Caribou

from Domino Records: You may have heard of Dan Snaith most recently in the context of the trademark lawsuit that forced him to change his artist name from 'Manitoba'. Sued by ageing punk rocker Handsome Dick Manitoba, despite Dick never having released an album under the name 'anitoba,' nd finding himself limited by the high-priced realities of trademark law, Snaith opted to take the high road and change his nom de rock to Caribou. No news yet on whether the remote Canadian province of Manitoba (whence Snaith took his moniker) is planning on changing its name…

Disillusioned, but resolute, Snaith took the blows in his stride. After four years of making music part-time, touring on college breaks while completing his PhD in Mathematics, his studies were coming to an end. From looking forward to concentrating full-time on music, he was suddenly back at square one, having to re-write his artistic history and start afresh. Working on his third album, the stakes suddenly seemed a lot higher. The music mattered more than ever.

To this point Snaith has already built a legacy of near universal critical adulation and amassed an ever-growing legion of fans worldwide. Each of the three Manitoba/Caribou albums is highly distinctive. Start Breaking My Heart (2001) rivaled the likes of Boards of Canada for exquisite melodies and a yearning sense of nostalgia, while the critical and commercial leap forward of Up In Flames (2003) was like being unleashed in an unparalleled, magical fairyland of riotous, ecstatic sound. The band toured the world for a year (in bear masks) to captivated audiences, performing with peers and heroes like Stereolab, Prefuse 73, Four Tet and Broadcast. The live touring trio for Up In Flames involved two drummers, alongside the blinding day-glo shimmer of electronics, guitar, glockenspiel and keyboards. It was all about expressing a bright, heavy and happy cacophony.

Dan Snaith's early recordings as Manitoba underlined his status among the chattering electronic classes as one of the brightest talents to emerge during the early 2000s. Having already proved himself master of the sublime with his 2000 debut EP, People Eating Fruit, the Canadian's subsequent Paul's Birthday EP opened him out even further. After moving to London, he released an excellent second album (Up in Flames) in 2003 that saw him become a darling of critics. One year later, however, Snaith was forced to give up the name Manitoba after Dictators frontman Handsome Dick Manitoba sued for trademark infringement (despite the passing of 15 years since the release of the only material under his name, a 1990 LP by Manitoba's Wild Kingdom). Snaith renamed his project Caribou, his two previous full-lengths were reissued under the new monicker, and he released his first new Caribou record, The Milk of Human Kindness, in May 2005 for Domino. Snaith moved to Merge for 2007's gorgeous Andorra. ~ Kingsley Marshall, All Music Guide