Caribou was formerly known as Manitoba. His name had to be changed when an old punker threatened a trademark infringement suit (a pretty unpunk move). Manitoba was known for putting out visionary laptop landscapes, and with The Milk Of Human Kindness, so now will be Caribou. Will the name change hurt him? No; Milk is the kind of record that transcends any music industry bullshit; as long as people hear it, he should be fine.
Caribou (aka Dan Snaith) just got his doctorate in mathematics, having toured for his last releases over summer breaks. Good that he’s done, because after this record, he ought to dedicate all of his time to music. He does ticka-ticka-ticka-ticka-ticka (real fast) badass hip-hop beats and sunglass heroin-blues grooves with authentic grain. He annihilates speaker cones and eardrums with impossibly loud drum samples. He tiptoes on gut strings across lamentable afternoons. He kraut-rocks stiffly and singer-songwriters profound, simple, confusing sadness. He does Aphex Twin with less geeky obsessiveness and RJD2 with far more imagination. He knows how to anchor himself inside a beat (and how to free himself from it); how to set a vintage tube amp (or at least make the computer sound like one); overall, how to squeeze transcendence out of the conventional tools of lesser men.
Caribou will perform at the Casbah May 22.
