Caribou

Originally crafting records as Manitoba, Dan Snaith rebranded himself as Caribou in 2004. The moniker transition — from a Canadian province to an antlered mammal — paralleled his sonic shift. 2003's groundbreaking Up in Flames was full of psychedelic bedroom-pop, but this year's Swim highlights vintage drum machines and dusty synths. Even with its sonic references to the likes of the Pet Shop Boys, Swim maintains Snaith's ethos: the melding of synthetic and organic materials by a lone computer nerd obsessed with Brian Eno and Brian Wilson. Much like Snaith's aesthetic brethren (LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes), these oft-intrusive recordings evolve into indisputable party jams when Caribou migrates to the stage.