STOP PRESS!
MANITOBA TO BECOME CARIBOU
Dan Snaith, who released the albums Up In Flames (2003) and Start Breaking My Heart (2001) under the name Manitoba, has changed his name to Caribou following a lawsuit in the US. Frontman for punk band The Dictators, Handsome Dick Manitoba, sued Snaith for trademark infringement, despite never having released music under the names ‘Manitoba’ or ‘Handsome ‘Dick’ Manitoba’.
“My immediate reaction was total disbelief,” says Snaith. “Most of the people I’ve talked to about it see this case as being utterly nonsensical. Unfortunately, US legal precedent didn’t agree and faced with a court case that I couldn’t afford to lose, I had no choice but to change the name.”
Having spent the last year touring Up in Flames throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Australia with bands such as Stereolab, Four Tet, Broadcast and Prefuse 73, Dan is back in the studio working on the first Caribou album. Tentatively entitled The Milk of Human Kindness.
“This whole thing is an irritating distraction at a time when I’m more excited about the music I’m working on than ever before. I’m half way through finishing this new album and I can already tell that it's the best and most focused music I’ve ever made.
“I’m of the opinion that every second I spend talking about this Dick guy is a waste of my time.”
Asked about why he chose Caribou (a large reindeer native to northern North America) as the new name, Canadian Snaith offers “We were just about to start a Canadian tour when we found out about this and it made sense to look there for the new name. We’d heard hippy friends of ours going on ‘vision quests’. I'm not sure we really understood the idea correctly but by the time we’d soaked our proverbial bandanas in the brown-acid dunk-tank and strapped ourselves to crucifixes on the back of a flatbed truck for a few weeks it became painfully obvious that the new name had to be Caribou. Talking caribou were central to our hallucinations.” Ironically, news of the lawsuit came just before Snaith performed his first concert in Manitoba – the Canadian province from whence he took the name.
Snaith’s previous albums will be re-released worldwide under the new name. The Special Edition version of Up In Flames will be withdrawn, with the original single CD version taking its place. So catch that one while you can!
The new album will be released worldwide under the name Caribou, through Domino in North America and The Leaf Label for the rest of the world.
“At the end of the day, nothing’s going to change other than the name. I’m still attacking making music with the same fanatical vigour that I was before, and the music’s only getting better.”
I really don't know what to say, it's just laughable. At least Mr Snaith's finally confirmed he is doing another album but seriously, Caribou? |
