Caribou - Melody Day (City Slang)
4/5
By: Chris O'Toole
It might have been some time ago now, but I still fail to understand the logic behind the name change from Manitoba to Caribou. Who was Handsome 'Dick' Manitoba, front man of aptly named 'Dictators', and more importantly who does he think he is? A relic from the seventies, Handsome Dick decided to sue Dan Snaith, aka Caribou, in 2003 for infringement of copyright for using the name Manitoba. I mean, the two are virtually identical after all! A cock-rock veteran from the seventies and the ecstatic, organic electronic pioneer from the new millennium, who wouldn't be able to tell them apart? Even more annoyingly, Manitoba is a place name! How can anybody claim the rights to a place name? The whole thing beggars belief, but nonethless is all water under the bridge.
Snaith, the purveyor of the rare but beautiful electronic psychedelia now known as Caribou recovered from the setback and here returns with 'Melody Day', the first single taken from the upcoming album, 'Andorra'. A track of magnificent proportions crammed into a mere four minutes, the piece sounds like a lightning tour of the Amazon jungle, taking in hundreds of wondrous sights in a fraction of a second before landing you back on the sofa at home as if nothing had happened.
'Melody Day' is intrinsically a pop track, filled with exuberant, optimistic motifs, but lacking the mundane triviality that passes for pop in the charts. Its myriad of kaleidoscopic pieces mesh together time and again, rushing out from the starting blocks in an ecstatic haze and not letting the pace drop until the final second. More in keeping with 'Up in Flames' era Manitoba than the more overt hip hop of 'Start Breaking My Heart', this is a collage of a million pieces. Snaith himself claims Walter Herzog as an influence, stating "What captivates me so much about Herzog is that behind the story he is telling, you are also glimpsing into this massive imagination of his which very much evident if unarticulated". And the same can be true for 'Melody Day' - it is impossible to scratch the surface of what is included on the first listen and can only be imagined as part of a much wider, ornate canvas.
Watch the video to 'Melody Day' HERE.
Artists in this article: Caribou
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