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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Top 50 albums of the 00s - #46, Caribou: Andorra

Yep, we're counting down the top 50. Click here for overview and criteria.

The album begins as though you are interrupting it in the middle of something. Like you're the distraction. It's not the greatest way to draw a listener in. Perhaps that's part of the reason it took me forever to get into this record. In fact, though I certainly appreciated its value, it wasn't until I caught the band live at the Pitchfork Festival that I actually "got it." But now I find myself being pulled to spin this disc all the time. Of course, this leads me to hope that it will continue to bear new fruit in the years to come.

Andorra feels like music from another time. Many other times, actually. At various points we sense anything from a Beatles throwaway track to something from the late 80s to a 1970s exploitation film. Group leader Dan Snaith clearly took an idea from here, a piece from there, and sounds from wherever he could pick them up. Mostly, it sounds dreamy and driven at the same time.

This is headphone music, not a singalong album. With no background noise and time to savor each note, it plays all the better. In a way, it sounds like an event - like there are a lot more people in the room than you anticipated. yet it all remains just surreal enough that you can't quite put your finger on any of it. the end result is that it fits all kinds of moods and situations. On an i-pod in a crowded city, you feel like you're in a movie. Yet it also works as background music during breakfast at home. Like I said, this one took me a while, but these days I dig the hell out of it.






Previous Entries:
#47 - Mastodon - Crack the Skye
#48 - Shout Out Louds - Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
#49 - At the Drive-In: Relationship of Command
#50 - Rival Schools: United by Fate