CARIBOU BROKE A GROOVY SWEAT AT SUMMERSTAGE

The Canadian electronic rock band Caribou came in NYC to play a free show at Central Park’s Summerstage on a balmy Thursday evening to the raptorous enjoyment of a joyously sweaty and feverishly dancing crowd. I was first exposed to this outfit a decade ago when I saw them open for Radiohead, but even playing for such seasoned experimental rock veterans they definately stood out, and I could tell they were destined for amazing things. Groove master and brainchild of the group Dan Snaith has been going at the music scene since the early 2000’s with his uniquely funky groves, spacey atmospheres, as well as generous helpings of both electronic bleeps, and robotic noises and trippy nature sounds alike. It’s that conflict and contrast between the natural and the artificial that drives the music and has also given him quite a bit of attention in the electronic scene. He is a master of blending the absurd and the harmnonic, and his 2020 album Suddenly was one of the few things that got me personally through the pandemic.

Brooklyn electro-dance artist Ela Minus opened the show with a wonderfully rebellious mix of goth disco. Ela played in an emo band in her native Colombia, and she then trained as a jazz drummer at Berklee, where she also learned to design and build synthesizers, and now her sound is a real triumph of mixtures of all of those elements and more. Her debut album Acts of Rebellion, also from 2020, similarly got many people through quaranteen with some stunningly ethereal grooves that spoke to themes of isolation and diconnection, and her music is more timely than ever now.

Ela Minus

Dan Snaith came out on stage dressed all in white, took off his shoes, and got down to business with his quartet that included guitarist Ryan Smith, drummer Brad Weber, and bassist John Schmersal all of whom huddle close in the middle of the stage as a brightly projected graphics play on the screen behind the band that remains largely shrouded in darkness. Their set was mostly songs from their last album Suddenly, and some from 2014’s Our Love and Swim, including songs like “Can’t Do Without You,” “Odessa,” “You Can Do It,” “You and I,” “Home,” and closing out the night with “Can’t Do Without You.” The songs had a real extra pep of energy with the extra drum kit kicking in some extra energy, and the good vibes were real strong in the wildly dancing crowd despite the hostile heat.