as most of us know) recently released their latest album, Soul Trash, along with an accompanying full-length video piece. The album comes as quite the detour for the musician. Known for smooth funky soul-laced poppy beats, Soul Trash is infused with auto-tuned vocals, some hip-hop, and distorted sounds and flavors. The opening track, “3-28-18b” starts with distorted guitar and a smooth, smooth bassline, then the rest of the album has surprises and guest spots that intrigue. The video itself reminds us of visual artist SNEAL and certainly adds to the listening experience. Soul Trash [...]
Photos: Chromeo with Toro y Moi at the Greek Theatre
Chromeo (photo: Jon Bauer) Canadian funk-masters Chromeo took over the Greek Theatre with the help of the Bay Area's own Toro y Moi in support of their latest album Outer Peace, and Ian Isiah. Chromeo was supporting their fifth album, last year's Head Over Heels, and brought the dance party to the college campus. Check out the gallery from the night below of all the performers from the evening by Jon Bauer.
Live This Month: Celebrate summer with Noname, Kendra McKinley, Carly Rae Jepsen and more
Summer. Is. Here. And while we may have our eyes on all things Phono Del Sol (only eight days away), there's plenty more to celebrate as the weather gets hot and the venues get steamier. As always, we've got you covered (that is, if we're not hazy from all the direct sunlight). Be sure to follow us on Spotify to be the first to experience monthly playlists that highlight all of the diverse talents performing across the Bay Area.
Social Work releases new single: “Underweight”
Last week saw the release of "Underweight," the latest single from local Bay Area producer Social Work, or the other Will Butler. The track is Butler's third release since 2015 and first with San Francisco's Text Me Records. The track also doubles as the vocal debut of dreamqueen, the chosen moniker for Toro y Moi percussionist Brijean Murphy. Not one to get cozy in a single genre, Butler opens "Underweight" with a reggae-tinted organ splashing around a reverb-drenched snare drum. Despite the island overtones, the track is unequivocally laid out with an R&B and soul blueprint. The track crawls by in just over four minutes, but listening to [...]
Chaz Bundick (aka Toro y Moi, aka Les Sins) announces live album, Oakland show
A live concert album from chillwave pioneer Chaz Bundick, more widely recognized as Toro y Moi, was announced early last week. The album, titled Toro y Moi: Live From Trona will drop digitally on August 5. A limited edition double LP pressed in pink wax will also be made available, but not until November. The album was recorded live at the Trona Pinnacles, an atypical geological feature found in the California Desert National Conservation Area and have been made famous in sci-fi pop culture projects in their depiction of barren alien worlds. Toro y Moi also used the unique visual landscape to his benefit by [...]
Mixtape: Northern California’s Best Summer Music Festivals
http://media.libsyn.com/media/thebaybridged/Summer_Festivals_2015_Mix.mp3 Download: Mixtape: Northern California's Best Summer Music Festivals (Podcast #363) That the San Francisco Bay Area has seen a rapid rise in the number of music festivals over the last decade isn't a distinctly local phenomenon, but there's something about the way the Bay does festival season that feels unique. In many cases, it's the use of beautiful public spaces, city and state parks that become part of the festival experience. Or maybe it's the way that our festivals invest more time and effort into making sure that the food and beverage offerings are compelling on their own. There's [...]
Toro y Moi plays Saturday show at the Independent
On Saturday, Berkeley local Toro y Moi plays a home show at The Independent in San Francisco, kicking off a tour of the U.S. and Europe that includes many stops along the major festival circuit. This is an especially exciting local show given the forthcoming release of Toro y Moi’s fourth LP, What For?, out on April 7 via Carpark Records. To say that the record is a departure from frontman Chaz Bundick’s iconic R&B-electronic-psych pop sound is an understatement. Judging from the first three tracks released, What For? is undoubtably Bundick’s exploration into a more rock-driven sound. There’s audible [...]
Best of the Rest – February 2015 (Six Organs of Admittance, bAd bAd, Panic Is Perfect, & more)
Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance (Photo Credit: Drag City) Every month, our editors hear lots of great new music, at shows around the Bay, exploring the far reaches of the Interwebs, and sifting through the veritable deluge of emails from artists and publicists around the globe hawking the latest songs and videos. While we’d love to write about everything that catches our ear, it’s impossible – there’s just too much good music out there. This is an attempt at rounding up the latest and greatest that we didn't have the bandwidth to cover throughout the month – the [...]
Noise Pop 2015: Toro y Moi sits down with Song Exploder, discusses new track “Half Dome”
By Daniel Senter Last Thursday, a few hundred people turned out for a free live podcast-recording session with Chaz Bundick of Toro y Moi and Hrishikesh Hirway of the podcast Song Exploder at the newly reopened Swedish American Hall. Hirway played Bundick's yet-to-be-released song, “Half Dome”, in its entirety. The two then discussed the more technical elements of the song: structure, use of octaves, fifths, chromatics, phasers, triple tracked vocals, a slick guitar solo by Unknown Mortal Orchestra guitarist Ruban Neilson, and a super-duper distorted bass Bundick bought at a South Carolina Goodwill for $25 that a Berkeley friend recently [...]