Caribou

Caribou is the electronic project of Dan Snaith, a Canadian musician born in 1978 in Dundas, Ontario, Canada. Snaith formerly records under the name Manitoba before adopting the Caribou name. He also records club-oriented dance music as Daphni.

Background

Snaith grows up in Dundas, which later gives its name to a track on his debut album. He studies as an undergraduate at the University of Toronto and later lives in the UK for several years while completing a Ph.D. in mathematics at Imperial College London in 2005.

He chooses the Caribou name after a period in the Canadian wilderness, and his early release under the new name comes after the dispute that leads him to abandon Manitoba. Caribou is known for changing sound from release to release, drawing on electronic psychedelia, krautrock rhythms and breakbeat drums.

Releases

His albums include Start Breaking My Heart, a jazzy folktronica and IDM record; Up in Flames, which uses analog synthesis and a mix of live and sampled drums; The Milk of Human Kindness, which draws on krautrock and 1970s prog and druggy textures; Andorra, a psychedelic pop album; and Swim, which is shaped by the idea of dance music that sounds underwater. Andorra wins the Polaris Music Prize in 2008.

Live performance

Caribou’s live shows are known for their use of multiple drummers and synchronised visuals. The live band consists of Snaith on guitar, keyboards, vocals, drums and flutophone, alongside Ryan Smith on guitar and keyboards, Brad Weber on drums, and John Schmersal on bass and vocals.