June 2009 is a retrospective of songs recorded around the same time as Toro Y Moi’s acclaimed debut Causers of This. The assemblage of ten tracks feels like anything but a collection of odds and ends. Rather, June 2009, is a cohesive but less produced endeavor into the dreamy, melodic electro-pop that defined the artist who played an integral role in the groundbreaking music associated with summer of 2010.
Ever-present in the mix of these songs is Chazwick Bundick’s off-kilter croon, multi-tracked, ranging from smooth, mid-range to falsetto. With the shortest of the first four tracks at only 1:29 and the longest at 2:43, the first chunk of the album is over before you know it, but Bundick has already made his point, and you’re hooked. “Take the L to Leave,” a title that refers to departing New York City, features conversational samples at the onset, before they give way to synthesized brassy sounds and lo-fi production. Another standout of these early tracks is “Dead Pontoon,” with the quick-tempo drums and stuttering guitar that kick off the song for the first 30 seconds. The arrangement then slows and stumbles forward before building back to a steady beat.
An early cut of “Talamak,” a track that was included on Causers of This, comes later in the record, clocks in as the longest song on the album at 3:47, and rambles uncertainly. In this regard, the version with which we’re more familiar would feel more at home with the songs contained within, but it’s pulsating beat and reverb soaked multi-tracked vocals, and looser production are intriguing to compare with the final cut.
The final two tracks, “Warm Frames” and “New Loved Ones,” constitute the most divergent songs in the cycle and might be the skeletons that Bundick begins with before his songs reach their produced and intricate final forms. They are as dreamy as ever, but are otherwise sparse, straightforward, guitar-driven songs, with the latter being a simple acoustic excursion, overlaid by Bundick’s reverbed vocals.
June 2009 does not break ground or take Bundick’s music in a new direction so much as it allows listeners glimpses at an evolutionary process, and in that way is worthwhile. Even if you’re a late-comer to the Toro Y Moi bandwagon, the undeniably catchy songs on this album will surely find a home on your car speakers during summer drives.
