NEWS ARCHIVE

Competition winners
January 16, 2008.
Here are the randomly selected competition winners! Congratulations!

Siamesisk EP:
Jeppe Vejen, Denmark
Henrik Lukas, Denmark
Piotr Wicijowski, Poland

SOPA DELICIOSA double-cd:
Andreas Hoff, Norway
James Harding, England
Bo Mølgaard, Denmark

Thanks a lot everybody - for playing along with this silly little game. You always come through and make it lots of fun!
There were a lot of suggestions. Some of you had more than one. And all these titles came from both Denmark and elsewhere. Some people from non-Danish speaking countries even tried coming up with something in Danish even though they were allowed to do it in English. And actually some didn't really know what they were writing, which is kind of interesting.

In order for everyone to get something out of the answers given your webmaster have taken the liberty of translating the non-English titles into English (it wasn't easy!). You're all a bunch of little poets out there, aren't you? And then there are those naughty ones who - like Henriette did on the last album - started inventing new words (you bastards, ha-ha!). ;-D

Go to this page for the many titles!

The winners will receive the "Siamesisk" live EP once it's released mid-February (maybe even a little before). The SOPA DELICIOSA compilation will be sent out shortly.

More live EP details / Site updates / Thunderbear news
January 6, 2008.
Manager Jesper Majdall has send the cover for the new orchestral live EP. It continues with the line of artwork layout by Hrafnhildur Halldórsdóttir from the "Samme stof som stof" album and single.
Morningside Records write on their website that they will release it as a cd digipack limited to 2000 copies. And they add "We won’t bring you this one on vinyl, but are sure someone else will (!!)." One's guess could be Danish Vinyl Production who have done all the previous Under Byen albums.
American music website Pitchfork writes that the same EP released by the band's Canadian label Paper Bag Records also will be limited to 2000 copies.
So concluding from this information it seems there are two cd editions (probably identical) and a vinyl version on the horizon. When there's more news on this it will be posted here, of course.

"Siamesisk" has been added to the Discography page with info and cover. So has the "Live at KEXP - Volume Three" compilation, the "SOPA DELCIOSA" compilation and the "Beneath The Surface Volume 3" sampler compilation from the Bella Union label.

The Reading page was updated with two books. All the many weblinks on that page have not been checked or updated, though.

In the latest news update from Morningside Records they also write about Under Byen's former member Thorbjørn Krogshede: "Thunderbear has almost finished recording a new piano only album. We’ll let you know if he’ll let us release it!".

As a bit of bonus news it might of interest to some that Dennis Block of Stine Sørensen's former band Strumm has discovered a bunch of old 7-inches by the band which are now being made for sale at the shop Route 66 in Århus and Copenhagen. It's a really nice EP on pink vinyl with energetic drumming and vocals by Stine from when she was part of this trio some years ago. They actually got a MySpace page now. But there's only one song from the 7-inch on there. There's a really catchy "pop" remix, though.

X-massy new year's competition
December 22, 2007.
It's been a bit quiet on this site for a while. And also about time to have the annual competition if we want to squeeze it in to 2007. So here we go: Up for grabs are three copies of the coming live EP "Siamesisk" with Under Byen playing with The Danish Radio Sinfonietta. It will be released on February, but will be shipped to the winners as soon as it's in the hands of manager Jesper Majdall.
This nice fella handed your webmaster a cd-r copy the other day and it sounds mighty fine and biiig! The tracklist goes as follows:

1. Plantage
2. Af samme stof som stof
3. Siamesisk
4. Den her sang handler om at få det bedste ud af det
5. Tindrer

Your webmaster is throwing in three copies of the new "SOPA DELICIOSA" compilation with several Under Byen sideprojects on it (read the previous news item). Norman Records just reviewed it and singled out Sara Saxild's duo The Sad Lovers and called their song "divine" (to which your webmaster can only agree). You can read that here.

And what should you do in order to get your hands on this? It's becoming increasingly difficult to come up with challenges, so this year it might seem a bit silly. But silly can be fun! So before January 12th send an e-mail to lsd_dk@hotmail.com with...

Your title of a hypothetical Under Byen song.

Yes, it's not like the band has asked me to do this, but just write your suggestion for a new song title for a song they haven't already written. Be creative, have fun! If you're Danish write it in Danish, and if you're not, then feel free to do so in English if you don't feel comfortable enough with Danish. You can check out the Lyrics page for inspiration if you want. The winner will be randomly chosen among the suggestions, but I hope you will play along.

Have a merry christmas and a happy new year!

Lars

New compilation with Under Byen "sideprojects"
December 2, 2007.
A new cd called "SOPA DELICIOSA" is coming out. A double cd compilation featuring three tracks by Under Byen members together with other musicians. It's released by the small label Sound Of Perpetual Astonishment (SOPA) run by the webmaster of this website.
The compilation contains over two and half hours of music on a total of 44 tracks. Canadian singer Wendy McNeill who supported Under Byen on their big tour of Denmark in the fall of 2006 is also on it with a new track. And yes, your webmaster here actually also snuck a track in there under the name Resident Tourist. Plenty of other great songs from artists from 10 different countries can be heard on it. The price is 80 DKK (11 euro / 16 $) and it can be ordered through www.sopa.dk.
You can read more about the release at the cd's page on the SOPA website. Very soon a website dedicated to the compilation will be up at www.sopa.dk/sopadeliciosa. For now you can see the full tracklist and listen to a preview of some of the tracks there. The YouTube preview can also be viewed below the cd-cover on the right of this text.
Here is some information on the Under Byen-related tracks on the cd:

The Sad Lovers is a duo made up of Sara Saxild and Anna Brønsted. Anna is also part of the band Our Broken Garden and plays with Lise Westzynthius. The song "My Man" is a slow and warm stripped down song with great vocal harmonies.

Dazzle Ships is a quartet featuring Under Byen members Morten Larsen (on drums) and Morten Svenstrup (trading his usual cello for the bass) alongside Filip Granlie (of I Am Bones and other bands) and Dennis Block (formerly of Strumm together with Stine Sørensen).
The song is an acoustic song to begin with, but turns into a rather grandiose creature with drums and much else by the end.

Release date for orchestral live EP / Facebook group
December 1, 2007.
Finally there is an official release date for the coming live EP with Under Byen playing with the The Danish Radio Sinfonietta. The title of the release is “Siamesisk” and it will be out on February 18th in Denmark and North America.

A little extra note: Norwegian Under Byen fan Lars André Dahl has started an Under Byen group at Facebook. So if you're on that site you can go here for some of that action. There's also an artist page for the band here.

EnnaBella festival this weekend
November 15, 2007.
Don't forget the EnnaBella From Hell'a festival this Saturday (th 17th) in Aarhus! Read more at www.ennabellafromhella.dk.

Discography updated
October 23, 2007.
Nils Gröndahl and Morten Svenstrup participated in the recording of the two latest releases by Efterklang, "Under Giant Trees" and "Parades". Both have therefore been added to the Discography. So has to older French compilations that turned up.

All acts ready for Sara's and Stine's festival
October 22, 2007.
The EnnaBella From Hell'a festival on Saturday November 17th - which Sara Saxild and Stine Sørensen of Under Byen are putting together with two other friends - now has the full programme set up. Eight acts from six different countries will share their original music with the rest of us in the old art cinema Øst For Paradis in Under Byen's hometown of Aarhus next month.

Fans of Under Byen might rank Henriette Sennenvaldt as one of the best female vocalists in Denmark. And this webmaster is not the one to argue with that. On this festival there's a chance to witness two more of the country's finest: Marie Laurette Friis and Hie Soo Moon. Below you can see the full line-up with links for websites with sound and information.

Maria Laurette Friis (DEN) of Tys Tys performs with theremin player Pamelia Kurstin (USA).
Harpcore (DEN) - A mix of classical harp music with pop and electronica.
Taxi Taxi! (SWE) - Fragile indie pop from the young twin sisters.
Barbara Morgenstern (GER) - Producer, singer and pianist playing different electronic indie pop in German and English.
Rockettothesky (NOR) - Peculiar pop voice in a magical sound universe.
TriMooGas (DEN) - experimental rock trio with cello, drums and Hie Soo Moon of Blob Back Fahrenheit in front on vocals and guitar.
Wet Dog (UK) - Catchy and melodic punk rock from London.
Sofia DeVille (SWE) - Old school rock'n'roll and beautiful vocal harmonies.

To check out the festival's schedule go to www.ennabellafromhella.dk. There you will also find info about the workshop for young female musicians that's also part of the festival.

Photographer puts Under Byen on book cover
October 21, 2007.
Photographer Morten Larsen (not the band's drummer) who did the frontpage photo session of Under Byen for the magazine Gaffa has made a book. It contains photos of Danish and international musicians (Nick Cave, Iggy Pop, Jarvis Cocker etc.) and has a picture of Under Byen - or more precisely Henriette Sennenvaldt - on the cover. The title of the book is "Any Colour You Like" and is published by Gaffa itself. You can read more about it at Gaffa's webshop and also order it from there. The price is 296 DKK (roughly 40 euro).

Nils Gröndahl live video and pictures online
September 22, 2007.
For those it might interest: some live videos and a bunch of really nice black and white photos (by everpresent Mr. Jint) are now online. They are from Nils Gröndahl's concert with Oliver Hoiness at the SOPA Night at 'Rumstativ' in the Aarhus festival week. Here they performed with a lot of other acts of which there are also videos and photos. Go here to see all that.

Stine and Sara organize music festival in Aarhus
September 19, 2007.
Stine Sørensen and Sara Saxild are currently working on setting up a one-day music festival for female artists in Aarhus. Together with Anne Brønsted (singer in Our Broken Garden and The Sad Lovers - the latter along side Sara) and Hanne Tjessem (concert organizer) they will put i it all together using the city's nice, old art cinema Øst For Paradis for the event. The festival - called Enna Bella From Hell'A - happens on Saturday November 17th.
So far three acts are confirmed: Taxi Taxi!, Wet Dog and Maria Laurette Friis (of Tys Tys) who will do a special show with theremin player Pamelia Kurstin. The rest of the programme is under wraps for now. But it will probably be a very interesting selection of exciting acts.
Yes, four great gals with superb taste in music is putting all this together in one of the nicest places in Aarhus. So, all you need to know is... that you gotta go. If you want to read a bit more before that you can visit:
www.ennabellafromhella.dk and www.myspace.com/ennabellafromhella

Interview book with Henriette published
September 18, 2007.
In July of this year Henriette Sennenvaldt took part in an interview series by journalist Anya Poulsen on Danish National Radio DR. The book with these conversations - a total of seven - has now been published. The title is "Feminint Forstærket" (roughly translates as "Feminine Amplified" - or enhanced/reinforced) and the other female artists in it are:

Signe Høirup Wille-Jørgensen (Speaker Bite Me / Jomi Massage)
Maria Laurette Friis (Tys Tys)
Ane Østergaard (Band Ane)
Soma Allpass (Trains And Boats And Planes)
Kirstine Stubbe Teglbjærg (Blue Foundation)
Kira Skov (Kira & The Kindred Spirits)

DR writes about the book here. There you can also see the photographs of all the interviewees. DR's own website has the book for sale here, but it will most likely also be available through regular bookstores in Denmark.

Danish tour starts tomorrow
September 12, 2007.
Tomorrow Thursday Under Byen play the first of six gigs on their small Danish autumn tour. These are the dates:

September 13: Stars, Vordingborg.
September 14: Lyd & Litteratur, pAKHUSET, Aarhus
September 15: Studenterhuset, Aalborg.
September 27: Store Vega, Copenhagen.
September 28: Tapperiet, Køge.
September 29: Toldkammeret, Helsingør.

Orchestral live EP to be released
September 10, 2007.
Morningside Records and some webzines have announced that the live recordings done with The Danish Radio Sinfonietta back in April of this year will get an official release. The recordings have been mixed so they sound better than the original live broadcast and webcast. The EP has a preliminary release date in early November and the songs it are: Plantage, Af samme stof som stof, Siamesisk, Den her sang handler om at få det bedste ud af det and Tindrer. More good news: it will be available both on cd and vinyl.

Further news: Anders Stochholm will be part of the touring band with Lars H.U.G. this October. Two of the six shows will be part of the DFDS Rock Cruise from Copenhagen to Oslo - which Under Byen took part in August of 2006. Live dates on this site.

Nils Gröndahl show in Aarhus
August 19, 2007.
One more Under Byen-related show during the Aarhus Festival Week: Nils Gröndahl will be performing with Oliver Hoiness on September 7th as part of the Rumstativ events on the harbour. More precisely as part of the SOPA Night there - starting at 20.00. You can read much more about the show at Sopa.dk and all the other great music during the week at Rumstativ.dk.
Nils and Oliver performed together earlier this year in Copenhagen. You can see pictures and video from that show here.

Unique duet show in Aarhus / Discography update
August 17, 2007.
On August 30 Under Byen will take part in a socalled "unofficial" opening of the Aarhus Festival Week. Under Byen's part of the show will be a unique string of special duets arranged by the band. Among the duet performers are Christian Hjelm of the band Figurines, Steffen Brandt of the band TV-2 and singer Povl Dissing. During the band's career it has covered songs by TV-2 and Povl Dissing live. You can read more (in Danish) at the website of the Aarhus Festival Week here.

The compilation cd "Fine Fine Music" released by Excelsior Recordings in 2006 has been added to the Discography.

German show announced
July 29, 2007.
On Under Byen's MySpace page the band has now announced another show on August 3. This will be at the Haldern Pop festival in Germany where the band has played before four years ago. Part of this show was later released as a live EP.

Aarhus show confirmed
July 25, 2007.
One more show will be part of the previously mentioned autumn tour of Denmark. This will be at pAKHUSET as part of 'Lyd & Litteratur' [Sound & Literature] in Aarhus on September 14. The Pakhuset is part of the Studenthouse in Aarhus and is situated on the harbour. The Concerts page has been updated.

New radio interviews
July 18, 2007.
When Under Byen was in Portland, USA, recently they did interview at the KPSU student radio there. Stine and Morten Svenstrup are talking a bit and playing some music. You can go here to read about it and download it. Or right-click and "save as" on this link to download it directly. It's in English.

Danish National Radio has made a string of interviews with female Danish musicians. One of them is Henriette Sennenvaldt. This hour-long program will be broadcast this Saturday, July 21, on DR P2 at 14:03. But it's already streamed online here. So go there for a very rare interview with Under Byen's leadsinger. It's in Danish.
To read more about the other interviews go here. In September a book with the interviews, "Feminin Forstærket", will be published. The radio shows are done by journalist Anya Poulsen.

Danish tour in September
July 17, 2007.
From information gathered on the internet it looks as if the band is putting together an autumn tour of their home country in September. Including gigs at some venues they most likely haven't played before. No official information from the band or its manager yet, but the following gigs can be found when visiting Beatbox Booking and visiting Danish venues on the internet:

September 13: Stars, Vordingborg.
September 15: Studenterhuset, Aalborg.
September 27: Store Vega, Copenhagen.
September 28: Tapperiet, Køge.
September 29: Toldkammeret, Helsingør.

Then one can only guess if September 14 and 20-22 will be used for shows. But so far this is the information that's out there.

Pictures, live video and press clips
July 5, 2007.
While Under Byen's label Morningside Records are complaining on their website that the band does not send any postcards home and the rest of us are curious to read reviews, see some pictures and possibly hear some of their performances (like the coming KEXP session) we can enjoy some pictures in the meantime.

Already some brand new (and really good) ones online from the first show on tour at the El Ray Theater in Los Angeles on June 28. Go here for those.

And there are also some older ones: At Stensgaard.dk you will find photo sets from three gigs from the last Danish tour (plus sets of support act Wendy McNeill). And at Scenestars there are some shots from the band's showcase at SXSW in Austin, Texas, on March 15, 2006.

For moving pictures you should visit YouTube. Your webmaster here got permission to upload some nice video from the last Danish tour on that site. A bit better quality than most other (digicam- and mobilephone shot) Under Byen clips on YouTube. This one was filmed with a dv-cam (a bit shaky at times) and has improved sound by adding soundboard sound into the mix. So go here to see Under Byen do a 9-minute long performance of "Den her sang..." at Forbrændingen in Albertslund last November.

Also: A few quotes have been added to the Press Clips page:

"If you’re a fan of Sigur Ros, Bjork, the experimental side of Radiohead, the meditative hypnosis of Godspeed You Black Emperor! and the moodiness of Portishead you need to see Under Byen. (...) After obsessing the good part of a year over the majestic beauty of their third album (first North America release) Samme Stof Som Stof, I witnessed their splendor firsthand when they performed for KEXP during our March SXSW broadcast. The experimental electronic rock collective exceeded expectations creating deeply emotional soundscapes at times delicate and introspective, at times bombastic and mind numbing."
- KEXP Blog on US radio station KEXP's website, July 2007.

"While they've got the essentials (guitar/feedback, bass, drums), their sound is also defined by other, stranger sounds: piano and strings that recall classical music, unsettling percussion cadences reminiscent of Einstürzende Neubauten, and the torch-singer-from-the-Twilight Zone vocals of Henriette Sennenvaldt. Some might think she "sings like" Bjork, but the Icelandic vocalist projects adolescence, as opposed to the Nico-like cool of Ms. Sennenvaldt. "Samme Stof Som Stof" is the latest thing in appealingly uneasy listening, ranging from the stripped-down synth-pop of "Af Samme Stof Som Stof" to the orchestral elegy "Liste Over Sande Venner Og Forbilleder."
- SF Weekly, "All Shook Down" Weekend Guide, June 2007.

Updated tour schedule
June 29, 2007.
The tour schedule put on MySpace by the band recently does not correspond with the one on the fansite. But the band are the ones in the know and have the latest adjustments - and so shall it be at the fansite!
The gig on July 2 will be at Nightlight Lounge in Bellingham near Seattle and the one on July 7 in Boise has been removed from the list. The Concerts page has been updated.

Interviews & review
June 29, 2007.
Some reading matter for you: OC Weekly interviews Morten Svenstrup in this article - where the phrase "northern light junkyard music" pops up. Straight.com has talked to Nils Gröndahl and has this article to offer - in which fellow Danish band Aqua are called "Eurodance atrocities", he-he. And then Wireless Bollinger has discovered the Thunderbear cd and given it a nice review where the writer concludes that "the musicianship will drive you into a jealous rage. You can read that one here.

KEXP compilation with live track / Coming radio session
June 26, 2007.
When Under Byen were in the US last time around they played a show for the college radio station KEXP. Now the station has put out a compilation cd and lp with various live tracks from different artists - among them Under Byen. The song is "Den Her Sang Handler Om At Få Det Bedste Ud Af Det" and the band shares the album with such others as Frank Black (of The Pixies), Beirut, Lady Sovereign and Grizzly Bear. You can read all about the release made to raise money for the station here.

Also: Morningside Records have announced on their website that the band will play a KEXP session when they reach Seattle on the tour they start this Thursday.

US tour kicks off this week
June 25, 2007.
Under Byen are leaving for the US today and on Thurday they embark on another tour there - with a one-gig trip to Canada also. All but one show will be together with The Album Leaf. They start at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles on June 28 and end up at The Knitting Factory in New York on July 9. Be sure to catch them at one of the shows.
Check the Concerts page for details.

Pictures and video from Nils Gröndahl show
May 28, 2007.
Those interested in the solo efforts by Under Byen's violin- and sawplaying noisemaker Nils Gröndahl can take a little trip to the website www.sopa.dk. There they'll find pictures and video from Saturday's Pre-Forma Nova Festival show at Global in Copenhagen. Here Nils performed with Oliver Hoiness.
Visit Nils at the SOPA site too, if you will, and listen to his cd. There are still some left for sale.
And you can also go check out the line-up for this year's Forma Nova Festival at their MySpace page.

Updated US tour schedule
May 22, 2007.
Manager Jesper Majdall now has the updated list of shows on the "fall-turned-summer" tour of the USA (plus a bit of Canada). Some changes have been made to the original list announced by Paper Bag Records earlier this month. About a handful of the announced shows will not be played and the New York show has got a new venue and new date. Check the Concerts page for the details.

And don't forget that it's this Saturday that Nils Gröndahl will be playing a rare solo show. Well, not strictly solo as he has invited Oliver Hoiness (of Blob Back Fahrenheit, We Love You Joy (formerly Joy Lieberkind) and other bands) to perform with him. Details on the gig can be found at the venue Global's website here.

Rare live solo show with Nils Gröndahl
May 7, 2007.
On May 26 Nils Gröndahl will do a rare solo performance (although maybe with some friends to help out) at the venue Global in Copenhagen. This will be as part of a pre-festival gig to promote this year's Forma Nova Festival. Other bands that day are Harmony Boys, Lamburg Tony, De Agtige and possibly Blob Back Fahrenheit. DJs will be Rumpistol, Copyfokking and Carl Emil. Visuals for the gig will be done by Bottega Arete.
Your webmaster will be present as well to promote the SOPA label and Nils Gröndahl's cd which was put out through it. So cds will be for sale there.

Paper Bag Records announces US tour! / Compilation appearance
May 3, 2007.
Under Byen's Canadian label Paper Bag Records sent out a newsletter today. Here it annonced the coming North Amerian fall tour where the band will join The Album Leaf on some dates. Before listing the live dates let's just mention that Paper Bag Records also revealed that Under Byen will be featured on the next "Live at KEXP" compilation which will be out this summer.

The tour according to Paper Bag Records:

28-Jun Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theater w/ The Album Leaf
29-Jun Pomona, CA - Glasshouse w/ The Album Leaf
30-Jun San Francisco, CA - Slim's w/ The Album Leaf
2-Jul Eugene, OR - WOW Hall w/ The Album Leaf
3-Jul Seattle, WA - Neumo's w/ The Album Leaf
4-Jul Vancouver, BC - The Plaza w/ The Album Leaf
6-Jul Portland, OR - Doug Fir w/ The Album Leaf
7-Jul Boise, ID - The Venue w/ The Album Leaf
8-Jul Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
9-Jul Denver, CO - Bluebird
11-Jul Chicago, IL - Abbey Theater
12-Jul Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
13-Jul Montreal, QC - La Sala Rosa
14-Jul New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
15-Jul Boston, MA - Middle East

Henriette Sennenvaldt live in London tonight
May 2, 2007.
Howe Gelb, the so-called "godfather of alternative country", is doing a show with a whole bunch of guests tonight at The Barbican in London. Henriette Sennenvaldt is also on the programme as part of his band Giant Sand.
This is the second time that Howe Gelb does an "all-star" show at The Barbican - the first time almost being "legendary" by now.
Other guests tonight include Isobel Campbell and Emiliana Torrini. You can see the programme here (pdf-file).

Show with orchestra streamed online
April 29, 2007.
Saturday's show with the Denmark's National Radio's Entertainment Orchestra at the Radio House in Copenhagen is now streamed online. As a little bonus there are also two little videos of the band rehearsing with the orchestra. Go to www.dr.dk/radiohusetrocker for all that.
The show itself was also shot for tv, so chances are that at some point the band will finally make it's way onto Danish tv screens.

The picture on the right is by our friendly neighbourhood photographer Jint. Shot of the empty radio hall before the show. Visit him at www.jint.dk. He's putting together a new website called www.shooting-rockstars.com at the moment. Henriette is featured on the front page there.

Live at the Danish national radio this Saturday
April 25, 2007.
A bit quiet on the News page these days. But let's just remind people that it's this Saturday that the band plays with the big orchestra in Copenhagen as mentioned in previous news story. Hopefully soon we can bring some new live dates.

Live project on Danish national radio / US tour planned for 2nd album re-release
March 26, 2007.
On April 28 Danish National Radio DR says goodbye to its old Radiohouse building in midtown Copenhagen before moving to new surroundings. This is done with the annual "Radiohuset Rocker" one-day festival in the studios in the house. The last band to ever play there will be Under Byen. So says a press release from Denmarks Radio.
The band's show will be one of a kind as it will feature a collaboration with the in-house RadioUnderholdningsOrkestret [The Radio Entertainment Orchestra]. According to music magazine Gaffa Under Byen's "former keyboardman" Thorbjørn Krogshede is currently arranging the music with the orchestra.
Among the other bands playing this year at "Radiohuset Rocker" - before Under Byen puts on the grand finale at midnight - are Blue Van, Maria Køhnke, Murder, The Floor Is Made of Lava and Lily Electric.
You can visit "Radiohuset Rocker" on the web at www.dr.dk/radiohusetrocker. Tickets are 150 DKK in pre-sale (info about where to get it is in the press release).

The Danish Rock Council (ROSA) has written an article (in Danish) about Under Byen's tour of the US and Canada. You can read that one here (and check out some photos). Gaffa has the same one online too. In it manager Jesper Majdall says:
"It's been an all or nothing tour with us aiming at big well-known venues. This way we have something to build upon in September where we plan another tour there - to coincide with the re-release of "Det er mig der holder træerne sammen" in North America."

Thorbjørn talks about leaving Under Byen in Gaffa
March 25, 2007.
In the March issue of the music magazine Gaffa Thorbjørn Krogshede talks a bit about his decision to leave the band. That's in an article entitled "Under Byen - Under reconstruction". Very clever.
The article says he lost his enthusiasm for the long, hard tours and not making any money as a musician.
- Other grown-ups get m0ney for what they do, laughs Thorbjørn. You can make music for free for some years, because it's the greatest thing in the world. But Under Byen is very close to a full-time job, and I also have my job as a music teacher to take care of.
Nils Gröndahl says:
- Thorbjörn has meant a great deal to the band which Under Byen has become since 1999. He has treated his key instruments with great eagerness to explore. He and I have run a hard race against each other to develop the soundscape with pedals and effects.
Still Nils looks to a bright future. The composer's friendly exit does not come as a big surprise to the band who has now recruited pianist Rasmus Kjær as a substitute for liveshows.
- Now we go on a tour of the US. When we come home we will have to find out how Under Byen will sound without Thorbjørn. For instance it opens up for a less piano-dominated sound, says Nils.
Seen from the outside the solution could be a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson-model, where Under Byen was touring while Thorbjørn stayed home and composed.
- Fuck, man, why didn't I think of that? No, I'm probably more the kind of person, that likes a clean cut. Either I'm in or I'm out, says Thorbjørn who will now also focus more on his solo project Thunderbear.
- Who will be the next main composer on Under Byen's next album? I have no idea. But I'm sure it will be great!, says Thorbjørn.

Roskilde 2006 show streamed / Live photos
March 24, 2007.
As of writing this Danish national radio are broadcasting 24 hours of live recordings from last years Roskilde Festival. Tonight - or more precisely in the night Central European Time - Under Byen's show will be broadcast. That's actually March 25th and that's between 4.00 and 5.00. And don't forget to turn the clocks forward one hour tonight (at least in Denmark, that is).
Click 'Hør kanal' on this page. You can see the whole schedule at Gaffa here.

Some photos from the Chop Suey gig in Seattle have made their way online here.

KEXP live show online / Win vinyl album / Web remixes
March 18, 2007.
Under Byen's March 16 show at the South By South West festival in Austin, Texas, is now available for download online. Go to the KEXP Blog to do that. If you want to see pictures from Day 3 of the KEXP shows go here.

Under Byen's Canadian label has a contest going on at the moment where you can win the vinyl version of "Samme Stof Som Stof". The contest ends on March 26. Go here for that one.

The website Stereogum who sponsors the current tour stateside has put two new remixes of "Af Samme Stof Som Stof" on their website. You can download them here.

More reviews
March 11, 2007.
The tour seems to be going rather well. A lot of writing about it on the web too.
The Globe And Mail has reviewed the Toronto gig here where Henriette Sennenvaldt now has become an "unapproachable, icy Bond-girl". The Canadian music blog For The Records writes about the same gig here and also has a bunch of pictures here. The Eye Weekly also reviewed the gig and the reviewer has found her new favourite band. Read that one here.

Articles and blog reviews
March 10, 2007.
More news on the ongoing tour of the USA and Canada. The blog Midnight Poutine writes about the gig in Montreal. Chromewaves was writing about the show in Toronto the day before and also the day after. And there are also lots of pictures. The Boston Globe also had an introducing article before the show there.
And as you can see here on the right the band actually made the cover of The Eye Weekly magazine mentioned yesterday. Looks great, doesn't it?

Interviews / Compilation appearance
March 9, 2007.
A couple of interviews have popped up. There's one in the Toronto Star and one in The Eye Weekly. The latter has a rather rare interview appearance by Henriette Sennenvaldt.

The British label Bella Union - run by former Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde - has released a compilation cd on which there is a song by Under Byen. It's "Den her sang handler om at få det bedste ud af det" and cd title of the cd is "Beneath The Surface Volume 3: A Bella Union Sampler". You can read more about it at Bella Union and at MusicOMH.
Other artists on the cd include fellow Danes The Kissaway Trial and Australia's Dirty Three among others.

US tour is on! / Live show on US radio
March 7, 2007.
Having played their first couple of gigs on the current US and Canadian tour Under Byen are on the road as of writing this. Going through Canada then down to Texas for the South By South West festival and ending up in Seattle.

Seattle radio station KEXP will be at one of the SXSW shows and broadcast it live. That's on Friday, March 16th at 5:00 PM. Read more about that here and tune in. If you at SXSW then KEXP have the following to say:
"The entire 8-hour broadcast and the live performances are open to the public and we encourage you to come down and watch. If you plan to come to view a live band please arrive and be seated at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled time. Viewing will be limited to a first come first served basis only. The Austin City Limits studios are located at KLRU TV."

The blog 'Late Night Wallflower' has a bit on the show at the Bowery Ballroom in New York. You can read that here.

Discography updated with new guest appearances
February 18, 2007.
The album "Ffffooo K Tsscch!" by Kirsten Ketsjer (a.k.a. Kirsten Ketsjer The Rock Band) has been added to the Discography. Nils Gröndahl - who from time to time takes part in projects by the Yoyooyoy label - has contributed with his violin on this fine album. It has just been released this week and it's a joyful mix of catchy guitar tunes, energetic experimental outbursts and free-floating soundscapes. All tied together with equal amounts of instrumental improvisation and original lyrics.
Furthermore the tracklist (what wonderful track names!) have been added to the Frisk Frugt album in the Discography - also a Yoyooyoy release.

You can listen to mp3s from the albums and much more at www.yoyooyoy.dk.

US tour updates / David Byrne "goes north" / MySpace featured artist
February 14, 2007.
The Concerts page has been updated with the latest info on the very-soon-to-come US tour. Cleveland and Opolis are now on the tour. And there are now "only" two shows at SXSW. Little details here and there have also been corrected.

David Byrne, former Talking Heads mainman, who earlier wrote warmly about the band in his blog, is currently spinning a lot of Under Byen's tunes alongside other great artists mainly from the northern reaches of Europe - such as Stina Nordenstam, Sigur Ros and Hanne Hukkelberg. A lovely selection. Go to www.davidbyrne.com/radio and check out the tracklist and have a listen.

Under Byen are featured on MySpace's music page right now. Right in time for the coming shows. Let's hope it will help pack the venues.

Help spread the word, if you know people in the neighbourhood who you think would like to go and see a great show! :-)

And Happy Valentines, all you lovers out there!

Henriette Sennenvaldt photo session
February 5, 2007.
Photographer Anders Von Greffelstejn shot a really great photo session with Henriette Sennenvaldt last year. Anders and Henriette felt like sharing these great photos with the rest of you. So here they are! Go here to see them.

Visit Anders' website www.von-greffelstejn.dk and check his other work or drop by his MySpace page.

Thanks, Anders and Henriette!

Two critics awards for Under Byen / Discography update
February 4, 2007.
Under Byen won the critics award Steppeulven for Live band of the year and Singer of the year (Henriette Sennenvaldt). Contratulations! The four other nominations - Album of the year, Song of the year, Band of the year and Author (best lyrics) of the year - went so someone else. You can see the full list of winners at Gaffa.

The Discography page has been updated with the following releases:
Nils Gröndahl - Jeg har noget tilsvarende derhjemme
Moi Caprice - You Can't Say No Forever
Frisk Frugt - Guldtrompeten

One solo release and two albums with guest appearances.

Nils Gröndahl solo cd released / Critics award show tonight
February 3, 2007.
The remastered re-release of Nils Gröndahl's solo soundtrack for an art exhibition in 2004 is now out and available for sale. The title is "Jeg har noget tilsvarende derhjemme" [I have something similar at home] and it consists of one 26 minute track in several parts. A journey in sound where deep thundering noise, minimal electronic jittering blend with violin.
Only 50 copies have been made, so don't wait for too long, if you want one.
The price is 50 dkk / 7 euro / 9 $ and it can be bought at www.sopa.dk (payment via Danish bank or Paypal). Read more on the Shop page at the site, if you are curious.
The cd is released alongside Italian lo-fi pop act Marzipan Marzipan.

Tonight the Danish Music critics' award 'Steppeulven' decides what artist are getting recognition for their accomplishments this year. Under Byen is the band with the most nominations: six in all! Read more at www.steppeulv.dk.

Thorbjørn Krogshede leaves Under Byen
January 22, 2007.
Thorbjørn Krogshede, Under Byen's composer and man at the keys and many other instruments, has decided to leave the band. Webzine Soundvenue had this news today. Manager Jesper Majdall was quoted saying that Thorbjørn's leaving will not affect the future existence of the band.
"It's not 'the big story' in our world", he says. "People come and go in this band and the situation was the same when Katrine Stochholm left the band a few years ago."
The reason for leaving the band is that Thorbjørn wants to concentrate more on his studies and does not feel like doing the amount of touring that the band is doing these days.
Thorbjørn's last show with the band was the fantastic gig at Pumpehuset in Copenhagen in early December of last year.
You can read the article in Danish here.

This fansite's webmaster wishes Thorbjørn all the best and thanks him for his great work with the band.

And a little side note: Soundvenue had an article this December where the band picked their favourite albums of the year. Somehow it went unmentioned on this page. Read on here (in Danish).

Danish Music Award nomination
January 15, 2007.
The annual mostly-major-label Danish Music Awards - where the mainstream Danish music biz congratulates itself on another year gone by - have announced this year's nominees. As usual a few bands have most of the nominations, but for some reason Under Byen have snuck in and gotten a single nomination. Or more precisely Henriette Sennenvaldt has - as female singer of the year. You can see all the not-terribly-surprising nominations at Ekstra Bladet here.
Morningside Records labelmates Oh No Ono have two nominations.

Much more interesting, but with less public attention, are the Danish critics award Steppeulven where Under Byen are nominated in six categories.

Another US date
January 12, 2007.
Manager Jesper Majdall has just confirmed another show in the USA. This will be at the venue Chop Suey in Seattle on March 21. Thanks, Jesper!

North American tourdates
January 11, 2007.
The dates for the big upcoming tour of North America have been announced. Plenty of US shows this time around. And even an MTV gig in Canada. Looks exciting! Keep checking back for updates and more possible shows.

2007 - March 2: Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston, USA (with Frida Hyvönen & El Perro del Mar).
2007 - March 5: Bowery Ballroom, New York, USA (with Frida Hyvönen).
2007 - March 6: Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, USA (with Frida Hyvönen).
2007 - March 7: La Sala Rosa, Montreal, Canada (with Frida Hyvönen).
2007 - March 8: CMW, Toronto, Canada (with Frida Hyvönen).
2007 - March 8: MTV Live, Toronto, Canada (with Frida Hyvönen).
2007 - March 9: Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, USA (with Frida Hyvönen).
2007 - March 11: Wexner Art Center, Columbus, USA (with Frida Hyvönen).
2007 - March 12: Abbey Theater, Chicago, USA (with Frida Hyvönen).
2007 - March 13: Renses Art Center, St. Louis, USA (with Frida Hyvönen).
2007 - March 15: SXSW, Kork Agency Show case, Austin, USA.
2007 - March 15: Stereogum, day party, Austin, USA.
2007 - March 16: KEXP Live, Austin, USA.
2007 - March 18: Knitting Factory, Los Angeles, USA (with Frida Hyvönen).
2007 - March 19: Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, USA (with Frida Hyvönen).

Competition winners!
January 10, 2007.
Here they are. Finally! The winners of this year's x-mas competition. And wow, how many they are! So many prizes. :-)

But before we announce the winners let's just take a look at the input from the competition. The top three of songs that got the most votes are interestingly enough from each of the three albums. The old favourite "Legesag" was clearly the winner, but was closely followed by newcomer "Den her sang...". Still, the many songs voted for without a doubt show that Under Byen is not a band floating on a fragile cussion of single hits. 19 different songs got voted for! From the massive behemoth "Film og omvendt" (the evolution of it live was often mentioned) to small instrumental interludes like "Lenin" and "På disse kanter". Some were chosen because they where the very first Under Byen song people heard, others were chosen because the lyrics affected people very much personally and yet others had blown people so much over backwards at a live gig that the experience was still recalled vividly.
And here is the list! Please note that many songs share a spot on this list because they got the same amount of votes.

1. Legesag
2. Den her sang handler om at få det bedste ud af det
3. Gå ind i lyset
4. Hjertebarn + Det er mig der holder træerne sammen
5. Film og Omvendt + Mission + Om vinteren + Plantage + Lenin
6. Vindeltrappe + Jeg er din mand + På disse kanter + Af samme stof som stof + Tindrer + Kyst + Puma + Slå sorte hjerte + Pilot

Thanks a lot for everything you wrote, folks! It has truly been a pleasure as webmaster to read all the super kind e-mails. It's evident that the music really touches you. All your nice words will be passed onto the band. They enjoyed reading the results from the last competition so much - and most surely will this time too. :-)

And now here are the winners!

Book of Henriette's lyrics
Rasmus Kjær Jessen, Denmark

T-shirts (male)
Thomas Kudela, Germany
Martin Petersen, Denmark

Girlie t-shirts
Sophie Slot, Denmark
Maria Lyhne Grønaa, Denmark

Vinyl of "Samme stof som stof"
Lars Andrè Dahl, Norway
Bella Boelsgaard, Denmark

Signed posters
Sam Loncke, Belgium
Maria Abelone Bach, Denmark
Andrew Robinson, New Zealand

Thunderbear cds
Pablo Baudí Canales, Spain
Franck Levallet, France

Nils Gröndahl cds
Luciano Recabarren, USA
Martina Thiebes, Germany

Morningside Records sampler compilation cds
Emilie Gjølby Melgaard, Denmark
Marie Jensen, Denmark
Kristina Dahlberg, Denmark
Kenneth Christensen, Denmark
Feliks Schuenemann, Germany

The prizes will be send to you soon.

And then - as once before - a little apology from your webmaster for asking such a hard question to you all. Some wrote: Then what is your favourite, Lars? And yes, it's damn tough. All depends on one's mood, if it's a live version or something else. But for nostalgic reasons... I put my vote on "Fugle og ild". It was the song that stuck in my head for ages after the very first gig I saw - way back before "Kyst" was released. It simply wouldn't let go - and that deserves a vote.

Thanks to the band for providing all these lovely prizes for yet another fine competition here at the site!

More competition prizes
December 28, 2006.
Your webmaster just realized that he could in fact also throw in a few prizes to make it a bit more exciting. Not another 'århus:nu' book/cd this time, but the about-to-be-released cd by Nils Gröndahl (violin & saw) called "Jeg har noget tilsvarende derhjemme".
Two promo cds are up for grabs (just the same as the sales copies except they are not numbered) besides all the other prizes.
The music on this cd was originally released as the soundtrack for an art exhibition of paintings in 2004, but is now rereleased in January 2007 in a limited number of copies through the new label SOPA (run by the webmaster of this site). The cd contains a 26 minute track where deep thundering noise, minimal electronic jittering blend beautifully with violin.
You can read a bit more at www.sopa.dk.

Happy new year, folks!

Lars

Christmas competition
December 23, 2006.
This is very last-minute, but it's still x-mas! Time for a competition. The band and Morningside Records have put these nice things up for grabs.

1 book of Henriette's lyrics
2 t-shirts (male)
2 girlie t-shirts
2 vinyl of "Samme stof som stof"
3 signed posters
2 Thunderbear cds
5 Morningside Records sampler compilation cds

To enter the competition send an e-mail to lsd_dk @ hotmail.com (remove the spaces) and write which Under Byen song is your favourite - and why. You decide yourself how much you want to write. Remember to include your postal address and t-shirt size!

And do it on January 7 at the latest.

This question has been asked before in an earlier christmas competition. But new songs and new listeners have come since then, so let's try that one again. ;-)

Thanks to Under Byen for an exciting year with a superb album and so many fantastic shows. And great to see all you folks out there who support the band and also drop by this website.

A truckload of merry christmas wishes to all of you!

Your online servant,

Lars

Live photos from Rotterdam
December 23, 2006.
As a last little present right before christmas today you will get a total of 31 photos from the November gig at Rotown in Rotterdam, Holland. Photographer Marc Nolte was at the show and shot all these fantastic photos in beautiful black and white. Some of them must be among the best Under Byen live shots done so far. Just check out this one of Nils on the right. Go to this page and check them out. And go to www.marcnolte.com to see some of Marc's other great photos. Thanks a bunch, Marc!

Live photos from Silkeborg
December 22, 2006.
Last year photographer Casper Vildrik Justesen shot some amazing photos at the venue Rampelys in Silkeborg, Denmark. This year he returned to "the scene of the crime" with his camera and shot even more. Check out his great new set of photos here. Thanks a lot, Casper!

More end-of-the-year charts / Norwegian reviews
December 20, 2006.
Several media have placed Under Byen's "Samme stof som stof" album in their "best albums of the year" charts. As mentioned earlier Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet put it straight at number one on the Danish chart. Webzine Undertoner follow the good suggestion and does exactly the same. You can read that here.
Danish alternative radio chart Det Elektriske Barometer put the album at number 18 - with two fellow Morningside labelmates, Christian Hjelm of Figurines and Oh No Ono, popping up at number 15 and 1 respectively.
Danish webzine Diskant put Under Byen at number 7 in their "best album of the year" chart and at number 1 in the "best Danish album of the year" chart. You can see that here.

US webzine JamBase put the album at number 19 in their "20 Great Albums You Didn't Hear In 2006" list... luckily some of us did. ;-) You can read that one here.

Congratulations!

Three Norwegian newspapers have also review the album: Rogalands Avis, Bergens Avis and Bergens Tidene / BergenPuls.
Bergens Avis (four of six stars): "The orchestra has much in common with Icelandics Múm and Sigur Ros, but here everything is organic. Vocalist Henriette Sennenvaldt sings Björkish fragile/crazy and exploratory. (...) The magic starts on the song 'Den her sang handler om at få det bedste ud af det'."
Rogalands Avis (six of six stars): "They are impossible to classify. (...) The unified whole is just as clattering, violintrembling, melancholic and joyful as a perfectly balanced overall sound should be. (...) It's so nasty and nice my stomach hurts."
Bergens Tidene / BergenPuls: "Refreshingly unpredictable. Despite clearly defined songwriter duties you get the feeling of a creative democracy. The band has eight members of which one plays saw and violin, lovely. The result is a kind of semi-gloomy "after club"-music, but free of digital elements. (...) The use of strings can sometimes remind me of dEUS."

Danish critics awards nominations
December 10, 2006.
Under Byen is leading the field at the annual Danish music critics awards, Steppeulven, this year - with an amazing six nominations. Check it out:

- Album of the year (Samme stof som stof)
- Song of the year (Af samme stof som stof)
- Band of the year
- Live band of the year
- Singer of the year (Henriette Sennenvaldt)
- Author (best lyrics) of the year (Henriette Sennevaldt)

Way to go, guys'n'gals! The award show will be held - and the winners announced - at Lille Vega in Copenhagen on February 3.

You can see all the nominated artists at Gaffa. The official site is not yet updated, it seems.

Botanique live photos
December 7, 2006.
Libelia De Splenter from Belgium has been so kind as to sent a whole bunch of fantastic photos which she shot at the Botanique show in Brussels on November 9. Go here and feast your eyes. Thanks so much, Libelia!

Also: the Bootography has been updated.

Belgian radio session and interview
December 6, 2006.
Nils Gröndahl sent a nice link for a radio show online at Studio Brussel. The band plays two acoustic songs and Stine and Nils are interviewed. Go here to have a listen. Thanks a lot, Nils!

Danish live reviews / In the "best album" polls
December 4, 2006.
The Danish media wrote some really nice reviews of the recent shows.

Danish newspaper JyllandsPosten wrote about the gig at Forbrændingen in Albertslund and gave it five of six stars. At the same time drawing parallels to Star Trek which must be a first in an Under Byen review...
"Under Byen are uncompromising in their hunt for new musical horizons, and this can make the project remind one of the Star Trek manifesto: To boldly go where no man has gone before. That journey goes both via an immensely beautiful rendition of the fragile slowmotion ballad 'Tindrer', which singer Henriette Sennenvaldt colours brilliantly with her drowned and fallen angel voice. And onwards all the way out into a long-drawn-out and wild noiserocking acidbath for the senses. (...) And vital - that is Under Byen. Maybe as never before. The group alternate sensibly between ingenious and restrained arrangements and collosal sonic assaults. A successful mission to the stars."
Read it all in Danish here.

Danish magazine Gaffa wrote in detail about the going-ons of the show at Train in Aarhus and concluded:
"Under Byen is still an orchestra in a class all of its own".
Read it all in Danish here.

Danish webzine Soundvenue were completely blown away by the tour's grand finale at Pumpehuset in Copenhagen. A maximum of six stars were given and the words were among others:
"Under Byen's music was like an arrow through the heart. (...) The musical experience was so overwhelming and intense that no one could have left this last show of the band's tour without goosebumps and a throbbing heart."
Read it all in Danish here.

"Samme stof some stof" has also made it into the "best album of the year" polls. At Gaffa it got into 6th place on the "Best Danish Albums of 2006" list - which had the barely-just-released "Interkom Kom Ind" by Nephew at number one (this webmaster wonders how many people are actually aware of the fact that one of the band members are also one of the main editors at Gaffa? Not that it has to have anything to do with anything).
The song "Af samme stof som stof" also made it into the chart of best Danish singles of 2006 at number five.

This last Sunday Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet summed up the best Danish albums of 2006 and placed "Samme stof som stof" at number one no less. I guess congratulations are in order.

Live photos
December 3, 2006.
With the touring over for the moment it's time to look over all the photos from around the world that have been sent to this site. Thanks a lot to all of you! They will be posted over the coming weeks - in no particular order. :-)
First up is Michael Boe Laigaard with a nice selection of photos from the show on November 24 at Paletten in Viborg, Denmark. Go here to see them. Thanks, Michael!

Under Byen at Allmusic.com / Reading matter
November 29, 2006.
The major website with the ambitious, yet slightly misleading name Allmusic.com finally made a page on Under Byen. Along with it comes a nice review of "Samme stof som stof". Read the review here and the biography here.

Canadian magazine Beatroute has a review of "Samme stof som stof". But not all of it is online, it seems. You can read that bit here.

French webzine Eclipshead has an interview with the band. It's in French. Go here to read that one (scroll down). If you're not fluent in French then the babbling fish might help you.

And don't forget that the band is rounding off their Danish tour this weekend with shows from Thursday to Saturday in Vordingborg, Roskilde and Copenhagen. You can read a bit more about the work with the special stage set-up at the venue Stars at their website here.

Reviews
November 21, 2006.
Paper Bag Records has collected a bunch of review quotes on their MySpace bulletin. Some of them have been mentioned here before. Others haven't...

"Unpredictability is one of the Under Byen's defining characteristics. When listening to Samme Stof Som Stof, one feels as if anything is possible, as if each song can alter its shape at any moment and become something altogether different. There is a palpable sense of a band, not attempting to exhaust the possibilities of each song, but to consciously and playfully invent each twist and turn, to patiently compose labyrinths constant to their musical vision. The unexpected chord change which shifts the tone completely, the ebbing and flowing of unearthly instrumentation, skeletal arrangements which explode into fissures of sonic debris—Under Byen are masters of each. (...) Under Byen is incredibly apt at enrapturing one with what is happening while at the same time putting her in suspense over what will come next. They are a band that boldly declares that they don't sound like anyone except themselves. And they are a band that proves it time and time again."
- "Album of The Week", American webzine Treble. Read it all here.

"This Danish band’s 3rd album (and 1st US release) is an evocative set of atmospheric songs blending elements of post-rock, classical and more in ways similar to Sigur Ros, but with more nods to both pop song craft and rock aggression. Dark, moody soundscapes and clanging percussion are combined with ethereal melodies and lead vocalist Henriette Sennenvaldt’s Bjorkian vocals."
- US radio station KEXP. Read it all here.

"Think Sigur Ros. Think Bell Orchestre. Think late-era Talk Talk. Think Mogwai. Then think again."
- Canadian newspaper Ottawa Sun.

"Under Byen (pronounced Oh’nah-Boon) have created a masterful and unique work that is at once the lace glove and the wool mitten you've been longing for this fall. Full of experimental sound play that never sounds experimental, dual drummers that aren't redundant, and built microphones that distort lovely vocals into something even lovelier, Samme Stoff Som Stof begs to be considered as one of the year's most impressive works. Unlike so many bands that appear seemingly out of nowhere with the shelf life of a half-eaten apple, Under Byen offer a lush, incredibly dense and ethereal landscape of sound, with a style that stands in stark contrast to the rest of the world's perceptions."
- American webzine Austinist. Read it all here.

"A simple yet very tender and sultry effort in the vein of Massive Attack. One worth seeking out!"
- 8 of 10 rating, webzine PopMatters.

"A dangerous sensuality reminiscent of Bjork and Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino…making for a luxurious listen for drama kings and queens."
- CMJ Monthly.

"Dark textures and warped coos are so reminiscent of the Homogenic-era sound that I can picture the cardboard elf village within a cardboard elf village of the imaginary Gondry video that would follow. (...) Throughout the album, the urge to pull every track to a gushing climax is resisted in favor of individual instrumental turns and a welcome dose of negative space. String sections, piano, synths, kalimbas and eerie theremin-like saw playing helps us forget to miss absent guitars. Even the sequencing displays a well-developed aesthetic, with short and delicate music-box pieces cleansing the palette for the opuses. (...) Lack of language comprehension doesn't diminish the plus-sized emotions on display, even if making sense of it all is ultimately akin to finding meaning in the frozen face of a Scandinavian fjord.
- 7 of 10 rating, American webzine Prefix Magazine. Read it all here.

"Under Byen's sound ranges from fairytale shimmer to visceral brutality, while always maintaining, or at least always returning to, a continuous sonic narrative. The textures recall the heavier drone of Pelican or Growing married with the folk-inflected pastoral of Espers or Joanna Newsom. (...) It all comes together on tracks at turns gorgeous and sweeping or dark and atonal, but always well crafted, well balanced, and well worth zoning out to."
- Album Of The Day, American magazine Spin's website Spin.com.

They have been added to the fastgrowing Press clips page.

Spin.com Band Of The Day
November 20, 2006.
Another of the big US music mags (besides Rolling Stone and Pitchfork) has caught the scent of Under Byen. This time it's Spin. Today the band is "Band Of The Day" at Spin.com. You can read it all here and rate the band. And discuss the piece here, if you feel like it.

Odense show cancelled
November 19, 2006.
The show in Odense has been cancelled - as has most of the shows at the venue this winter. According to the venue's website it is due to financial difficulties at the place. You can read more at www.studenterhus.dk. We hope to get you back in business again, Odense Studenterhus!

Lyrics book in print / Pitchfork review
November 17, 2006.
The lyrics book that has been mentioned on this site before is now finally in print. Manager Jesper Majdall was kind enough to sent one in the mail to your webmaster. And the first impression was simply: a lot of love must have put into this little book.
It's a hardcover, not-so-thick book measuring 14 x 17 centimeters. But as the saying goes: size doesn't matter. At least not here. This is pure, concentrated Under Byen. :-)
The book contains pieces of the artwork known from the "Samme stof som stof" packaging done by Anna Rosa Hiort Lorentzen and Hrafnhildur Halldórsdóttir - as well as great new artwork by Julie Nord.
The book does not contain all the lyrics from Under Byen's albums, but selected ones from all three. Yes, "Legesag", "Kyst", "Det er mig" are there, but also many of your other favourites, I'm sure. On the left page there's the Danish original and on the right page is the English translation.
The nice surprise is that there are also lyrics - or poems - that have not been on any album. Including the text used for Henriette Sennenvaldt's contribution about "a book made of snow" for an art exhibition (what might be one of the more explicit examples of Under Byen's quirky humour). Other pieces are most likely totally new to the public.
The book will be made for sale on the ongoing tour of Denmark for the price of 150 Danish kroner (DKK). Which is roughly 20 euro or 26 US dollars by current currency.
500 copies have been made and manager Jesper Majdall wrote the following on the fan forum not long ago: "I'll try and make it available for orders outside of Denmark. I'll keep you posted." As soon as the website gets more info on this matter it will be written first thing on this news page. I am sure there are quite a few people outside Denmark who would love to get their hands on this great piece of reading matter.

The quite influential webzine Pitchfork Media has reviewed Under Byen's "Samme stof som stof" album. And they like it. Not just throwing their ratings around they give it a 7.7, but the text itself is pretty much all positive. A good review.
Once the writer gets over the reviewer-doing-comparisons along the lines of "sounds like Björk and Mogwai falling down a well together", "sounds like they're straining toward being the Animal Collective of Mogwais" and namedropping Bark Psychosis and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth (hey, those are new ones) they go on to say:
"They thread thin, sneaky melodies through shape-shifting veils of fog. Samme Stof Som Stof's sound palette is a vivid and varied range of grays and blues; each song is like some giant machine on the verge of shuddering apart."
And they also have this to say about the band's (and this webmaster's) mother tongue: "There are a couple of things that make Danish such a neat language. One is its whimsy-- from the looks of it, you just throw together any letters you like and then pronounce them however you want."
Geez, those Americans. :-)
You can read the whole review here.

Special gig at Stars / Review
November 16, 2006.
On November 30th Under Byen will play at the venue Stars in the town of Vordingborg on the southern tip of Zealand. On that particular occasion Stars is giving birth to a new concept of theirs. One that tries to move away from the traditional "band-on-stage-in-front-of-audience" setup. So it says in the local Vordingborg paper Sydsjællands Tidende.
The crew at the venue are currently working on different models in an attempt to place the band in the middle of the concert hall on different levels. Furthermore the usual dark-walled place with instead have white surfaces. Videoprojections will also be an important part of this idea. The audience will be able to "interact" more with the artists playing, the article says. The concept is planned to be used at more shows to come - not just for Under Byen. No more details as of yet, but they seem rather determined to try something different at Stars.

The website I (Heart) Music wrote about the "Stof" album, and Little Radio used the same article. You can read the full review by clicking the links. They had good things to say:

"The band isn't going for grandiosity as much as they seek to create small, spooky spaces. (...) The band gets a lot more raucous than Sigur Ros could ever imagine. The contrast between the two creates a wonderful dynamic that runs throughout the whole album, as the band build up a really tense atmosphere, and then throw the kind of cathartic release that makes it all worthwhile -- which, really, is a word that could be used to describe the entire album. Samme stof som stof is a rewarding album to listen to, and hopefully one that will help Under Byen succeed here on their own terms."

North American spring tour in the works / Article and review
November 10, 2006.
Americans and Canadians listen up! Your next Under Byen fix is not far away. Under Byen's manager Jesper Majdall has these nice things to say: "Under Byen will be back in USA and Canada around March 2007. We hope to set up about ten shows. Among them appearances at Canadian Music Week and South By Southwest. I hope to have a tour schedule ready in two weeks time. Stay tuned for more". Thanks a bunch, Jesper. The many new fans in North America will be sure to dig that piece of news.

MSNBC's website has a nice article about Under Byen claiming that the band is among "new artists you need to know now". Well, we knew already, didn't we? ;-) And yes, indeed "something's rocking in the state of Denmark". And soon very much so with a whole 11 shows on Danish soil. Read the article here. Nice reading, that one. The writer is not in doubt: "By all accounts, Under Byen is one of the best live bands playing today.(...) Under Byen will be touring North America this spring. As for me, I can’t wait that long — I’m flying to Denmark at month’s end to catch the last show of this tour." Enjoy the trip! :-)

Amplifier Magazine has also reviewed the "Stof" album stating that "Under Byen is a band of another place and time." And yet another reviewer seems to have been touched... "The feelings that Under Byen conjures within the listener are truly mysterious and transcend any purely verbal level. Music this powerful speaks for itself."
Read it all here.

Another Canadian front page / Live video and photos / MySpace update
November 9, 2006.
Following the band's front page on the Montreal Mirror now comes another such one on the Vancouver-based magazine Discorder. It features an article on the Pop Montreal festival with some very nice words about Under Byen. The website doesn't seem to be working properly right now, so it's not possible to read the article. However, the piece of the text concerning Under Byen was kindly supplied by Under Byen's manager Jesper Majdall by e-mail. Hopefully Discorder will forgive me for putting it here, all things considered.

"Up next was the Danish group Under Byen, and they took to stage with an impenetrable Nordic air. There's been a lot of talk lately about their Sigur Ros-inspired soundscapes, but their live show definitely complicated the comparison.
Eschewing the guitar in favour of a well-rounded string section, extra percussion and an amplified saw, they played complex, mournful arrangements that left jaws agape. Lead vocalist Henriette Sennenvaldt, whose picture graces the cover of this issue, swayed at the back of the band, but her remarkably Bjork-like voice commanded everyone's attention, even with all the