Caribou on the scene.

Ottawa is just big enough that we get a share of musical talent dropping in on their way to Toronto from Montreal, or vice versa. While the big Dinosaur-rcok names are all over the news lately (I note the Police, Rush, etc...), I think it's worth noting some of lesser-knowns coming through town. This past long weekend, we bureaucrats were the lucky recipients of shows from electro-pop talent Chromeo (to which tickets were impossible obtain) and also ambient-rocker Caribou.

Why Caribou, you might ask? Isn't that a subarctic-dwelling dear that call to each other using a series of grunts and snorts? "Hmmmm...that doesn't sound like anything I might like to listen to", you might say, "I much prefer a nice recording of bird sounds". Well, as a matter of fact, this is the musical project of one Daniel Victor Snaith, a supremely creative individual with a Ph.d in Maths from London's Imperial College, who just happens to be have a blind spot for band names. A previous endeavour was called "Manitoba".

I've only recently been turned on to the music of Caribou, whose musical style resembles something akin to early Syd-Barret-era Floyd, a comparison aided by a psychedelic backdrop and spacey ambience of his live show at the Babylon nightclub. Though this may be unfair, as it pigeonholes what is really varied, catchy and engaging music. Currently, Snaith and his band are in support of their latest album, playing a show every single evening of their lives since the start of September 2007, with short breaks for transcontinental flights. Do catch this aural phenomenon, ideally before they collapse from exhaustion.