The East Bay’s Chaz Budnick, a.k.a. Toro Y Moi, has just released a collection of hip-hop and electronic-oriented tracks called Samantha. It features collaborators including Kool A.D., Rome Fortune, Washed out and more. You can download it for free right here.
The material might seem a curiosity to fans of Toro Y Moi, a project known more for Budnick’s wry indie-era updating of yacht rock than for minimalist trap beats. But as noted by San Lefebvre of the East Bay Express in a profile earlier this month:
In the last couple of months, [Budnick] started uploading tracks featuring rappers, such as local obscurantist Kool A.D. and Atlanta standout Rome Fortune, to Soundcloud. They’re hashtagged “Samantha,” the name of his wife, and they’re vivid, realized works. “Pitch Black” has muffled percussion and serpentine keys, modulated into a needling bridge for Fortune’s pitchy delivery, while the clipped beat on “2Late” inspired Kool A.D. to flex his auto-croon. In conversation, Bundick indicated the existence of ample unreleased material done in a similar style.
Toro Y Moi plays a show tonight at UC Berkeley Memorial Glade.
