LES SINS - Michael

That good old Chaz Bundick enjoys tinkering around with the console has been widely known for some time. One need only go back a little in his primary output under the name Toro Y Moi to find EPs like “Freaking Out”, in which the usual chilly dispersion is wisely paired with a rhythmic inclination typical of the deepest house music. The Les Sins project thus represents the ultimate electronic escape hatch for this shy big guy from South Carolina; a parallel attitude already hinted at in the previous 12" “Lina" (2010), into which new rhythmic branches and moods - certainly more approachable than those usually found in his dreamy reference model - are now poured.

On this first LP under such a pseudonym, simply titled “Michael”, unexpected and at times cloying lounge textures take over (“Bellow”), along with melodic hooks with a neo-soul flavour (“Why”, featuring Nate Salman), bold synthetic flourishes (“Toy”), and here and there toy-like keyboard sounds that are (unfortunately) strikingly flimsy in their pseudo-exotic daydreaming. The result is certainly not among his best, and dear Chaz often seems to lack the bite these shores demand. Likewise, the hypnagogic escapism of his early days, as disorienting as it was soothing, has been definitively set aside in favour of an electronic recipe devoid of identity.

It's as if the guy had suddenly lost his way, turning by pure chance down the first lit side street, ending up mistaking a dim light for a thrilling musical shortcut through which to probe new creative urges. In short, in this first outing as Les Sins, Chaz has, without much ceremony, ended up in the most impassable of dead ends, thereby partly dashing the perfectly legitimate expectations placed on him. A minor stumble along the way that we forgive without hesitation, given the quality of his main path.

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26/04/2015