Saturday, March 17   9:00 p.m.
Elysium   (705 Red River St)

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  The Berg Sans Nipple - Mystic Song
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The Franco-American duo The Berg Sans Nipple consists of (but is not limited to) Lori Sean Berg and Shane Aspegren. The former is a suave Frenchman from the dirty rues of gay Parieee and the latter is a lanky Scandinavian-looking fellow who actually hails from the dusty plains of Nebraska. Once rumored to have been Siamese twins separated at birth (according to them, their relationship is really much closer to that of Ghost Dog and the ice cream vendor), the reality is only more mundane at first glance: two kids (both best known as drummers) trapped in a tangled mess of cables, keyboards, samplers, horns, bells, machines and drums.
After one album, three EPs (one of which was a soundtrack), a handful of compilation tracks and several treks around Europe during the last four years, the Berg Sans Nipple have their first "proper" N. American release with "Along the Quai" (close enough after their recent single on Chocolate Industries to not count). Recorded over two sessions in a house in a far-out Parisian suburb with Antoine Gaillet (who's recorded everyone from NTM to Johnny Halliday to M83), "Along the Quai" is easily the BSN's most ambitious recording to date. Stretching all of the previous hints of influence even deeper, the album somehow manages to easily weave dreamy electronica, percussion-heavy afro-beats, layers of feedback, pop melodies and dub blankets, creating a cohesive collage of everything that's influenced the duo since birth. There's also a remarkable difference compared to the previous releases in that half of the album's tracks are vocal-heavy. Not that voice is a new element in their music, but it is much more present and more personal this time around. Their first album "Form of..." featured guest vocals from Luke Sutherland (critically acclaimed novelist and former Long Fin Killie/Bows frontman) and Maria Taylor (Azure Ray), as well as instrumental contributions from members of Do Make Say Think and engineer Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes). This time around, and with a conscious decision, there was no other input to the outcome...

shane aspegren - drumset, percussion, words, voice, programming, melodica, kalimba, glockenspiel, keyboards, broken traynor and various pedals, machines, etc...

lori sean berg - electric and acoustic piano, portable bass piano, synthesizers, trumpet, glockenspiel, assdrum and other percussion, voice, amps and various pedals, machines, etc...