Reviews Caribou: Our Love On Dan Snaith’s latest record as Caribou, he retains the punchy synths and ethereal vocals that made Swim such an incredible record while simultaneously intertwining feelings of love and loss. Yet, these emotions emerge from the bass, deftly placed samples, and soft vocals that make this the best crafted Caribou album to date. While Swim offered the groovy 80s bass and cowbell on tracks like “Odessa” and “Leave House,” many of the songs were stretched and left bare. With Our Love, Snaith fills these previous voids with the minimal loops and growing synths that envelop the listener even more than his previous material. This further engagement with the listener is key for Snaith, since he uses this record to convey emotions and thoughts that are comparatively lacking in other Caribou records. This elevated level of communication makes Our Love a more accessible and revealing record all while retaining the craftsmanship that defined his previous records. In pursuing this accessibility, Our Love does lack the experimentation that his other records are known for, but it is a necessary sacrifice. (Look on Pitchfork for a number score)
-- Alex Adamczyk
Zammuto: Anchor Nick Zammuto, one half of legendary glitch-hop meditation outfit The Books, returns with his sophomore release, Anchor. With The Books, Zammuto created a unique aesthetic of sample-based collage that framed their melodies in an almost spiritual aura. When Zammuto embarked on his solo career, he set out with a simple goal: to make music that could actually be played by humans. His self-titled 2012 debut showcased his pop hooks, and while enjoyable, felt less cathartic than the musical and verbal dissociation of The Books. Last summer’s single “Great Equator” marked Zammuto’s retreat into a subtler, near-Booksian sonicsphere, with a pleasant though not particularly evocative melody. Anchor’s release proves that Zammuto intends to keep pushing the envelope, though in some unexpected ways, notably his forays into synth pop. Certain tracks, with their vocal distortion and Pac-Man synth lines, sound almost like Black Moth Super Rainbow songs. “Hegemony” is the standout here - kicking off with a short prog metal breakdown, it succumbs to a tangle of vocal harmonies eerily like those of Dirty Projectors. Zammuto seems to be taking a direction not unlike Son Lux, applying chamber composition techniques to an electronic pop ensemble. At times, we near chrome-plated power EDM, while at others, he delves meticulously into quantum soundscapes. Sadly, beginning with abomination that is “IO” - a Zammuto doing Jack White doing new wave type-thing—the album falls off and never recovers. Ultimately, when Zammuto succeeds, he does so with a balance of gratifying hooks and groovy puzzle-piece beats. Especially apparent here is that lyrics were never the focus of his music. Anchor does exhibit increased musical maturity from his last release - I mean, “Zebra Butt…” - but his artistic aims are nowhere near as esoteric as on any of the four mystical Books records, and that’s something I cannot let go of. There are some fine moments on Anchor, but no real consistency. Zammuto is nothing short of a compositional genius, but a return to form could do him enormous good.
-- A. Noah Harrison 6
