Caribou

Dan Snaith's early recordings as Manitoba underlined his status among the chattering electronic classes as one of the brightest talents to emerge during the early 2000s. Having already proved himself master of the sublime with his 2000 debut EP, People Eating Fruit, the Canadian's subsequent Paul's Birthday EP opened him out even further. After moving to London, he released an excellent second album, Up in Flames (2003), that saw him become a darling of critics. One year later, however, Snaith was forced to give up the name Manitoba after Dictators frontman Handsome Dick Manitoba sued for trademark infringement, despite the passing of 15 years since the release of the only material under his name. Snaith renamed his project Caribou, his two previous full-lengths were reissued under the new moniker, and he released his first new Caribou album, The Milk of Human Kindness, in 2005 for Domino. Snaith moved to Merge for 2007's gorgeous Brit psych-influenced Andorra -- which won Canada's 2008 Polaris Music Prize -- and 2010's more dancefloor-oriented Swim. ~ Kingsley Marshall, Rovi