UTS,M!

Double Dagger does not make “background music.” The Baltimore trio’s songs are meant to be experienced, rather than just listened to—either at one of their intense performances or with the volume turned up loud enough to feel it in your gut. Double Dagger embodies the contradictions of the fair-yet-blighted city they call home—visceral, raw, cacophonously loud, yet with unexpected moments of clarity, humor, and revelation. Live, Double Dagger’s stripped-down musical line-up, consisting solely of bass, drums, and vocals, somehow manages to sound like a stage-full of musicians. Drummer Denny Bowen hammers the drums with such force that bassist Bruce Willen must employ four amps to match his volume. Singer Nolen Strals wades into, out of, and sometimes on top of the audience, channeling a dynamic energy that often has the three musicians dripping with sweat by the second song.

LAKE is a group of cloudy individuals brought together through lines drawn along Interstate-5, intersecting in olympia on or around 2005. Since forming, they have both gained and lost members, recorded 12 full length albums (only 3 of which have seen proper release), played across the world supporting such talented acts as Adrian Orange and Her Band, Half Handed Cloud, Laura Veirs, and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. The sounds they craft are straight from the playbook of the good parts of Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, and Turkish psychedelic music. Caressing the Rhodes piano, endearing drum fills, guitars that dont sound like guitars, and some slamming bass lines: Listening to LAKE is like pouring sugar in your ears. They'll turn your brain into chocolate, 67% cacao.

An integral part of the Midwest music scene for over a decade, Love of Everything’s Bobby Burg is keeping himself interested by consistently re imagining the sound of the band. Recorded at Chicago’s Semaphore Recording Ltd. on the city’s west side by Neil Strauch (Bonnie Prince Billy / Iron and Wine). Best In Tensions marks the first time Burg has taken a whole album worth of his short, catchy, naive music poems out of the bedroom and into the studio. This time he’s not doing it alone. Joined by his former illegal immigrant wife Elisse La Roche, as well as friends, past and future band mates and whomever else was on-hand to lend their talents, Best In Tensions shelves the “one-man band” ideal in favor of the richer, fuller sound of a band with multiple members.

Elisse had never played drums before joining Love of Everything. Motivated by an opportunity to tour Europe, she learned the basics, studied the songs and found herself installed as Love of Everything’s permanent drummer. 

Love of Everything are Bobby Burg and Elisse La Roche, with additional help from Tim Kinsella (Joan of Arc, Make Believe), Jeremy Bolen (Chin Up Chin Up), Jeanine O’Toole (1900s) and others. 

Therese Aune (NO) plays evocative dream pop on piano, toy piano and other intruments she likes. She started playing the piano as a ten year old, and has over time developed a personal expression which at times is restrained and calm and occasionally ramshackle and playful. Sometimes when the music grows too big for her to play it on her own, she brings a little orchestra along with her. It consists of violin (Hanna Furuseth), cello (Ida Eilertsen), accordion (Magnus Muldal) and drums/percussion (Hans Hulbaekmo). She likes it when the strings are daring to be slightly out of tune, when the accordion plays long drones, when the percussion is both playful and heavy, whilst she plays a wobbly piano on top of it all. She has a powerful and raw voice which gives the ears something to work with, and seeks to shape something that people cannot be indifferent to. So far the music has taken her to festivals like Slottsfjell Festival (NO) and Iceland Airwaves (ICE), and the song "Chameleon" was voted in as Ukas Urørt (Track of the Week) on P3 (Norwegian radio) in 2008.