Dan Snaith, a.k.a. Caribou a.k.a. Manitoba a.k.a. “The Professah,” seems to follow a chronologically retroactive pattern. His earliest work reflected IDM and glitch standards prolific in the ’90s. Then his breakthrough full-length, Up in Flames, evoked silky ’80s dream pop and shoegaze. 2005’s The Milk of Human Kindness took cues from the heyday of krautrock. This eventually propelled Snaith squarely in the baroque pop part of the space-time continuum circa 1966 in the form of Andorra, an album that all but references The Left Banke by name. So what of Swim? Will Caribou continue his time traveling trajectory, make good on the album title, and release his surf rock / doo wop / Skiffle album? Not quite. Caribou hinted with the somewhat disappointing “Odessa” a possible move toward more dance-oriented material. For the most part, this is true. However, the result is much more interesting than “Odessa” suggested.

Snaith makes it clear this time around that he’s going balls to the wall, trying on a variety of new hats. “Jamelia” juggles dub beats, Colin Bluntstone-channeled vocals, orchestral arrangements, and non-linear songwriting in one of Caribou’s most driving efforts. “Bowls” is an exploration of the more minimal and ambient works under the Manitoba moniker, replete with David Fridmann ethereal harp accents, Aphex Twin-informed minimal techno, and glitch flourishes.  ”Hannibal” acts as a compromise betwixt the splattered rhythms, bubbling low end, and horn explosions of Scratch Perry and the fluid, galactic vibe of Boards of Canada circa Twoism. “Kaili” shows Caribou experimenting with acid house samples over pop vocals and Love-inspired psychedelic orchestration. The idea has more value than the actual product, but the bold jump should be applauded nonetheless. Despite some pitfalls, Swim showcases some real moments of brilliance and clarity, best demonstrated on the psilocybin-saturated “Sun” – an angelic, blissed out motorik club banger augmented with hauntological synths and the self-evident mantra of “sun.”

Though not as strong as his mid-decade releases, Swim is a surprising follow-up that, while not groundbreaking, is thoroughly enjoyable and a great juxtaposition of electronic and psych genres spanning every decade Snaith has covered in his impressive repertoire. Moreover, Swim set a new paradigm for Caribou by breaking his old pattern, which may be one of the album’s biggest triumphs.

Swim drops courtesy of Merge on April 20 (hurhur, 420 lol), which should be available for pre-order soon. And lest ye forget, Caribou swings through Louisville with Toro y Moi on June 8th at the Zanzabar.

MP3 :::
Caribou – Sun

This is my article cross-posted from Tiny Mix Tapes.  Since they’re cool about me reposting my articles on my own blog without any exclusivity clauses, you should make like a tree and visit them and click on their ads and shizz.  And speaking of trees, Caribou speaks for them…

For someone who’s named himself after majestic deer and a lush foresty Canadian province, as well as sample and title songs that greatly concern nature, it’s no surprise that Dan Snaith is stoked on saving the Earth.  In addition, as Snaith has a day job as a teacher, it should be no surprise he also likes to give back.

The man best known by Caribou announced last week that he will be donating a vast majority of his $20,000 Polaris Prize money, coin he won for 2007’s {Andorra},  keeping a small portion to fund his forthcoming album.  The money will be given to environmental non-profit Ecojustice, as well as the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

“I have always thought of Canada as an environmentally progressive place… however, recently the Canadian government has acted as a global obstacle to climate action. In a study this year Canada ranked 29th out of 30 industrialized nations for tackling climate change,” Snaith said, remarking on his choice of giving to Ecojustice.  The Stephen Lewis Foundation is a project-based charity helping communities affected by the AIDS epidemic throughout Sub-Sharan Africa.

Heck of a guy, that Snaith.  Hopefully the money given to Ecojustice will be invested in getting real legislative efforts to come to fruition, and not used on another Live Earth (Sorry, Al).

MP3 :::
Caribou – Medium Sized Working Dog (Steady Steady)