Search - Caribou :: The Milk of Human Kindness

A total mind blow

L. H. Lohnes | Overthere, USA | 01/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This music has no boundries or categories. It's almost Debussy like in it's expansiveness and seeming lack of traditional structure. You just have to check it out and get pulled in like a vortex.

I saw Caribou as an opening band recently and the live show is nothing short of jaw droppingly amazing. They totally blew the headliner off the stage and into the next state (and the headliner is one of my all time favorite bands). Don't miss Dan's Caribou when they come to your town, unreal."

Milk of Human Amazement

D.U.I. - Donnie Understands Intelli | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia | 01/14/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dan Snaith is someone who is far ahead of his lo-fi/experimental/synth rock genre, and he does it so well. For someone that far into the game like Dan, his album, "The Milk of Human Kindness", triumphantly cooks; as this newly treasured genre really picks up. For those just new into the genre, I would not suggest starting here, as you may become overwhelmed, and unsure of your new found love of the genre. I suggest early Manitoba albums, or perhaps Sufjan Stevens, or Russian Futurists, or even The Decemberists.



I loved the album from start to finish, and cannot skip a track.

"Yeti" is the perfect start to the album with the yawning voice and snappy beats. While I enjoy the hip-hop flavor in the track "Lord Leopard", it's perhaps the keen piano style loop that does it for me and keeps me enthused 3 tracks in. From "Bees" to "Brahminy Kite" I am kept contented and feeling well fed of the musical smorgasbord he has delivered thus far.

Then he gives us "Drumheller"...and having lived in Edmonton for 4 years, and have been to Drumheller...ooh half a dozen times, the beats and style he gives you on the c.d. are almost that of the sound of that place, itself. Sad sounding, depressing, but alive, and self preserving, it hits home. He ends off on "Barnowl" and he keeps us full with his dessert ending, playfully reserved, closer.



In all, Dan Snaith is a musical genius and I think that music has found it's new modern day Mozart of Lo-Fi music, and I have a feeling he could go down in the books like Mr. Mozart himself.



"

Something To Dunk Your Cookies Into

Mark Eremite | Seoul, South Korea | 04/03/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"People hear the word "electronica" and who-knows-what materializes in their minds. The genre (just like it's name) is so indefinable as to make naming it an exercise in anonymous redundancy. It's about as effective as labels like "guitar music" or "mystery novel" or "independent film." Unfortunately, many musicians and labels take advantage of that ambiguity to pump out and pre-package albums that have as much going for them as a bowl of warm rocks. The "genre" isn't something to hide behind -- it is a limitless resource of musical wealth.



Caribou, once Manitoba, have done with "electronica" what Zepplin did with "guitar music," what Christie did with "mystery novels," what Aronofsky did with "independent film." If electricity is the medium, then Caribou has sculpted everything from splintery lightning bolts ("A Final Warning") to the hum of static cling ("Drumheller"). "The Milk of Human Kindness" is truly poetic, an artistic realization made of ones and zeroes.



The only consistent thread of the songs is their all-encompassing ingenuity. Each track is a neural brainstorm, an unpredictable crackle of musical static, but none of them sound the same. "Pelican Narrows" is an eerily patient organ-and-bells number. "Bees" is a clean-n-muddy retro-pop ditty. "Hello Hammerheads," "Yeti," and "Barnowl" play with finger cymbals, off-key humming, and restless commercial noise to make songs that are playfully aggressive, aural acrobatics that are amazing but not showy, just great music.



It's too bad the album is so short because, as the saying goes, time flies when you're having fun. The record is barely forty minutes long, but you'll swear it's ten; that's how good it is. Maybe next time Caribou can give us an entire gallon of that "milk," instead of just one tantalizing pint."