Biography

Dan Snaith aka Manitoba is a Toronto, Canada-based classical/jazz trained musician and a Master-qualified pure mathematician. Merging pretty synth lines, gentle glitches and crisp programming, Manitoba's 2001 debut Start Breaking My Heart shared stylistic and thematic parallels with electronic music illuminati such as the Aphex Twin, Boards Of Canada and Four Tet, with warm analogue tones, song titles like "Children Play Well Together" and "Paul's Birthday', plus an acute focus on melody (Snaith has explicitly stated that he wants to create accessible songs rather than simply abstract tracks). Despite overt comparison with the Aphex Twin, Manitoba's debut also looked to psychedelic rock, classic pop, folk, and indie for inspiration. Start Breaking My Heart"s playful skipping rhythms and intricate percussion prompted the magazine Popmatters to proclaim "The electronic geeks and modern day-trippers of the world may have found their leader." Nevertheless, or perhaps because of this, ahead of the follow-up, Snaith seemed to reject electronica's similitude. Manitoba preceded his second album with an amusingly titled EP, If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, but on Up In Flames drew overt inspiration from bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Mercury Rev, the Beach Boys and the Byrds. The album was constructed on the same computer as its predecessor plus guitars, keyboards and glockenspiel but eschewed electronica's usual palette of sounds. Snaith even declared he was sick of laptop shows and mutated Manitoba into a functioning band. Up In Flames notably included a duo of collaborations with Koushik, a friend and singer-songwriter who had previously released just one single on Kieran Hebden's Text label.
DISCOGRAPHY: Start Breaking My Heart (Leaf 2001)***, Up In Flames (Leaf 2003)***.

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