LIMBLIFTER

The I/O Bio

"I/O is Limblifter's third album and is by far their most eclectic and significant musical statement to date." - Canadian Music Network

"An iconic record that will stand to represent a bright corner in a dark time for rock music" - Diepopstar

"A pop-rock gem." -the Vancouver Province

"Charged with motion and emotion." -Toronto Eye Weekly

"Four years is a long time in-between records, but good cookin' is worth waiting for." -R. Dahle

Limblifter materialized inside an abandoned meat locker, amidst the hooker and drug infested Yaletown district of Vancouver. Having only played together a mere ten times, the band entered the studio and recorded their debut album over four days.

Limblifter first served as a vehicle for the surplus of material Ryan Dahle had written for his 'day job' band, Age of Electric. The songwriter/guitarist single-handedly penned the hits Remote Control, Ugly and Untitled, which elevated AOE to gold-selling status. With the release of the eponymous first album in 1996, Limblifter found themselves signed to Mercury Records in the United States. Their first show was to a packed house at the legendary CBGBs club in New York City, flying home a few days later to support Oasis at the Pacific Coliseum. By the end of the year, Limblifter would have two Juno nominations, a Casby award and three number eleven hits: Tinfoil, Vicious and Screwed it Up.

The next year Age of Electric would release their final and most successful record Make A Pest A Pet, on which Ryan wrote most of the material. AOE disbanded in 1998 just in time to receive a gold record and a Juno nomination for "Best New Group."

Two years of studio experimentation resulted in the epic and acclaimed Bellaclava. Released in 2000, the record stumbled commercially, selling only 15,000 copies, yet managed to produce two number eleven hits at radio with Ariel vs Lotus and Wake Up to the Sun.

The year 2001 marked the end of the partnership with brother and co-founder Kurt Dahle, who left to form Vancouver super-group The New Pornographers. "It's not a simple task finding a drummer even remotely as good as my brother, so I wrote songs to drum loops on my computer," says Dahle.

Excited by the new demos, musician friends soon coaxed Dahle back to the meat locker to spend hours playing "as loud and long as possible" through new material. This creative period provided the luxury of experimentation for Dahle, paralleling the formative days of Limblifter.

I/O is the realization of years of hard work, preparing the band for another era. Dahle's gloriously refined songwriting encompasses concise forms and ideas, yet retains the interwoven guitar layers and complex melodies that have made him a memorable, unique, and critically acclaimed voice in the Canadian music industry.

Filled with colourful and ingeniously personal lyrics, I/O opens with three strong rock radio singles. The first single, Get Money, is riddled with ironic social commentary, followed by the instant classic Perfect Day to Disappear and the comedy/tragedy of Fiercely Co-Dependent. Limblifter's music straddles an uncharted middle ground between innovative art-pop and rock-radio. From the Bonham-esque drumming of The Auctioneer, to the sweeping strings of Alarm Bells, and the 70's Supertramp-style Wurlitzer keyboard of Drug Induced, it is evident Dahle evoked colours from a diverse palette of styles and eras to form his ideas.

Joined by a league of Canadian musicians such as legendary drummer Pat Steward (Bryan Adams, the Odds), and rare vocal appearances by Matthew Good, Jordy Birch and Todd Kerns, I/O features the signature virtuosic guitar playing that has made Dahle an icon to guitarists nationwide. Mirroring Ryan's abilities note for note with an uncanny chemistry is The David Paterson Plan (Spitfires). A human metronome, pounding heartbeat rhythms in time with the likes of Malcolm Young and Swiss made clocks.

Indie pop darling, Meegee Bradfield (Salteens, Sparrow), drives varying degrees of distorted electric bass, celestial cello and haunting double bass of gargantuan proportions in contrast to her tiny stature. Burento Follett (Salteens), delivers a cohesive punch live, gluing together the styles of original drummer Kurt Dahle and session performer Pat Steward with his own momentous verve, adding his presence to the record by performing all the percussion.

I/O was recorded at The Factory Studios in Vancouver. Dahle and his co-producer, John Maclean (Bellaclava) along with engineer Sheldon Zaharko (Billy Talent), decided to minimize the use of modern recording technologies and computers, favouring instead the warm, organic sound of 2" analog tape. "As a team we've produced and mixed quite a number of records together and there is nothing that compares to the sound of real, unedited performances by a band standing in a room together."

The spirit and musicianship that is Limblifter is once again re-animated, allowing Dahle's incomparable voice to engage listeners to his poetically graphic lyrics and distinct guitar phrasing. Limblifter is a rapturous sonic experience in precision and a visual magnet of comradery and energy.

2004 Limblifter Records/Maplenationwide/Universal Music Canada