I have been listening to Caribou since 2004 when I had my biggest exposure to a new world of underground music through a fellow classmate during my study abroad program in London. Back then known as Manitoba, Dan Snaith was a veritable challenge to my ears. The challenge wasn't in enjoying the music, as I found it with other bands I was simultaneously exposed to who scared me with screaming vocals or strong country/blues influences. But there was definitely a challenge in categorizing it for one, as back then to me music had only few and vast categories (it's funny how now I almost ascribe each artist their own category). Along with that was a challenge to truly appreciate it as much as other music that I could categorize. See back then the appreciation and/or love of music for me was just as dependent on the categorization, whether that be the genre itself, or the culture behind it (top 40 music with non-serious fans or rock music that had a nice following of douchebags automatically became unsavory). It was easier to judge music when there was more well-defined and less variety of categories. Back then almost everyone who I started discovering seemed an outlier to traditional categories, and it took a long time to break a lot of those barriers down.
Thankfully, Caribou has been one of the artists who helped push me to swim out of the swimming pool of narrow music options, nicely categorized by swimming lanes, out into the wide boundless ocean where there is no limit to what can be created. Since my exposure, I had revisited Manitoba time and again, each time expanding my mind with what the Mathematics PhD holder Dan Snaith was creating. The juxtaposition of folk sounding 'samples' (pretty sure he created everything from scratch) aligned with very forward-sounding technical grooves entranced me, and only continued to do so with the first Caribou-monikered LP, The Milk of Human Kindness in 2005. Andorra followed in 2007 (which won the Polaris Prize that year), by which point I definitely considered myself a fan, and was playing Caribou's music for everyone I knew in Pittsburgh.
In 2008 I was preparing to relocate to Chicago, and in doing so I took a trip to the Windy City with a friend to get a taste for my future. April 11th we were in Chicago and I wanted to see Caribou at Empty Bottle. I persuaded my friend, even though I knew he would undoubtedly not appreciate the opener of the night, Fuck Buttons. Partially playing off his distaste, I couldn't get into the squall electronoise droners much myself, but when Caribou took the stage and started performing, I was blown away.
It has been two years since then but I was lucky enough to see them for a second time this summer at a free show at Millenium Park. Of the heels of newest LP Swim, I was again treated to a new cornucopia of electronic, folk, and jam rock all rolled up into one psychedelic ball of dance-inducing joy.
I had been anticipating this recent show at Metro, but with a trip planned to South Bend for an ND game for the weekend, I wasn't sure how up for a show I would be on that Sunday night. Yet last week I got an email from Metro offering the chance to get into the Caribou show for free. Apparently they were pretty stoked that they sold out both Godspeed You Black Emperor shows scheduled in March 2011 within a week so they rewarded all of their patrons with free passes.
So come Sunday night I am pretty beat but I have free tickets and it's motherfucking Caribou, so I pounded my Red Bull, printed out extra copies for two buddies, and drove up to the Wrigleyville, the heart of darkness, for one more chance to be impressed.
And impressed I was. I've seen them twice before and every time I've been impressed. A plain white backdrop played canvas to kaleidoscopic video patterns, while multi-instrumentalist Dan and his three brethren labored lovingly on their instruments to create a mind-warping dance party.
Of course, it is the Metro. Meaning drinks are not cheap, water is not free, and a credit card is worth as much as toilet paper, but worst of all, NOBODY DANCES. Now things don't need to get out of control like they did at Crystal Castles (my only experienced exception to the rule), but people need to loosen up a little. It's not like we're at the xx...
On a positive venue note, though, the sound was great. I could hear each electronic tinge, each vocal warble, and each guitar pluck, not to mention of course the steady controlled cacophony coming from the two drum sets. The only complaint I had was regarding the backup singing. The guy's voice just needs some work, or he needs to be replaced IMO. But other than that, you have the most unabashedly happy, white t-shirt sporting, aging hipster (did he copy James Murphy or did Murphy copy him), completely transfixed in creating his own mathematically structured psychedelic blossomings.
I would have longed to have heard more old material, but I am falling in love with the new stuff faster than I can even keep track. Tracks already have this classic, ageless quality to them, which leads me again to reference how broad of range of styles his sounds can be, in terms of instrumentation, genre-sourcing, and fidelity.
My buddies and I all agreed it was a hell of a show. My only regret was missing Emeralds, a new act with more of a focus on flowing electronic textures than rigorous rhythms, but really, how often can an opener beat a headliner, especially this one?
Until next time Dan, I'll be thinking of you as the season becomes like the cover of Andorra, and I more and more miss the sun, sun, sun, sun, sun, sun, sun......
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