Caribou

Sun., May 9, 7:30 p.m., $13, with Toro Y Moi, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 877-435-9849, r5productions.com.

by K. Ross Hoffman

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Published: May 5, 2010

electronic

If Dan Snaith's tuneful, '60s-kissed 2007 album Andorra could be summed up by the title of its stunning tone-setter, "Melody Day," his new one is more like Rhythm Night. Like his close friend and stylistic fellow-traveler Four Tet, the free-floating IDM/psych/pomo-pop polymath is currently embracing the sparseness, throbbing pulse and structural minimalism of dance music to an unprecedented degree. Of course, he does it on his own organically mutating, texturally expansive terms, exploring quite a range from shimmering harps and Tibetan singing bowls on "Bowls" to the burnished quivering synths and Beach Boy vocals of "Kaili" to the twisted disco nightmare of advance single "Odessa." Caribou's clubward shift is a bold, bracing and largely rewarding one — here's hoping the more stripped-down, straight-ahead beats won't compromise the energy of what has long been one of the most visceral and riveting stage shows in "electronic music," powered by Snaith's infectiously exuberant drumming.

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