Dan Snaith’s new ‘Daphni’ disco

Mr Snaith of Caribou notoriety has shed light on an exciting project under a new alias, Daphni. Over a year since the successful reception of ‘Swim‘ he returns with two teasers following the release of a collaboration with long-time friend Kieren Hebden, otherwise known as Four Tet, who together launched the 12″ back in March on Hebden’s own Text Records. Here, Daphni’s contribution came in the form of a dark and bassy number with Gameboy style melodics in the background and a loud and punchy Detroit-esque vocal in the foreground – but the following two releases from the Canadian go down a completely different direction, both in method and sound.

The two installments that lie in the wake of his debut release earlier this year are called The Daphni Edits Vols 1 & 2, released via Resista Records. They showcase Snaith’s editing abilities on three appropriated tracks from across the globe – Volume 1 consists of ‘Mapfumo‘, 12 and a half minutes-worth of funky afrobeat disco, originally reigning from Zimbawe, that Snaith has carefully constructed to sound like an original in itself.
Daphni – NPE by resista

Following on from this tropical teaser comes Vol 2, a couple of edits found from far and wide and released just this week, again on Resista. First comes all the way from New Zealand and can only be described as “psychedelic primary school disco”, where Daphni’s Midas touch has been applied on a contemporary track by Kiwi group ‘Orchestra of Spheres‘. The second is an older treasure from Western African that Snaith has masterfully restored, restructuring the drums into a syncopated beat and cutting up the guitar and vocals over the top to create an incredibally cheery summer vibe.

In constantly taking on new monikers, combining genres and reinventing his sound, Snaith is paving the way for new music – and it doesn’t seem like his new Daphni direction will be any different. Listen on Phonica’s website for the latest tracks on The Edits Vol 2, and watch this space for more to come.

Published August 09, 2011.