Don’t forget the Merge titles added to the long list of exclusive releases and other fun events happening at your local independent record stores tomorrow! To find a participating store in your area, visit RecordsStoreDay.com!

WILD FLAG – “Future Crimes” b/w “Glass Tambourine” 7-inch
The hotly anticipated debut release from the new musical partnership between Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Janet Weiss, and Rebecca Cole will be released exclusively in 7-inch form on Record Store Day! Produced by Spoon’s Britt Daniel, these tracks have already become viral hits through widely circulated videos taken during the band’s recent tour. Maybe this 7-inch will answer the question posed by WILD FLAG: What do you get when you cross a hamburger with a hot dog? Listen to “Glass Tambourine” now at NPR Music!

Superchunk – Here’s Where the Strings Come In CD/LP reissue
Out of print for years, Here’s Where the Strings Come In has been remastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Company from the original 1/2” reels and will be available for the first time on 180-gram vinyl (with download coupon) and on CD newly packaged in LP-style cardboard sleeves. The heavy-duty vinyl jackets were reprinted by Stoughton Printing Co., the same plant that produced them for the original 1995 release. Both formats will also come with bonus downloads of The Clambakes Vol. 5, a live Superchunk recording from 2003, and several exclusive demos of songs that appear on the album.

Caribou – Swim Remixes 12-inch
Originally released as a digital-only companion to Swim, Caribou’s acclaimed 2010 release, the Swim Remixes double A-side 12-inch features “Leave House (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix)” b/w “Jamelia (Gold Panda Remix),” as well as a code to download the entire 14-track release. Limited to 1,000 and packaged in a European-style black sleeve, this 12-inch is a must for DJs and Caribou fans alike!

Polvo – Celebrate the New Dark Age 12-inch, autographed by original line-up!
Originally released in 2008, this re-issue of Polvo’s guitar-twisting seven-song EP on limited-edition 180-gram vinyl is a Merge hallmark. It comes complete with great sleeve design by Independent Project Press and a free download coupon. A limited number of this 12-inch EP have been autographed by the original 1994 Polvo line-up exclusively for Record Store Day!

Superchunk / Coliseum – “Horror Business” b/w “Bullet” split 7-inch
Merge Records and Temporary Residence Limited have partnered to co-release “Horror Business” b/w “Bullet,” a limited-edition 7-inch of Misfits covers by Superchunk and Coliseum for Record Store Day. Limited to 1,500 copies and available exclusively in record stores, the 7-inch cover was designed by Coliseum singer/guitarist Ryan Patterson, with a nod to the artwork from the Misfits’ Three Hits From Hell single. The 7-inch will be issued on three different colors of vinyl (500 copies of each): yellow w/ black splatter, magenta w/ black splatter, and standard black.

Caribou’s Swim and Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs are both available now on CD, dbl-LP and digital download in the Merge store.

Congratulations to Caribou & Arcade Fire on their wins!

WILD FLAG – “Future Crimes” b/w “Glass Tambourine” 7-inch
The hotly anticipated debut release from the new musical partnership between Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Janet Weiss and Rebecca Cole will be released exclusively in 7-inch form on Record Store Day! Produced by Spoon’s Britt Daniel, these tracks have already become viral hits through widely circulated videos taken during the band’s recent tour dates. Maybe this 7-inch will answer the question posed by WILD FLAG: What do you get when you cross a hamburger with a hot dog?

Listen to “Glass Tambourine” now at NPR Music!

Superchunk – Here’s Where the Strings Come In CD/LP reissue
Out of print for years, Here’s Where the Strings Come In has been remastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Company from the original 1/2″ reels, and will be available for the first time on 180 gram vinyl (with download coupon), and on CD newly packaged in LP-style cardboard sleeves. The heavy-duty vinyl jackets were re-printed at the original printing plant, Stoughton Printing Co, from the 1995 release. Both formats will also come with a download of exclusive bonus materials from the Superchunk vaults.

Caribou - Swim (Remixes) 12-inch
Originally released as a digital-only companion to Caribou’s acclaimed 2010 release Swim, the Swim (Remixes) double A-side 12-inch features “Leave House (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix)” b/w “Jamelia (Gold Panda Remix)” as well as a code to download the entire 14-track release. Limited to 1000 and packaged in a European-style black sleeve, this 12-inch is a must for DJs and Caribou fans alike!

Polvo – Celebrate the New Dark Age 12-inch – Autographed by original line-up!
Originally released in 2008, this re-issue of Polvo’s guitar-twisting seven-song EP on limited-edition 180-gram vinyl is a Merge hallmark. Complete with great sleeve design by Independent Project Press, and a free download coupon. Exclusively for Record Store Day, a limited number of this vinyl EP have been autographed by the original 1994 Polvo line-up!

Superchunk / Coliseum – “Horror Business” b/w “Bullet” split 7-inch
Merge Records and Temporary Residence Limited have partnered to co-release “Horror Business” b/w “Bullet,” a limited-edition 7-inch of Misfits covers from Superchunk and Coliseum for April 16 – Record Store Day. Limited to 1,500 copies and available exclusively in record stores, the 7-inch cover was designed by Coliseum singer/guitarist Ryan Patterson, with a nod to the artwork from the Misfits’ Three Hits From Hell single. The 7-inch will be issued on three different colors of vinyl: Yellow w/ Black Splatter; Magenta w/ Black Splatter; and standard Black (500 copies of each).

Video Marsh also produced the video for “Odessa” that came out just a year ago!

Swim is available on double-LP, CD, or digital in the Merge Store.

“For me Altrice’s entry stood out quite a distance from all the others. His version of the track was focused and distinctive – dramatically different from the original and the other remixes we received,” Caribou’s Dan Snaith said. “Altrice’s music is beautifully simple – focusing on only a handful of elements but ingeniously reinventing them to make each song very much his own. It’s this confidence that makes Stem so coherent – it doesn’t sound like an album of remixes but an album in it’s own right. The best possible outcome of the remix contest was to discover someone unknown to me whose music moved me. That certainly happened. And then some.”

Listen to Altrice’s Stem on SoundCloud, and if you like it, support Altrice by visiting City Slang to purchase the download. You can also download it in the Merge store until March 21. Caribou’s Swim is available on CD, dbl-LP, and digital download in the Merge store.

Caribou is nominated for Best New Artist and Electronic Album of the Year. These are the first ever Juno nominations for Caribou!

Arcade Fire is nominated for Album of the Year, Group of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Alternative Album of the Year, Producer of the Year, and Recording Package of the Year. They will also be performing at the Juno Awards Ceremony on March 27.

Good luck to Caribou & Arcade Fire!

Caribou’s Swim and Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs are available now on CD, dbl-LP and digital download in the Merge store.

1. Charanjit Singh – 10 Ragas to a Disco Beat (reissue)
2. Art Department - Without You
3. Shangaan Electro – New Wave Dance Music from South Africa
4. James Blake – Klavierwerke
5. Storm Queen – Look Right Through
6. Four Tet – There Is Love In You
7. Hounds of Hate – I Like Triangles
8. Owen Pallett – Heartland
9. Kingdom – You
10. Emeralds – Does It Look Like I’m Here?

Brad Weber, drummer

I have liked these records/artists this year:
- Ariel Pink
- Balam Acab – “See Birds” EP
- James Blake
- Four Tet – There is Love in You
- Bird Show Band – s/t
- Flying Lotus
- Gold Panda
- Hot Chip
- Kingthing – “Mad Hatter” EP
- Luke Abbott – “Holkham Drones”
- Mount Kimbie
- Omar Souleyman
- Pantha du Prince – “Black Noise”
- Robyn – All of the “body talk” records
- Ruby Suns – “Fight Softly”
- Toro y Moi
- Numan – “Race Against Time”
- Ramadanman – “Glut Tempest”

The limited-edition Destroyer 12-inch “Archer on the Beach” is out-of-print in the Merge store, but you can now buy the songs via digital download!

Don’t miss out on Swim Remixes—Caribou’s answer to what happens when you put one of the year’s hottest dance records in the hands of some of the world’s best DJs! With reworks of some of Swim’s hottest cuts by Junior Boys, Fuck Buttons, Nite Jewel, DJ Koze, Walls, Gold Panda, Gavin Russom, and more, Swim Remixes contains over an hour-and-a-half of new, fresh takes on Caribou’s latest opus.

Let’s Wrestle bring us a tasty piece of next year’s sophomore record with the “Getting Rest”/“When I Was In Hospital” digital single. Be warned: these young Londoners are not to be missed.

Shout Out Louds’ Fall Hard EP expands upon Work’s catchy first single with non-album cuts “Fall Hard Pt. 2” and “Can’t Explain.”

Lou Barlow + the missingmen’s = Sentridoh III is Lou’s first recorded output with new backing band the missingmen. Described by the band as “an almost live representation of the Lou Barlow + the missingmen live show,” this mini-album breathes new, rocking life into Sebadoh and Sentridoh classics, Lou’s solo material, and even a haunting cover of the timeless Skip James song “I’m So Glad.”

Tracey Thorn followed up this year’s gorgeous Love and Its Opposite with a pair of digital EPs, Why Does the Wind? and Opposites, that offer up wildly creative remixes of some of the album’s most-loved songs. Why Does the Wind? pairs the album track of the same name with remixes by Morgan Geist, Michel Clies, and André Lodemann, along with a radio edit and dub version. As for the Opposites EP, Tracey herself probably says it best: “If the remixes for the last single ‘Why Does the Wind?’ were aimed at the dancefloor, these are perhaps aimed more at the head.” Visionquest (“Swimming”), Walls (“Kentish Town”), and Blue Daisy (“Late in the Afternoon”) provide penetrating new takes presented alongside the originals.

Let’s also revisit Lambchop’s magnetic Live at XX Merge performance; Portastatic’s Make It Sound In Tune EP; digital reissues of Richard Buckner’s landmark albums Impasse, The Hill, and Bloomed; and The Ladybug Transistor’s fantastic Here Comes the Rain covers EP.

Our Holiday Coupon applies to digital releases, too, so download away!



You can find “Sun (Hest’s screw remix)” on the new Swim Remix album available now in the Merge store! And be sure to follow Caribou on Facebook and twitter for more fun photos & videos from the road.

To finish off an exceptional year for Caribou, Merge and City Slang will be releasing Swim Remixes digitally on October 26th in the UK, November 1st in the rest of Europe, and November 2nd in North America.

Download a free MP3 of “Leave House (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix)” now!

The digital tracklisting is as follows:
1. Odessa (Junior Boys Mix)
2. Leave House (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix)
3. Sun (Altrice’s ‘Only What You Gave Me’ Remix)
4. Jamelia (Gold Panda Remix)
5. Bowls (Holden Remix)
6. Kaili (Fuck Buttons Remix)
7. Leave House (Ikonika Remix)
8. Found Out (DJ Koze Remix)
9. Jamelia (DJ Koze’s Alarmclock)
10. Bowls (Gavin Russom’s Rework)
11. Sun (patten Remix)
12. Odessa (David Wrench’s Drumapella)
13. Odessa (Nite Jewel Remix)
14. Kaili (Walls Remix)

The iTunes version will include an additional remix by DJ Koze: “Odessa (DJ Koze’s Campfire).” Swim Remixes will be available for pre-order on iTunes on Oct 19th everywhere.

Caribou on tour:

Fall North/South American Tour:
10-8 Los Angeles, CA – Music Box & %
10-9 Tempe, AZ – The Clubhouse &
10-11 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge &
10-12 Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre &
10-14 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa !
10-15 Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon !
10-16 Tallahassee, FL – Engine Room !
10-17 Tampa, FL – Crowbar !
10-18 Orlando, FL – Backbooth !
10-19 Miami, FL – Grand Central !
10-20 Mexico City, Mexico – Lunario [LIVE & DJ SET]
10-21 Guanajuanto, Mexico – Mutek/Cervantino Festival
10-23 Santiago, Chile – Festival Fauna Primavera
10-27 Sao Paulo, Brazil – Fourfest
10-28 Bogota, Colombia – Downtown
10-30 Asheville, NC – Moog Festival
10-31 Chapel Hill, NC – Cat’s Cradle

Fall Europe Tour:
11-03 Geneva, Switzerland – L’Usine {}
11-04 Montpellier, France – 34 Tours Festival
11-05 Torino, Italy – Club to Club *
11-06 Bologna, Italy – Link *
11-07 Lubiana, Slovenia – Kino Siska
11-08 Munich, Germany – Feierwerk +
11-09 Zurich, Switzerland – Abart
11-11 Lorient, France – Les Indisciplines
11-12 Amiens, France – La Lune Des Pirates
11-13 Luxemborg, Luxemborg – Exit 07
11-14 Leipzig, Germany – Central Theater +
11-15 Hamburg, Germany – Ubel & Gefaehrlich + #
11-16 Heidelberg, – Enjoy Jazz Festival + #
11-17 Strasbourg, France – La Laiterie #
11-18 Reims, France – La Cartonnerie #
11-19 London, England – Coronet @
11-20 Manchester, England – Warehouse Project @
11-21 Glasgow, Scotland – ABC @
11-22 Leeds, England – Social Brudenell
11-23 Bristol, England – Thekla
11-24 Brighton, England – Coalition
11-25 Bucharest, Romania – MNAC
11-26 Utrecht, Netherlands – Le Guess Who Festival ~
11-26 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Trouw [DJ SET]
11-27 Brussels, Belgium – Autumn Falls Festival AB ~ =
11-27 Brussels, Belgium – Foals Afterparty @ Magasin 4 [DJ SET]
11-28 Paris, France – Cabaret Sauvage =
11-29 Cologne, Germany – Gloria + #
12-01 Prague, Czech Republic – Electronic Beats Festival @ Lucerna Music Bar ||
12-02 Budapest, Hungary – Godor +
12-03 Zagreb, Croatia – Teater ITD +
12-04 Vienna, Austria – Fluc
12-05 Frankfurt, Germany – Mouseoturm +
12-07 Minehead, England – ATP In Between Days
12-08 Liverpool, England – Kazimier
12-09 Dublin, Ireland – Button Factory
12-10 Bilbao, Spain – Santana 27
12-11 Madrid, Spain – Costello Club
12-12 Barcelona, Spain – Sala Razzmatazz 2

^ with Russian Futurists
& with Emeralds
$ with Holy Fuck
% with Nite Jewel
* with Four Tet
@ with Four Tet, James Holden, Nathan Fake, Rocketnumernine
! with Arp
# with Mount Kimbie
+ with Barbara Panther
~ with Beach House
= with Junip
{} with Shy Child
|| with Matt Didemus (Junior Boys)

Swim is available on CD, dbl-LP and digital download now in the Merge store.

Caribou on tour:
Oct 05 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom*
Oct 06 San Francisco, CA – Regency*
Oct 07 Los Angeles, CA – Dance Right @ La Cita
Oct 08 Los Angeles, CA – Music Box*
Oct 09 Tempe, AZ – The Clubhouseb Oct 11 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
Oct 12 Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre*
Oct 14 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa
Oct 15 Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon
Oct 16 Tallahassee, FL – Engine RoomB Oct 17 Tampa, FL – Crowbar
Oct 18 Orlando, FL – Backbooth
Oct 19 Miami, FL – Grand Central
Oct 21 Guanajuanto, Mexico – Mutek/Cervantino Festival
Oct 23 Santiago, Chile – Festival Fauna Primavera
Oct 27 Sao Paulo, Brasil – Clash Club
Oct 28 Bogota, Colombia – Downtown
Oct 30 Asheville, NC – Moog Festival
Oct 31 Chapel Hill, NC – Cat’s Cradle

Don’t miss the full band Caribou experience in your town this fall!

Caribou on tour:
^ w/ Russian Futurists
* w/ Emeralds
Sep 14 Guelph, ON – Ebar^
Sep 15 Ottawa, ON – Babylon ^
Sep 16 Montreal, PQ – National^
Sep 17 Toronto, ON – Phoenix ^
Sep 18 London, ON – Lolafest @ Victorias Park
Sep 19 Boston, MA – Paradise*
Sep 22 New York, NY – Webster Hall*
Sep 23 Washington, DC – Black Cat*
Sep 24 Cincinnati, OH – Midpoint Music Festival
Sep 25 Champaign, IL – Pygmalion Music Festival
Sep 26 Chicago, IL – Metro*
Sep 27 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue*
Sep 28 Winnipeg, MB – West End Cultural Center*
Sep 29 Saskatoon, SK – Amigos*
Sep 30 Edmonton, AB – Starlite*
Oct 01 Calgary, AB – Republik*
Oct 03 Vancouver, BC – Vogue*
Oct 04 Seattle, WA – Showbox*
Oct 05 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom*
Oct 06 San Francisco, CA – Regency*
Oct 07 Los Angeles, CA – Dance Right @ La Cita
Oct 08 Los Angeles, CA – Music Box*
Oct 09 Tempe, AZ – The Clubhouseb Oct 11 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
Oct 12 Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre*
Oct 14 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa
Oct 15 Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon
Oct 16 Tallahassee, FL – Engine RoomB Oct 17 Tampa, FL – Crowbar
Oct 18 Orlando, FL – Backbooth
Oct 19 Miami, FL – Grand Central
Oct 21 Guanajuanto, Mexico – Mutek/Cervantino Festival
Oct 23 Santiago, Chile – Festival Fauna Primavera
Oct 27 Sao Paulo, Brasil – Clash Club
Oct 28 Bogota, Colombia – Downtown
Oct 30 Asheville, NC – Moog Festival
Oct 31 Chapel Hill, NC – Cat’s Cradle*

The full Caribou band have been on tour all over the world for most of 2010 in support of their Polaris-prize nominated album, Swim. Visit their website for photos and videos from the road, including a ride on the Great Wall of China, and follow them on twitter! Also, watch their recently released video for “Sun.”

Swim is available on CD, dbl-LP and digital download in the Merge store.

“Swim is a reminder that even at his most challenging, the man’s compositional capabilities can dazzle.” – Pitchfork

Caribou on tour:
Sep 14 Guelph ON – Ebar^
Sep 15 Ottawa ON – Babylon ^
Sep 16 Montreal PQ – National^
Sep 17 Toronto ON – Phoenix ^
Sep 18 London ON – Lolafest @ Victorias Park
Sep 19 Boston MA – Paradise*
Sep 22 New York, NY – Webster Hall*
Sep 23 Washington DC – Black Cat*
Sep 24 Cincinnati OH – Midpoint Music Festival
Sep 25 Champaign IL – Pygmalion Music Festival
Sep 26 Chicago IL – Metro*
Sep 27 Minneapolis MN – First Avenue*
Sep 28 Winnipeg MB – West End Cultural Center*
Sep 29 Saskatoon SK – Amigos*
Sep 30 Edmonton AB – Starlite*
Oct 01 Calgary AB – Republik*
Oct 03 Vancouver BC – Vogue*
Oct 04 Seattle WA – Showbox*
Oct 05 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom *
Oct 06 San Francisco CA – Regency*
Oct 07 Los Angeles CA – Dance Right @ La Cita
Oct 08 Los Angeles CA – Music Box*
Oct 09 Tempe AZ – The Clubhouse
Oct 11 Salt Lake City UT – Urban Lounge
Oct 12 Boulder CO – Fox Theatre*
Oct 14 Austin TX – La Zona Rosa
Oct 15 Baton Rouge LA – Spanish Moon
Oct 16 Tallahassee FL – Engine Room
Oct 17 Tampa FL – Crowbar
Oct 18 Orlando FL – Backbooth
Oct 19 Miami FL – Grand Central
Oct 21 Guanajuanto, Mexico – Mutek/Cervantino Festival
Oct 23 Santiago, Chile – Festival Fauna Primavera
Oct 27 Sao Paulo, BR – Clash Club
Oct 28 Bogota, Colombia – Downtown
Oct 30 Asheville NC – Moog Festival
Oct 31 Chapel Hill NC – Cat’s Cradle*
^With Russian Futurists
*With Emeralds

Directed by Simon Owens

Congratulations to Caribou for their first debut on the Billboard Top 200 with the release of Swim last month! The critics are raving with Pitchfork deeming Swim “Best New Music” and declaring “Swim is a reminder that even at his most challenging, Snaith’s compositional capabilities can dazzle.”

Order Swim on CD, dbl-LP, or digital download now in the Merge store.

Visit SoundCloud for the song parts and further details on how to enter. The contest ends May 7, and winners will receive Swim on double-LP and CD along with an “Odessa” 12-inch, a t-shirt and two tickets to a Caribou show near you.

Pre-orders are available now for Swim on CD and double-LP in the Merge store, and a special digital pre-order at iTunes which includes an exclusive Junior Boys remix of “Odessa.”

On this tour, you will also see a dramatic difference in the Caribou live performance. Now that technology has finally caught up to Dan’s ambitions for the band’s show, while it will still be four musicians on stage, the dynamic interplay between visuals, electronics and the live sound is totally pliable.

“Now we can play the mix onstage like a dub mixer would – but even moreso than a Lee Perry because almost everything can be manipulated – not just the things that are controlled on a recording studio mixing desk. We can get that washing-around feeling and the unpredictability of sounds undergoing changes all the time.”

CARIBOU TOUR DATES

Apr 19 MANCHESTER – Deaf Institute
Apr 20 LONDON – Corsica Studios
Apr 21 AMSTERDAM – Paradiso
Apr 22 BRUSSELS – Beursschouwburg
Apr 23 PARIS – Le Point Ephemere
Apr 24 LAUSANNE – Le Romandie
Apr 25 ST. GALLEN – Palace
Apr 26 MILAN – Magnolia
Apr 27 MUNICH – Feierwerk
Apr 28 BERLIN – Berghain
Apr 29 HAMBURG – Prinzenbar
Apr 30 AARHUS – Pop Revo Festival
May 01 STOCKHOLM – Strand
May 03 TORONTO, ON – Phoenix
May 04 OTTAWA, ON – Babylon
May 05 MONTREAL, PQ – Tulipe
May 06 BOSTON, MA – Middle East Downstairs
May 07 BROOKLYN, NY – Music Hall
May 08 NEW YORK, NY – Bowery Ballroom
May 09 PHILADELPHIA, PA – First Unitarian
May 10 WASHINGTON, DC – RNR Hotel
May 11 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Jefferson
May 12 CHAPEL HILL, NC – Cat’s Cradle
May 13 ATLANTA, GA – Earl
May 14 BATON ROUGE, LA – Spanish Moon
May 15 HOUSTON, TX – Warehouse Live Studio
May 16 AUSTIN, TX – Emo’s
May 18 PHOENIX, AZ – Clubhouse
May 19 LOS ANGELES, CA – El Rey
May 20 SAN DIEGO, CA – Casbah
May 21 MEXICO CITY, MX – Teatro Fru Fru
May 24 SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Independent
May 26 PORTLAND, OR – Hawthorne
May 28 VICTORIA, BC – Sugar
May 29 VANCOUVER, BC – Rickshaw
May 30 GEORGE, WA – Sasquatch
May 31 CALGARY, AB – Republik
Jun 01 EDMONTON, AB – Starlite
Jun 02 SASKATOON, SK – Amigo’s
Jun 03 WINNIPEG, MB – Royal Albert Arms
Jun 04 MINNEAPOLIS, MN – 7th St Entry
Jun 05 DAVENPORT, IA – Rock Island Brewing Co.
Jun 07 ST. LOUIS, MO – Firebird
Jun 08 LOUISVILLE, KY – Zanzabar
Jun 09 CLEVELAND, OH – Grog Shop
Jun 10 HAMILTON, ON – Casbah
Jun 11 HALIFAX, NS – Paragon

Caribou mastermind Dan Snaith’s latest recording sees him getting busy in the basement with some expertly constructed, rave-tinged sounds that sing with soul. But that’s not all. As a songwriter of considerable standing, Snaith has not subsumed his uniquely recognizable touch in an orgy of technical bliss – although, there is plenty of euphoria in the musical alchemy on offer. From Snaith’s perspective, he says, “The most important thing for me with this record was finding my own sonic vocabulary. That’s why I’m proud of this record.”

Visit Caribou.fm to download, “Odessa” the first MP3 from Swim!

Tracklisting:
1. Odessa
2. Sun
3. Kaili
4. Found Out
5. Bowls
6. Leave House
7. Hannibal
8. Lalibela
9. Jamelia

Photos at Chromewaves!

here goes:
1. Theo Parrish – Goin’ Downstairs / Love Triumphant 12″s (Sound Signature)
2. Koushik – Out My Window (Stones Throw)
3. Fuck Buttons – Street Horrsing (ATP)
4. The Thai Orchestra – S/T (Mississippi Records)
5. Born Ruffians – Red, Yellow and Blue (Warp)
6. Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid – NYC (Domino)
7. Arthur Russell – Love Is Overtaking Me (Audika)
8. Benge – Twenty Systems (Expanding Records)
9. Sinkane – Color Voice (Emergency Umbrella)
10. Carl Craig & Moritz Von Oswald – Recomposed (Deutsche Grammophone)

Caribou Donates Polaris Prize Money to Charities
11/20/2008 By Brock Thiessen
Exclaim.ca

If there was any doubt Dan Snaith was an all-around nice guy, the man better known as Caribou is giving his $20,000 Polaris Prize money to charity. Via Caribou’s website, Snaith recently announced that two Canadian charities — Ecojustice and the Stephen Lewis Foundation — will receive the bulk of the cash prize, while the remaining money will be used to finance Caribou’s next album, which he’s in the early stages of recording, he revealed.

When discussing his choices of charities, Snaith had this to say about donating to Ecojustice: “I have always thought of Canada as an environmentally progressive place… however, recently the Canadian government has acted as a global obstacle to climate action. In a study this year Canada ranked 29th out of 30 industrialized nations for tackling climate change.”

On the Stephen Lewis Foundation, he said: “They fund community-based projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, which address the fact that the AIDS epidemic affects not only those infected but their care networks and communities as a whole, emphasizing women, orphans and grandmothers.”

According to CBC Radio 3 (which alerted us to this story), previous Polaris Prize winner Patrick Watson allegedly spent the $20,000 on a hot tub and a crashed rental van, while Final Fantasy invested his money back into Blocks Recording Club and helped his boyfriend pay off some student loans. (We’ll leave it up to you to decide which winner has spent his money most wisely.)

As previously reported, Caribou took home this year’s Polaris Prize for his 2007 album, Andorra.

Check out the other nominees HERE.

Order Andorra HERE!

Check out more great photos and a show review at My Old Kentucky Blog

so today (may 4th) would’ve been my last day with caribou but unfortunately Brad Weber is still out of commission. fortunately for me i will going to europe with caribou to finish off their may dates. i couldn’t be more excited as i have never played shows outside of north america.

my old band was supposed to do a european tour but we broke up prior to starting the tour. it was a bummer but i am now making up for that by playing probably some of the biggest shows that i will ever play in my life (ATP festival).

the u.s. dates have been absolutely incredible. i think about how incredibly blessed i have been to be a part of this band for this short period of time. it has really helped me re-gain my confidence. after i had to cancel my own tour i was struggling to find out how the hell i would re-coup my losses and start over. being out with caribou has definitely put things into perspective and the advice that i have received from the guys is irreplaceable. i still think of what i would be doing had i not received that phone call or, rather, if my van did not break down and i got an email while on the road.

it might be a little harder for me to update this blog while in europe but i will do my best.

Recent Playlist:
Archie Shepp: Pichin’ Can
Cave: Hunt Like Devil/ new songs from upcoming 7″
Tambourine Ensemble
Love: Da Capo
Human Arts Ensemble: Under The Sun
D’Angelo: Voodoo
Erykah Badu: Mamma’s Gun
Common: Electric Circus
Amnesty: Free-Your-Mind: The 700 West Sessions

Ahmed
replacement drummer

We played in Tucson last night. It’s a nice town very similar to where I went to high school (Kent, OH). There are two kinds of people here: hippies and college kids. It’s pretty funny, actually. Anyway, after the show we hung out with some kids at an apartment. Walking into the place I head a familiar music that I soon realized was Psychedelic Horseshit, a band from Columbus, OH. I was a little confused. It sounds so cliche’ but it’s so hard to realize how much of an impact your local scene is making in music when you’re living it. Columbus, OH is such a humble town. There are so many bands doing big things but you wouldn’t know it if you saw any of these people. The music from the guys in Psychedelic Horseshit, Times New Viking and Pink Reason is a true representation of their lives. It’s not sugar coated one bit. Dirty, grimy with an optimistic and fun overtone to it.

At home, I see these guys all the time sitting at Cafe Bourbon Street arguing about silly stuff and getting drunk and laughing with each other about how fucking cold Columbus is in April. I’ve never been so proud to be a part of that.

It’s funny that it took me hearing a Columbus band hundreds of miles away from home to really understand and appreciate how great of a scene our town has. Seriously, though. It’s so hard to gauge what’s going on in your town until you leave. As far as we’re all concerned we’re just making music because it makes us happy. We don’t know what the hell is going on outside of the city limits. It’s fun to tour and we all want more people to listen to our music but at the end of the day we’re just having fun and excited to go to Carabar and see each other every weekend. You’ll see Blueprint talking with John from El Jesus De Magico about whatever. Envelope and Wes wildin out at a Weedsteeler show. Daymon Dodson running merch at a CDR show. We’ve got such an incredible thing going!

I’m sure that anyone can read this and say similar things about his/her home town. These are just my thoughts. I love Columbus, OH and regardless of where I end up I will represent that town to the fullest.

Long Live Daymon Dodson!

cheers!

ahmed
the replacement drummer

We were in Seattle last night. A lot of my time was spent looking outside at Mt. Rainier. If you are not familiar with that mountain I have attached this blog post with a picture of Mt. Rainier. It is single handedly the most ominous looking land mass in the west coast. I mean, look at it! You cannot take your eyes off of it at all (read previous post about my obsession with large things). I am totally going to kick this mountains ass one day and climb it. Sure, it’s an active volcano and if it blows up it will completely wipe me and the entire city of Seattle out but at least I’ll get to say that I kicked Mt. Rainier’s ass.

The Seattle show was great as was the KEXP radio session that we did. Right now we’re in Portland. We’re playing at a place called the Doug Fir. It’s a log cabin…. .No seriously….

Pretty excited for the upcoming dates. I have yet to go swimming on this tour and We’ll be in California starting tomorrow. I have a rule that I must at least swim in one ocean while on tour. We missed our chance in Florida because I was fine tuning all the drum patterns I had learned the previous days. We did, in fact, get a chance to visit the city of Gibsonton while in Florida. Gibsonton is the town were all the carnies and circus freaks would live during the off season. Several of them have retired and live there to this day. Apparently the post office in Gibsonton has a midget desk and the city has an ordinance allowing residents to keep elephants and circus stuff on their front lawns.

That said, I was totally expecting to get into town and see Lobster Boy, The Alligator Man and Percilla the Monkey Girl hanging out drinking mimosas on some front porch. I didn’t see such a thing at all. Granted it was a Sunday but still… That’s when I would be drinking mimosas on some front porch…. wouldn’t you?
Post office was closed, the tallest man in the world’s restaurant “Giant’s Camp” was out of business and the closest thing to elephants that we saw were a couple of elephant ear candy trailers so it was some what of a let down. But it’s ok. We ran into a park called “Nature Park” located right next to a giant smoke belching silo. That was kind of funny.

Things have been amazing. The guys are treating me as one of their own. I’m very blessed to be in this position. More to come…

Ahmed
“the replacement drummer”

Everyone keeps asking me how I ended up in this position. The short answer is that I am very very lucky and just so happened to trip and fall onto the job. The long answer is as follows:

I have a project called Sinkane that I had been preparing months on end to tour in support of my new record “Color Voice” due out May 6th on Emergency Umbrella Records. Everything was running very smoothly until our van broke down on our way to Chicago. After pumping too much money into fixing the van we ran into more problems and were forced to cancel the first leg on tour. We played two shows and didn’t even leave the state of Ohio. It was a major bummer and I found myself back home in Columbus frustrated and wondering how I could score a van in the next 3 weeks in order to make our second leg of tour.

I had given Dan a demo of my music at a Caribou show in Cleveland last October. To my surprise he liked it and got Sinkane on his show in Columbus on April 9th so I started focusing all of my efforts on making sure we would be ready for that show.

A couple of days after accepting my tour had failed I got an email from Dan about needing a replacement drummer. I was on my way out to a job interview so I quickly responded saying that I would do it and within five minutes I got a phone call from Dan asking me to fly out to North Carolina and meet them that night. I didn’t hesitate to say yes and here I am.

We practiced for 14 + hours that day and I somehow learned enough songs to play the show in Chapel Hill. I still don’t know how I learned those songs and I still feel like this is all a dream. I am a huge Caribou fan and to be playing drums for one of my favorite bands is exciting to say the least.

It’s been a little over two weeks since I have joined the band. We are currently driving through the Rocky Mountains to Vancouver. It’s some of the most beautiful scenery in North America. I have this fear/obsession with mountains and large landscapes: mountains, large bodies of water, whales, etc… It really puts into perspective how little humans are on this Earth. I mean literally. The Rocky Mountains are so big! It’s such an incredible sight!… Here hit this, man…

The shows have been excellent especially Columbus. It was so good to come back and play in front of my friends. I will be posting more frequently now that my computer is working again.

ahmed

Don’t miss Caribou on tour!

Because of the DC cancellation, the NPR broadcast was canceled as well. However, All Songs Considered host, Bob Boilen, did record an interview with Dan Snaith. Listen here!

Caribou

1. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
2. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
3. Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid – Tongues
4. Battles – Mirrored
5. Ariel Pink – Scared Famous
6. No Age – Weirdo Rippers
7. Fridge – The Sun
8. Junior Boys – Dead Horse EP
9. Koushik – Out My Window (not yet released but much enjoyed)
10. Born Ruffians – Red, Yellow and Blue (not yet released but much enjoyed)

Look for Caribou to be back in North America for another round of tour dates in early 2008.

Dan Snaith & crew were filmed on the streets of Paris performing a few songs from their incredible album, Andorra.

Caribou on the Take Away Show – She’s the One and Sundialing directed by Vincent Moon!

Voting for Caribou’s “Melody Day” video happens this week!! You have until Friday at 11:59AM to get your vote in for “Melody Day” to be added to MTVU’s “Freshmen” rotation! VOTE HERE! If you haven’t seen the video yet, click here to catch it!

- Lindsey K.

Tuesday, September 25:
“She’s The One” on Pitchfork
“Melody Day” on Stereogum

Wednesday, September 26:
“Eli” on DayTrotter

Thursday, September 27:
“After Hours” on Gorilla vs. Bear

Friday, September 28:
“Sundialing” on You Ain’t No Picasso

Keep checking back to catch all the videos, and don’t miss the band (two drummers!) on tour in October! CLICK HERE for dates!

Visit Caribou on Myspace, or head on to Virb for a little something different.