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Thunderbear

MusicBlog

Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Bio: Thunderbear is the side project of Under Byen composer Thorbjørn Krogshede. When playing with Under Byen piano and organs are the weapons of choice. With ... (more) Thunderbear he is all over the place with bass clarinet, kalimbas, guitars, marimbas and pure noise - plus strings, drums and much else played by other musicians.

The album is instrumental music and has been said to be somewhere between French composer Erik Satie (among other things known for his "furnite music") and Canadian group Godspeed You Black Emperor (which in some ways also resemble Sigur Ros and Mogwai a bit). But what makes Thunderbear interesting and sets the music apart from the before-mentioned artists - and makes it distinctively Thorbjørn - is the pianoplaying which the other bands don't use at all or to the same extent. Sometimes simple slow moving pieces and other times as if the keys are caught in a whirlwind over the Sea of Japan or wherever. Breathy bass clarinet fondle chugging beats and electronic noises coughing in the background - and then slip off into infinity towards miles-high guitar-structures for a climax that makes the hairs stand up on your arms. It's not Under Byen. It's a personal slice of it, so to speak. Which of course makes sense because it's a part of Under Byen doing it. Still, this is uniquely Thunderbear. And it's a very rewarding journey indeed.

"It's important for me to stress my priorities in relation to Under Byen. Thunderbear just came from a need to be in the studio and develop myself as a composer. And there are definitely elements of the Under Byen-compositions for the third album which I have developed in the Thunderbear-process", says Thorbjørn.

The Thunderbear album will no doubt nevertheless interest fans of Under Byen. Not only is Thorbjørn the composer, but among the other musicians who took part in the making of the album are both Under Byen's former and current cello players Myrtha Wolf and Morten Svenstrup. Under Byen drummer Morten Larsen is also in on the fun and delivers tight drumming to give the needed drive when things have to heat up. Thorbjørn's brother Rune Krogshede also takes part with his trumpet.

Thorbjørn premiered the music of Thunderbear on October 28 and 29 2005 at Ridehuset in Aarhus where local theatre company Von Baden provided a visual backdrop in the shape of the slightly disturbing film "Tripling". (less)