Tagged: Music News & Reviews

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There's something about Kurt Vile's voice that transcends whatever comes out of his mouth. He's not classically trained (not even close), and has no traditional range to speak of, but the laid-back Philadelphia guitarist is transfixing all the same. His mumbled words resonate with dogged determination. It's one of the reasons Vile has become something of a patron saint for the Great Recession's legions of accidental bohemians, who work hard while hardly working.

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One of the giants of Cuban music, pianist and composer/arranger Bebo Valdés, died Friday in Sweden due to complications from pneumonia, according to his wife and manager. He was 94.

Performing and recording under the name Toro Y Moi, Chaz Bundick draws on elements of soul, jazz, Latin disco, funk and modern pop. With Toro Y Moi's 2010 debut, Causers of This, Bundick became a pioneer of what's often called chillwave.

His new album, Anything in Return, is a set of electro-pop songs enhanced by his smooth vocals. In this installment of World Café, Toro Y Moi plays a few songs from the album and talks about the inspiration behind his lyrics.