Music Review - Caribou

After 3 long years we finally get to hear from the fantastic Caribou once again with the release of his latest album Swim.

Formerly known as the artist Manitoba, Daniel Victor Snaith has been mor popularly known as the talented Caribou (after being forced to change the name of his act). Coming from London, Ontario, this Canadian musician graces us with some amazing electronic beats and a beautiful soft and haunting voice. His music really sets the mood whether it makes you feel happy, sad, and, most of all, inspired.

My stand out track for him in general would have to be the masterpiece "Irene". It feels so empty, and so full of emotion at the same time; the best "chill out" mellow track I've ever heard.

But back to this latest album, Im finding theres more energy in these tracks than from what I've heard from him before. The music seems more intense. You can give the tracks a listen for free here.

Giving it more listens now I am finding this album to definetly be a grower, at first I thought I was dissapointed with it, being such a big Caribou lover, but I really do enjoy this album after all. Caribou is a genius and makes some beautiful tracks, and who am I kidding, theyre always hard to resist. The whole thing offers most of the same old Caribou style with a bit more dancibility, so no complaints there.

My stand out tracks for this album: "Kaili", "Leave House", and the closing track, "Jamelia". But I also enjoyed the single "Odessa" which was released for download some time ago [and available for download here]:

All in all I guess I wasn't let down by Caribou after all, and Im dissapointed in myself for thinking he did. He is definetly an amazingly talented musician, cant wait to hear more from him, even if it takes another 3 years.

-laura schütte. [more from me here]

Book Review: The Sartorialist

Though Scott Schuman's book came out a while ago we still had to check it out and give it an overall coolness rating. Full of gorgeous photos this book is definitely one to keep as reference. Yet, if you are a follower of the blog, the print edition is a bit too much of the same. To be honest, I was expecting something more. I wanted to find out about the person behind the camera and have more insights into how he takes his shots and why. The book had very little description and ultimately failed to be anything other than the blog in book format. So much more could have been done with the book. The photos are stunning but for free you can see it all on the website. Ultimately, the book fails to be worthwhile. 

To the Streets - Martina of Dragonette

31. Musician. Toronto

Wearing spandex black pants, black shiny dance shoes, and rocking a bowl cut. 

The Return of the Favourite: U Magazine

U Magazine is an online mag from Brazil focused on fashion, youth and people. Established in 2006 this magazine has been raging on the interweb and is available to all for free. What makes U Mag different is it's ability to continually give fierce and thought provoking editorials issue after issue. When I first came across U Mag the establishment was still it its beginnings and focused on using computer technology to create art. Photoshop was used to the greatest I've ever seen it with a focus on combining photos without the usual beauty touchup. U Mag feels raw in ways which most magazines seem to lack. What use to make NYLON so cool is what has stuck with U Mag since the beginning. As such, I would suggest that one start at the beginning when going through their online archives and then watch to see how they grew. To check out more of U Mag click here.

[photo credit - U_MAG]

To the Streets - Margot M

21. Philosophy student. New Brunswick/Montreal.

Classic Book Review: The Artist in His Studio

This masterpiece of a book, written by Alexander Liberman, has been a favourite of mine for most of my student years. Filled with insights into the lives of artists, it is a work which really delves into the creative process. This book, while still a favourite of mine, has some flaws. After reading this book for the third time I came to realize something I hadn't noticed before. "Wait a moment, there are only two female artists featured in this book. There are thirty-two artists featured and only two are female. One, at that, was only featured with her also-happened-to-be-an-artist husband." It's too bad. Liberman's book has been praised for decades as a showcase of the contemporary artists of his period, yet less than 0.7% of the artists featured were female. This truly is a book about the artist in his studio. A worthwhile read but I wish Liberman had added more female artists.

Music Review - Goldfrapp

The always awesome English electro duo Goldfrapp is back with another great album, "Head First".

"Head First" offers that great pop music with plenty of 80's inspiration as we've come to expect from Goldfrapp. With that said the new album is nothing surprising, but its full of plenty of great tracks thatll make you want to sing your lungs out and dance around in some legwarmers.

Stand out tracks for me are the very danceable "Shiny Warm", the peaceful "Voicething", and of course their catchy new single, "Rocket":

[The back up dancers have some pretty amazing jean vests.]

You can preview all the tracks at [their site], top left.

Though I did like this new album, for me, it just doesnt compare to the older ones, in paticular 2005's "Supernature" and their absoutly brilliant debut back from 2001, "Felt Mountain". It was definetly enjoyable and fun, but it was nothing new and exciting.

I loved "Felt Mountain" for how beautiful and strange it was. I found all the tracks off the album to be just spectacular, but songs like the entrancing and surreal title track, "Felt Mountain" and the cabaret styled "Oompa Radar" were really special.

And of course who can forget how much fun "Supernature" was with hits like "Ohh La La" and "Ride A White Horse" [and its hilariously disturbing video].

So yes, "Head First" was a good album, but come on Goldfrapp, surprise us next time!

-laura schütte. [more from me here]