{$Dan Snaith}'s recordings as {$Manitoba} exuded a flair for recycling the most enthusiastic of early-'90s {\indie rock} within the context of a one-man production band. Slightly naïve and only a passable songwriter, he nevertheless compensated with his gushing productions and the sort of breathless vocals that only a newcomer can imbue with such pleasure. After dealing with a slight setback ({$Handsome Dick Manitoba}'s baffling appropriation of the name, which led to {$Snaith}'s subsequent rebirth as {$Caribou}), he proves on {^The Milk of Human Kindness} that his compositional powers have grown during his five years on the scene. (The seven-minute {&"A Final Warning,"} with its smooth, ebb-and-flow glissandos, is easily his most accomplished production yet.) Unfortunately, although {$Snaith} may sound novel expanding upon his indie forebears of ten years ago, when he begins conjuring the ghosts of {\Krautrock} ({&"A Final Warning,"} {&"Bees"}) or {\trip-hop} ({&"Lord Leopard"}), as he does here, he's entering the company of talented producers who have ploughed the same ground ({$Stereolab} and {$DJ Shadow}, most obviously). The opener and first single, {&"Yeti,"} is one of the prime disappointments, a one-note rocker that attempts to strike the same chord as {$Snaith}'s previous classic {&"Hendrix With Ko"} with nothing like the same results. Similar however, to what happened on {^Up in Flames} (his final {$Manitoba} record), dedicated listeners will find excellent material on the second half of the record. As {$Snaith} straightforwardly hums his choruses on the minimalist {\folk} of {&"Hello Hammerheads,"} or conjures {$Robert Wyatt} with the eccentric, driving {\pop} of {&"Brahminy Kite,"} he shows that he still has plenty of room to roam to be bothered messing around with second-rate imitations of long-dead styles. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide