Swim (Caribou album)

Swim
Studio album by Caribou
Released 20 April 2010
Recorded Bryn Derwen Studio, Wales
Pistachio Studio, Hamilton, Ontario
Genre Electronic, folktronica, deep house, minimal techno, experimental, neo-psychedelia
Length 43:17
Label City Slang (Europe)
Merge (North America)
Producer Dan Snaith
Caribou chronology

Andorra
(2007)		 Swim
(2010)		 Jiaolong
(2012)
Singles from Swim
  1. "Odessa"
    Released: 25 January 2010
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 83/100[1]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [2]
The A.V. Club A−[3]
BBC Music favourable[4]
Clash 8/10[5]
Drowned in Sound 9/10[6]
The Guardian [7]
musicOMH [8]
NME 8/10[9]
One Thirty BPM 85%[10]
Pitchfork Media 8.4/10[11]
Slant Magazine [12]
Resident Advisor 4/5[13]

Swim is an album by Caribou, released in April 2010. It was his first album featuring new material since the 2008 Polaris Music Prize-winning Andorra. It featured great changes in comparison to its predecessor, deviating from the psychedelic pop sound and taking more influences from various kinds of electronic dance music, especially deep house and minimal techno.

Dan Snaith, the creative force behind Caribou, said that playing more DJ gigs, such as those at London's Plastic People, influenced him to embrace dance music and a greater range of frequencies in his music.[14] It was songs written for these DJ sets which ultimately came to comprise Swim, though Snaith never originally intended for them to find their way into a Caribou album. Snaith says his work ethic on this album led to about 700 leftover songs, some unfinished, which did not make the album; Swim was, according to Snaith "pretty much me getting up every day and wanting to work on music. Working constantly on it. Making loads and loads and loads of music and then just sifting through to find the bits that I like".[15]

The album was recognized as one of The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far by Pitchfork Media in August 2014.[16]

Reception

The album received very positive ratings from critics, including a rating of 8.4 out of 10 and a "Best New Music" label from Pitchfork.[17] It was a shortlisted nominee for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize,[18] and was named best album of 2010 by Resident Advisor, an Internet magazine focusing on electronic music.[19] The album also won the Juno Award in 2010 for best Electronic Album of the Year and was awarded the second spot in Exclaim!'s 2010 Electronic Year in Review. Daniel Sylvester of Exclaim! praised the organic nature of the album, claiming "Caribou will be remembered for Swim."[20]

Publications ranking Swim on their end-of-year lists included:

The first track on the album, "Odessa", was featured in a commercial for the automobile manufacturer Acura, the soccer video game FIFA 11, as well as in a 2011 Lexus CT 200h commercial, and a 2012 Tissot commercial for watches.[21]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Odessa"   5:15
2. "Sun"   5:44
3. "Kaili"   4:41
4. "Found Out"   3:18
5. "Bowls"   6:20
6. "Leave House"   5:11
7. "Hannibal"   6:14
8. "Lalibela"   2:25
9. "Jamelia" (features vocals by Luke Lalonde of Born Ruffians[22]) 3:58
Total length:
 43:17

Swim Remixes, a compilation of remixes from the album, was released in 2010 by Merge Records and features remixes by artists such as Junior Boys, Fuck Buttons, and Nite Jewel.

References

  1. ↑ "Swim Reviews, Rating, and More". Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  2. ↑ Sendra, Tim. Swim (Caribou album) at AllMusic
  3. ↑ Kornhaber, Spencer (2011-08-05). "Caribou: Swim | Music | Music Review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2011-08-30.
  4. ↑ Chris Beanland (14 April 2010). "Review of Caribou - Swim". BBC Music. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  5. ↑ Will Salmon (21 April 2010). "Album Review: Caribou: Swim". Clash. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  6. ↑ Hayden Woolley (12 April 2010). "Caribou - Swim". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  7. ↑ Costa, Maddy (15 April 2010). "Caribou: Swim". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  8. ↑ "Caribou - Swim | album reviews". musicOMH. Retrieved 2011-08-30.
  9. ↑ Alex Denney (16 April 2010). "Album Review: Caribou - 'Swim (City Slang)". NME. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  10. ↑ Rob Galo (20 April 2010). "Album Review: Caribou - Swim". One Thirty BPM. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  11. ↑ Larry Fitzmaurice (20 April 2010). "Pitchfork Album Reviews: Caribou: Swim". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  12. ↑ Jesse Cataldo (19 April 2010). "Album Review: Caribou: Swim". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  13. ↑ Derek Miller (6 May 2010). "RA Reviews: Caribou - Swim". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  14. ↑ http://www.sfweekly.com/2010-10-06/music/caribou-s-dan-snaith-aims-to-ignite-the-dancefloor/
  15. ↑ Malitz, David (7 May 2010). "Dan Snaith of Caribou brings energy to music and mathematics". The Washington Post.
  16. ↑ "The Top 100 albums of 2010-2014".
  17. ↑ Fitzmaurice, Larry (2010-04-20). "Pitchfork Album Review: Caribou - Swim". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2011-08-30.
  18. ↑ Thompson, Ciaran (20 September 2010). "Karkwa win 2010 Polaris Music Prize". Aux. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
  19. ↑ Top 20 Albums of 2010 - 15 Dec 2010
  20. ↑ Daniel Sylvester [Exclaim! 2010 Electronic Year in Review
  21. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjCHsQPiShY
  22. ↑ "Caribou - Swim". City Slang. Retrieved 1 February 2010.