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Avg: 3.5 (23 ratings)
- Date Released: April 19, 2005
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Label: The Leaf Label / state51
Dan Snaith scales the twin peaks of experimentalism and brevity
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We Say...
Dan Snaith’s third album, his first under the amended moniker of Caribou, may not be his most acclaimed, sitting as it does between the critic-friendly peaks of Up In Flames and Andorra, but it may just prove to be his most eminently replayable and enjoyable.
Throughout The Milk of Human Kindness, Snaith employs his trademark variegated shades of electronic music, jazz, psychedelia and folk, only this time things are embellished with subtle shades of krautrock, the overriding tone being one of groovy restraint rather than wilful abandon. The fact that he maintains a strong degree of aesthetic cohesion across such an eclectic record is testament to his ear for composition and remarkable production skills. He utilises a cornucopia of sonic details, from alien voices to vinyl crackle, flutes, organ drones, stereoscoping sound effects, horns, guitars, blissful drum tones and much, much more.
Managing to encompass the often distant twin peaks of conciseness and experimentation, The Milk Of Human Kindness takes in minute guitar movements and gentle vocals in “Hello Hammerheads," joyous percussion marathons in “Brahminy Kite” and subdued, cloudy krautrock pulses and shimmers in “A Final Warning," while lead single and opener “Yeti” piles organ riff on organ riff, building tension before a torrent of drums finally enters.
Unflinchingly musical and gorgeously summery, you could call The Milk Of Human Kindness Dan Snaith’s “Goldilocks” album; where Up In Flames was perhaps too frenetic and Andorra too retro, The Milk Of Human Kindness is just right. -
They Say...
Dan Snaith's recordings as Manitoba exuded a flair for recycling the most enthusiastic of early-'90s indie rock within the context of a one-man production band. Slightly naïve and only a passable songwriter, he nevertheless compensated with his gushing productions and the sort of breathless vocals that only a newcomer can imbue with such pleasure. After dealing with a slight setback (Handsome Dick Manitoba's baffling appropriation of the name, which led to Snaith's subsequent rebirth as Caribou), he proves on The Milk of Human Kindness that his compositional powers have grown during his five years on the scene. (The seven-minute "A Final Warning," with its smooth, ebb-and-flow glissandos, is easily his most accomplished production yet.) Unfortunately, although Snaith may sound novel expanding upon his indie forebears of ten years ago, when he begins conjuring the ghosts of Krautrock ("A Final Warning," "Bees") or trip-hop ("Lord Leopard"), as he does here, he's entering the company of talented producers who have ploughed the same ground (Stereolab and DJ Shadow, most obviously). The opener and first single, "Yeti," is one of the prime disappointments, a one-note rocker that attempts to strike the same chord as Snaith's previous classic "Hendrix With Ko" with nothing like the same results. Similar however, to what happened on Up in Flames (his final Manitoba record), dedicated listeners will find excellent material on the second half of the record. As Snaith straightforwardly hums his choruses on the minimalist folk of "Hello Hammerheads," or conjures Robert Wyatt with the eccentric, driving pop of "Brahminy Kite," he shows that he still has plenty of room to roam to be bothered messing around with second-rate imitations of long-dead styles.
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| 01. |  |
Yeti |
5:01 |
|
| 02. | |
Subotnick |
1:05 |
|
| 03. | |
A Final Warning |
7:15 |
|
| 04. | |
Lord Leopard |
1:37 |
|
| 05. | |
Bees |
5:23 |
|
| 06. |
Hands First |
0:29 |
|
|
| 07. | |
Hello Hammerheads |
2:42 |
|
| 08. | |
Brahminy Kite |
5:22 |
|
| 09. | |
Drumheller |
1:33 |
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| 10. | |
Pelican Narrows |
3:50 |
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| 11. | |
Barnowl |
5:50 |
|
11 Total Tracks, 40:07 Total Length
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Credits
- Brad Laner - Guitar // Noel Summerville - Mastering // Jason Evans - Photography // Dan Snaith - Producer // Richard Kenworthy - Art Direction
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