This year’s Nighttime Øya bill is growing nice and strong. Now we’re ready with batch number two of wicked names for our nightly events during the festival week. A valid Øya ticket (or pass/wrist band) will grant you a discount on the entry fee to these gigs.

NEW ACTS FOR NIGHTTIME ØYA:

ANDREW BIRD (US) / BLITZEN TRAPPER (US) – Wednesday Aug. 12 at Rockefeller
Quite the package, this is!
Singer/songwriter/violinist Andrew Bird makes rather unusual and ever so enchanting pop music with room for folk, gypsy and swing jazz. He’s out now with his eighth album, Noble Beast. It got a 5/6 in Norwegian national newspaper Aftenposten and a 6/7 in the webzine Groove: “This shows just how amazing pop music can be.”
Blitzen Trapper boasts tunes so good that they needn’t worry when playing their unconfined rock and unrestricted mixing of genres. Their fourth album, Furr, landed 5/6 in the Norwegian national newspapers Aftenposten and Dagsavisen, as well as the TV show Lydverket: “A musical bear hug.”
MYSPACE – ANDREW BIRD
MYSPACE – BLITZEN TRAPPER
CC: 250,- NOK / 200,- NOK (for those who hold a 5-day Festival Pass or Day Pass for Wednesday). 18 yr. age limit, ID mandatory. NB! Doors open at 22 p.m.

KARL BLAU (US) – Wednesday Aug. 12 at Garage
How does one describe Karl Blau’s music? Well, that’s about as easy as finding George Bush charming. He has described himself as a “mirror of sound”. He reflects what he hears and what he likes, no matter where it might stem from. One can also describe his music as a melting pot of fifty years of music history, no less. If we were to label him, we might say that he plays some kind of eclectic indie folk rock (that rolls nicely off your tongue, wouldn’t you say?). He is a member of the K Records collective and also publishes music through his own subscription service, Kelp Lunacy. Besides, he has also cooperated and toured with both Phil Elverum and Laura Veirs.
MYSPACE
Ticket info coming soon.
JOE GIDEON & THE SHARK (UK) – Thursday Aug. 13. at Garage
Joe Gideon and his little sister Viva spent the summer of 2006 getting drunk in the barn and recording songs on an 8-track. Before that they played together in Bikini Atoll, but now they’re back as a duo. The two years that have gone by since those songs saw the light of day, JG&TS have spent playing support for bands and musicians like Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Duke Spirit, Scout Niblett and Seasick Steve. If you were to throw Nick Cave, Einstürzende Neubauten and Seasick Steve into a stew and bring ‘em to a boil, you’d probably be left with JG&TS. This is a raw, energetic blues rock duo with a richly detailed sound, and live-wise this is sure to be an ass-kicking Nighttime Øya highlight.
MYSPACE
Ticket info coming soon.

WOODEN SHJIPS (US) – Friday Aug. 14 at Funhouse
Wooden Shjips might be from the opposite coastline, but their music definitely still has a lot in common with Crystal Stilts, Crystal Antlers and Times New Viking. This bunch, then, doesn’t stem from the “Brooklyn scene”—they grew up in the sunshine, on the trolley tracks; San Francisco and the neighboring areas are what they call home. The band has been praised to the skies by the legendary rock critic David Fricke (Rolling Stone) and is signed to the visionary labels Sub Pop and Holy Mountain. This is psychedelic and at times minimalist garage rock – but first and foremost it’s experimental, so don’t be surprised if improvisation occurs and a thick layer of smoke spreads across the stage. If wicked, hypnotic rock is your thing, then Funhouse is where you should spend this Friday night.
MYSPACE
Ticket info coming soon.