Under Byen...

Musik paa Danske Laeber
Beyond the city you'll find the bitter sweet sound of traffic that will make you believe in magic once more. Either that, or you'll want to learn danish.

As the Monty Python boys said, now's time for something different. And, I don't mean a variation on a theme this time. I mean something completely different. Something that you may not have thought of before. Ladies and Gentleman, I introduce to you...Under Byen. The most haunting band you've ever heard. And they sing in Danish.

Just a quick note about the language thing, before I leave you to go and look for fairies at the bottom of the garden (yes, I am obsessed by fairies, I know...). When a senior member of Rolling Stone staff experienced the 8-piece live, he went on record as saying that they were: “...fantastic. Of course I didn't understand a word of the lyrics - but that didn't matter at all..."
And you can see why. Listening to Under Byen, you don't care of you can't understand a word. It's music to fall in love with and to listen to at the midnight hour (which is just as well, as they played to a packed tent at 11pm at Roskilde 2006).

Under Byen (which translates as "Below The City", so I've been told...) are, quite simply, as salty-sweet as a diet of Snegle and Tyrkisk Peber (ask any Scandinavian, and they'll tell you how much they love it... ask any foreigner who's tried it, and they'll screw their face up...).

Imagine if Bjork had been born Danish, trapped in a cage, and her only experience of life was graveyards at Halloween. Imagine what would happen if she then stole what was the original premise of Mono, and then met American Analog Set who were having a miserable day. Imagine what the resulting songs would be if you ran them over, and you'd be half way there. It might interest you that, while their influences are rarely noted, the lead singer has been quoted as saying that she was inspired by traffic. Each to their own, I guess. Not that I'm moaning- if only all traffic sounded this good.

Hjertebarn (from Kyst)
Plantage (from Det er mig der holder traeerne Sammen)
Af Samme Stof Som Stof (from Samme Som Stof Som Stof)
Den her sang handler om at få det bedste ud af det (from Samme Som Stof Som Stof)

Here's their Myspace and website. It's not often that I mention fansites, but as the band themselves have referred to this one, here's Lars Dideriksen's labour of love... On a totally unrelated point, but interestingly all the same, Under Byen's latest album was produced the lovely by Lasse from Diefenbach who I'm planning on covering very, very soon...

Update 19/08/2006 01:54

MP3 links fixed- you should be able to hear what's going on now!