Caribou Honey

Dan Snaith's latest album, Honey, marks an intriguing new phase for Caribou. Over more than two decades Dan Snaith has had many guises. After putting every ounce of himself into Our Love and Suddenly, for his sixth Caribou album Snaith now pulls himself away a little in search of music that isn’t about any one person and is available to everybody. Huge dancefloor tracks twinkle, shimmer and surprise in a way only Snaith’s productions can but with a freshness that defines an artist who is too excited by music- making to ever truly settle into any one sound.

Upon first listen, two things about Honey are immediately clear: First, it is an entirely new kind of Caribou record. Second, in being an entirely new kind of Caribou record, it is in keeping with Dan Snaith's discography, each new album marked by radical thematic and sonic shifts. Honey is not a departure from the Caribou we've known up to this point but rather the product of a lifetime spent listening to and crafting immaculate pop music. After two intensely personal Caribou albums (Suddenly and the Grammy-nominated Our Love), Snaith now pulls himself away a little in search of music that isn't about any one person and is relatable to everybody. It also brings Snaith's two personas, Caribou and Daphni, closer together than ever before. On Honey, Snaith fuses their strengths into a record that grabs you and moves you like Daphni before it uplifts you like Caribou. Huge dancefloor tracks twinkle and surprise in a way only Snaith's productions can, with a freshness that defines an artist who is too excited by music-making to ever truly settle into any one sound.

Between 1988 and 1991 – during the band’s 4AD years – Pixies recorded six sessions for the BBC, five for John Peel and one for Mark Goodier. Catching the raw energy of the band’s live performances, these sessions felt immediately noteworthy, timestamping a moment when Black Francis, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago and David Lovering were motoring out front. Among the twenty-four tracks they recorded in this period (inc. two doubles - ‘Allison’ and ‘Wave of Mutilation’) are favourites from mini-album Come on Pilgrim and three of their four 4AD studio albums. Also recorded were three covers; reworks of The Beatles’ ‘Wild Honey Pie’, Eraserhead’s ‘(In Heaven) Lady in the Radiator Song’ and The Beach Boys’ ‘Hang On To Your Ego’, a track Black Francis covered a few years later on his debut Frank Black solo album.

Between 1988 and 1991 – during the band’s 4AD years – Pixies recorded six sessions for the BBC, five for John Peel and one for Mark Goodier.

Merge continues its 20th anniversary festivities with a comp of non-label artists– Bright Eyes, Shins, New Pornos– covering songs from its catalog.
Merge Records doesn't look its age. Originally formed as an outlet for Superchunk material, the Durham, N.C.-based label has grown into an indie institution, but only gradually– year by year, release by release. It never allied itself with a scene or a sound, so the mind doesn't automatically tether it to a specific place or time, the way Sub Pop, despite its strong roster this decade, will be most closely associated with Seattle in the late 1980s and early 90s. So it's hard to believe Merge is already 20 years old, an occasion the label is marking with a big birthday bash– the five-day XX Merge fest in July– and a subscription-only series of commemorative retrospectives and remixes. Perhaps the most intriguing party favor is Score! Twenty Years of Merge Records: The Covers, a choppy but oddly endearing compilation that enlists 20 non-Merge acts to cover Merge songs.

La collection Nova Tunes couronne 20 ans de sélection musicale avec un ultime coffret: Nova Tunes 3.1 - 4.0. Depuis le tout début du siècle, CD après CD, la série de compilations Nova Tunes s’est attachée à retracer le Grand Mix de Radio Nova, à travers ses titres les plus emblématiques. Leur mise en coffret fait l’évènement tous les cinq ans. Pour son dernier coup de maître, le visuel fluo de la nouvelle box annonce le flash qui se produit à la découverte de son contenu : dix CDs réunissant près de 200 titres passionnément butinés par les artisans du Grand Mix : le nectar de la playlist de Nova. Quarante ans après la création de la radio en 1981, avant le passage à une nouvelle ère, voici donc l’ultime Nova Tunes 3.1_4.0. Érudite et fouineuse, toutes les saveurs musicales s’y côtoient : funk, pop, hip-hop, électro, world, reggae… en tout, ce sont cinq années de célébration des rythmes d’ici et d’ailleurs, dans toute leur richesse et leur diversité. Avec : Tame Impala / Lomepal / Tony Allen / Metronomy / Myd / Oumou Sangaré / Flavien Berger / MGMT / Caribou / Parcels / James Blake / Myd / Kaytranada / Biga Ranx / The Specials…

O.C. Smith began as a jazz vocalist and later moved into country and R&B. The Louisiana vocalist was hired to replace Joe Williams in Count Basie's band in the early '60s after cutting some unsuccessful records for Cadence and others in the '50s. He sang with Basie's band from 1961 to 1963. Following a period where he sang country and even had a hit with "Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp," Smith moved into soul. His biggest hit was "Little Green Apples," which was number two on both the pop and R&B charts in 1968. His other big R&B single was "Daddy's Little Man," which reached number nine in 1969. Smith stayed on Columbia until 1974, but didn't score any more big records.