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Fun Fun Fun review: Toro y Moi/Washed Out
This year’s Fun Fun Fun Fest was witness to a gathering of sorts of chill wave (or chillwave or whatever you want to call it) artists, with Ariel Pink appearing in the same place as Toro y Moi and Washed Out (missing was former Austinite and FFF alums Neon Indian/Vega). Having all of these bands together was a good opportunity to see how each approached translating the music, which is often defined more by production than the actual songs, though each differ in what elements they choose to emphasize. Ariel Pink took what was perhaps the most aggressive route, loading the stage with musicians playing horns and guitars in addition to keyboards and other effects machines. That band was also the most in-your-face of the three, and judging by the crowd, it was a success.
Toro y Moi, the South Carolina based music project led by Chaz Bundick and appearing as a trio at Fun Fun Fun on Sunday, weren’t quite as raucous as Mr. Pink, but were well-received nonetheless. Part of this is owed to the fact that the music isn’t as ambitious—a lot of Bundick’s material involves layers of vocals atop hip-hop inspired beats, all of which is sort of blanketed in a surreal haze. The most recent (and accessible) of this, which Bundick noted owed more to funk, was the most successful during the set. It allowed his bass player and drummer room to breathe, making the music seem more human. The weaker parts of the set, on the other hand, tended to sound too fuzzy and lacking in direction.
Washed Out, which, like Toro y Moi started as the one-person project of Ernest Greene, appeared later in the day, and had their set cut short after a lengthy delay in getting set-up on the blue stage. The band, who were unfortunately in competition with Deerhunter’s set across the way, struggled to find momentum and lost a lot of the crowd quickly. This might have been due to the fact that the music leans heavily toward the ambient, more fit for a lazy summer afternoon than a night set at Fun Fun Fun as the November chill set in. Greene sang somber-sounding verses over different mixtures of sound, ranging from reggae to more 80’s sounding, Talking Heads-influenced pop, and while there were a few interesting moments, nothing really seemed to stick.
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