Destroyer & Sandro Perri June 11, 2012

Over the course of his career as Destroyer, Dan Bejar has established himself and his band as one of the most unpredictable success stories in modern popular music. As a songwriter, Bejar is recognized as having few peers. As a musician, he is like the court jester, waiting in the wings, poking fun at those who take themselves too seriously and skewering those who would celebrate commerce as art.

Dan Bejar started Destroyer as a solo home-recording project in the early to mid-nineties. In 1996, he released his debut full length of stripped-down, lo-fi electric folk, Well Build Them a Golden Bridge. Soon the Destroyer template expanded to include a rhythm section, and Bejar was compelled to head into a proper studio to record City of Daughters in 1998. It was with Daughters that Bejar began to develop his own unique lyrical voice, a voice that continued to evolve and refine itself over the course of his next two records, Thief and Streethawk: A Seduction. Destroyer seemingly had produced its masterwork with Streethawk, a highly refined send-up and condemnation of popular culture, an idea honed to razor-sharp precision. The album became one of the most acclaimed recordings of 2001, and the Destroyer mystique captured music fans and critics alike.

Destroyer continued its sonic development with 2006's Destroyer's Rubies, 2008's Trouble in Dreams, the 2009 EP Bay of Pigs, and 2011's full-length Kaputt. On June 16, 2011, Kaputt was named as a longlisted nominee (one of 40) for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize and on July 6, the album was named as a shortlisted (one of 10) nominee for the 2011 award. Additionally, Kaputt was nominated for Alternative Album of the year at the 2012 Juno Awards.

http://www.mergerecords.com/artists/destroyer

Sandro Perri is a songwriter and producer of new music. Within the broad spectrum of his work are elements of pop, folk, electronic, dance, jazz, noise and rock. His latest LP, Impossible Spaces, experiments with new song and production beyond any of his previous efforts to date. Dusted Magazine suggested that “Perri spins anti-matter and intangibles into something undeniably real.”
Since 1999, he has released more than a dozen solo and collaborative records under his given name as well as Polmo Polpo, Glissandro 70, Dot Wiggin and Continuous Dick. He founded a 12″ label (Audi Sensa) for his early releases but has since worked almost exclusively with Constellation (home of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, A Silver Mt. Zion, Colin Stetson and Do Make Say Think.)

Other past and present collaborators include Great Lake Swimmers, Eric Chenaux, Ryan Driver, Fond Of Tigers, Andre Ethier, Lorenz Peter, Mantler, Zongamin, Mickey Moonlight and Drew Brown. In 2010, Perri collaborated with John K Samson, Christine Fellows and filmmaker Daniel Cockburn for Canada’s historic National Parks Project.

He received composition and recording grants from the Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council in 2005, 2006 and 2010.

http://www.sandroperri.com/

Official Website: http://www.mergerecords.com/artists/destroyer