Mistletone

TORO Y MOI + WASHED OUT CO-HEADLINE SHOWS:

SYDNEY: Wednesday 8 February: Washed Out + Toro Y Moi + Guerre + Future Classic DJs @ Manning Bar. Tickets $50+bf on sale now from Oztix outlets and the venue. Presented by Mistletone, Penny Drop, FBi Radio + The Thousands.

MELBOURNE: Thursday 9 February: Toro Y Moi + Washed Out + Chet Faker + Two Bright Lakes DJs @ The Hi-Fi. Tickets $50 + bf on sale now from the venue, phone 1300-THEHIFI (843 443) or Polyester Records. Presented by Mistletone, Penny Drop, Triple R + The Thousands.

Mistletone and Penny Drop are happy to announce that Washed Out and Toro Y Moi are teaming up for two blissed-out double headline shows in Sydney and Melbourne. Both bands are also on the Laneway Festival lineup nationally.

The friendship between Toro Y Moi‘s Chaz Bundick and Washed Out’s Ernest Greene goes back to their high school days in South Carolina. Growing up in the south with a host of shared influences and aesthetics, both artists have maintained a mutual admiration and love of collaboration as they have followed their own trajectories, each wielding an increasingly resonant influence over the musical culture of today. Having remixed each other’s tunes and toured together in the US, and now sharing a place on the Laneway Festival lineup, it makes perfect sense for Washed Out and Toro Y Moi to join forces for two special shows in Sydney and Melbourne.

The solo project of Ernest Greene, Washed Out has transformed under watchful eyes since his perpetually lush synth-pop took world stage in 2009. Borne from the back-porch of his parents’ rural Georgia home, his first recordings – the Life of Leisure and High Times EPs – saw him rise to the forefront of his genre, before a debut album, Within and Without was released to widespread acclaim this July. Produced by Ben Allen (Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley), Within and Without explores sound and style with a wide-eyed authenticity. From rhythmic electronica layered with orchestral synthscapes to his human touch, it is Washed Out’s ability to draw from a dozen places at once that has become his hallmark. Renowned for its infectious energy, Washed Out’s moving live show pairs four-on-the-floor beats with boundless pop hooks, and at the hands of his band, Ernest’s music unfolds and surrounds. Following an Australian live debut in 2010, Washed Out will bring the spacious, sun-drenched sounds of Within and Without to our shores this January and February.

• “It’s music for dreaming, the keyboard equivalent to shoegaze, reinforced by its song titles and vocals mostly mixed beneath the waves to gorgeously woozy effect.” – MOJO

• “Greene’s best trick: Using those elements of the past while crafting an album that sounds like a beautiful, dreamy future.” – ROLLING STONE

The past year has been intensely successful for Toro Y Moi, led by prolific and multi-talented 24 year old South Carolina musician / producer / designer / photographer Chaz Bundick. Toro Y Moi’s achievements this year include an acclaimed sophomore album, Underneath the Pine; remix work for Tyler, the Creator; a split 7” with Cloud Nothings; a 12” single under his house music moniker, Les Sins; a steady stream of international tour dates; and most recently, a brilliant new 12″ EP Freaking Out (out now on Mistletone Records / Inertia). Toro Y Moi rose to the fore of the music blogosphere in summer 2009, when Chaz and a few peers made their hazy bedroom recordings the most talked-about sound of the season. Critics across the board took notice of the range of Toro Y Moi’s compositions, and his debut album Causers of This (Mistletone 2009) showcased his ability to make elements of Brian Wilson’s pop, 80s R&B, and Stones Throw hip hop coalesce into a distinct sound that’s as suitable for a dancefloor as it is a pair of headphones. Having spent the year listening to film composers like Françoise de Roubaix and Ennio Morricone, Chaz returned to his parents’ home in Columbia (the birthplace of many Toro tracks of yore) to bring Underneath the Pine to fruition. A deeply personal album, Underneath the Pine evokes R. Stevie Moore’s homespun ruminations, David Axelrod’s sonic scope, the spacey disco of Mandre, and the pervasive funk of Toro Y Moi’s debut. Since then Toro Y Moi has toured extensively, adding two more members—a bassist and drummer—to his live show, and steadily accrued more supporters and acclaim. Toro Y Moi’s live shows reflect the band’s progression (to quote Pitchfork) from “funky 1980s-tinged makeout jams to more explicitly funky 80s-tinged dancefloor jams”, an enigmatic and dizzying formula that never fails to fill the dancefloor.

• “The last four years have seen Toro Y Moi (aka Chaz Bundick) enjoy a metereoic rise. Though still associated with the ‘chillwave’ sound he helped popularise with his 2010 debut, he’s always worked across a variety of genres; everything from laptop pop to house to indie.” – MUSIC AUSTRALIA GUIDE (5 stars)