"Ordinary Guy" by Toro y Moi feat. The Mattson 2

On one of the Bay's best singles of 2020, Toro y Moi plays chill indie funk tribute to Afro-Filipino boogaloo star Joe Bataan.

Toro y Moi feat. The Mattson 2
“Ordinary Guy” (2020)
Company Studio

Look no further for one of the chillest songs of the year.

Recorded at Women’s Audio Mission in SF, “Ordinary Guy” features Oakland’s Toro y Moi covering Joe Bataan’s 1967 single of the same name. Born in Spanish Harlem in 1942, Bataan is Afro-Filipino just like Chaz Bear (of Toro y Moi), so sharing the lyrics (“I'm just an ordinary guy / Afro-Filipino / Average sort of guy”) makes perfect sense:

I was immediately hooked by Joe’s music because, to me, he represented the impossible—he felt so comfortable in his skin and he had so much confidence and appeal.

While the original blends funk with boogaloo and eventually breaks down into salsa, the Toro y Moi version sticks to tight grooves, funky bass, and airy guitars—the kind of locked-in funk many of us associate with Khruangbin these days. With gentle crooning vocals on top, it’s a sweet indie pop snack. (By the way, if you haven’t checked it out yet, Toro y Moi’s Outer Peace was one of the best albums of 2019.)

“Ordinary Guy” features identical twins and Los Angeles jazz duo The Mattson 2, who previously collaborated with Chaz Bear on the jazz rock album Star Stuff (2017). Coincidentally, the duo loves their covers: In 2018, they released a 24-minute interpretation of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme.

Stream “Ordinary Guy” or purchase on Bandcamp.