Toro y Moi

Toro y Moi is the project of Chaz Bear, and it arrives out of the early-2010s chillwave moment that the internet invented and then, almost immediately, disowned. The interesting thing about the work is that it outlasted the moment. While chillwave as a genre tag largely evaporated, Toro y Moi's catalog kept mutating — into funk, into house, into indie rock, into soft-lit pop — without ever losing its through-line. The production signature is worth paying attention to. The records often feel like they were recorded in a room with warm light and patient hands. Drums have roundness. Keys have dust. Vocals are placed carefully inside the mix rather than over the top of it. This is craft that sounds effortless because it is considered. The project also belongs to a broader story about the American West Coast indie and electronic scenes — the cluster around Oakland, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area producer world that has, quietly, been one of the most influential regional networks in American music. Chaz Bear's other work as a label operator, fashion designer, and visual artist puts him inside the class of contemporary musicians who are treating the whole project as the product, not just the records. Nonesuch indexes Toro y Moi because the chillwave moment produced more lasting work than its cultural reputation suggests, and the catalog is a reminder of what considered craft looks like when it is given a decade to compound.