Back to The Best Albums of 2011

29. Toro y Moi, 'Underneath the Pine'

Amazon

Powered by sunny, funk-infused singles 'New Beat' and 'Still Sound,' Chaz Bundick's sophomore LP is a considerable departure from the chillwave figurehead's previous works, trading the hazy, aloof sketches of his debut for electro-soul grooves, eschewing samples for live instrumentation and confirming he's only improving with each release. -- T.B.