Caribou - Andorra

Dan Snaith (Ie: Caribou) always had interesting drum arrangements on his albums. While maintaining a psychedilic feel he had some songs that explored hip hop style drums (Lord Leopard from The Milk Of Human Kindness) and sometimes chopped up Fourtet-esque sampled drums (Mammals vs. Reptiles from Start Breaking My Heart). As a songwriter he was always talented, but as a drummer you can really trace his progress as he keeps making records. He started by using electronic drums and samples for his beats, but eventually he really gained a deep understanding of percussion and how to arrange it, and Andorra was born from this.

Andorra is loaded with percussion. Drum sets, vibes, bells, blocks, it's like Dan escaped from a percussion free world and decided to use everything he could on his next record. His talent as a drummer has finally caught up with his genius as an arranger and composer. With everything going on it's easy for it to sound garbled, but he seems to have a pefect place for everything to fit. Melody Day starts of with a straight rock beat (snares on 1 and 3, kick on 2 and 4) but it soon takes off with a wave of snare rolls and cymbal swells. Sandy has one kit maintaing a tribal tom beat with another sailing over it with marching drum like snare patterns and rolls all over the place.

Sundialing stands out as a drummers track as well, along with being a live favorite it really showcases Dan's ability to freely play around with time while keeping a constant pulse. his kick drum keeps steady while he plays changing patterns in the backround (this album surely benefits from headphones).

Snaith won the Polaris Prize with this record (which basically gets you a shit ton of cash and a guarantee that hipsters will flock to your shows for the next 2 years) and he deserved every inch of it. He has now gained international acclaim and I am sure he is not done exploring the realm of percussion just yet. I just love the fact that sometimes it takes guys who aren't necessarily drummers to push our boundaries further.

Audio/Visual Evidence : Sundialing, Melody Day