Andorra

Caribou is the stage name of Daniel V. Snaith, who has been making music for six years under that name and the name Manitoba (until threatened by Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba of The Dictators.) Not only is Snaith a whiz at crafting some crazy tunes, he also has a Ph. D. in mathematics.

On August 21, 2007, Caribou will release its latest LP, Andorra, on Merge Records. Why am I telling you about this now? Well, if you are the proud owner of a subscription to Rhapsody, the album has been available to you since June 29. What's more, the record is very good. Lots of vocal-driven dreampop, a dash of organic electronica, and--according to Merge--it's "brilliantly kaleidoscopic."

I couldn't agree more.

PS: I actually saw Caribou open for SFA two years ago, but I don't remember them sounding like this. Perhaps I was full of beer and too excited for the main event to provide my undivided attention.

Or maybe it was the fact that I was seeing these bands at Disneyland.