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Aug 11, 2014 By Laura Studarus Frøkedal

Øya Festival kicked off the opening night of their 2014 event with a club night featuring Norwegian artists. This was a wise decision. At the core of all festivals are the same basic ingredients—music, fans, and booze. After catching festivals in Calgary, Montreal, and Gdynia this summer, it was nice to be reminded just what makes Oslo different from everywhere else in the world. Among their outstanding local talent showcases, I caught sets from Intertwine, Anne Lise Frøkedal, and POW POW.

I missed Intertwine at by:Larm by mere moments, so it was a pleasure to finally experience the Trondheim-based band’s hazy brand of atmospheric pop. Their dizzying sensibility (a pissed off Sigur Ros is a good starting point—although the band’s ethos is certainly more about dreams than anger), was augmented by live horns. It was music that seems to drift on a Nordic breeze. (Oh yeah, the weather was stunning, that’s a theme we’ll return to.)

Anne Lise Frøkedal is the kind of talented musician who is pretty much everywhere. (See: her involvement in I Was a King, Harrys Gym, Kolstø/Atlanter/Frøkedal, guest spot on Chad Valley’s album….if you ask nicely she’d probably do a stint in your band.) Given her ubiquity in the Norwegian scene, it was interesting to see her solo set. Frøkedal has the kind of soft, voice that can imply both sweetness and pain in a single phrase. Coupled with her acoustic guitar lines, and you’ve got the kind of folk heartbreaker ripe for export.

The final band of the night was POW POW, who makes shiny pop sounds like the post-Daft Punk/Passion Pit mash-up we all deserve. The crowd was dancing, the club was hot, and the vibe was more early Saturday night than late Tuesday evening. Hey, they’re called Pow Pow after all. This is music meant to hit the straight to the bran’s pleasure center.

Throw in a few drinks, a clutch of friends that seem to grow larger as the night progressed, and with that the week was off to the races. I’d like to lie and tell you I was conserving my energy for what was to come. But by the time I made the walk back to my hotel it was pushing 2am. Not that I minded one bit.

(www.facebook.com/intertwinemusikk)

(www.facebook.com/iwasaking)

(www.powpow.no)