There area few extra videos from this week and last, since I was out of town last Friday and missed doing the roundup. This time there are new clips from Shit Robot, Chromeo, Nachtmystium, and of Montreal. One thing I noticed: Many of the videos have female protagonists. Three of them are entirely female worlds, though for totally different effects. In Chromeo’s video they’re mostly eye candy, in of Montreal’s video women are the ruling class and men “… provide sperm for breeding rituals.” For Under Byen’s video, the director says the song “… expresses that XX that I have longed for.” I don’t know why these videos all landed this month, but I do wonder what Robert Palmer would say.

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The quiet swarming of Denmark BTW Under Byen’s original “Alt Er Tabt” (“All Is Lost”) reminded me of Islaja or Lau Nau’s whispered, warping bedroom folk. You get a funkier dub feel via this extended Kasper Bjørke remix, which places the original’s bassline in sharper focus.

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BTW Under Byen’s inspired clip for “Alt Er Tabt” reminded us of the Yellow Wallpaper, and “Kapitel 1″‘s clip is also up for a million interpretations. Looks like that was the point. Artist and director Sidse Carstens also made this video for “Kapitel 1.” Says the director: “I’ve decided to do this as a piece of art, not a music video in the common sense of the word. I often work with different characters in my movies. For ‘Kapitel 1′ I’ve included the Horseman, The Guardians Council and The Woman Who Cuts.” The result is as moody and taut as the track. It reminds me, actually, of when I saw the Thea Sharrock-directed Equus a couple years back, with its towering horse/men. The sparse track’s strings also give the impression, almost, that it was written as a soundtrack for the video, because they’re so in sync.

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Onetime BTW Under Byen’s fourth album Alt Er Tabt (“All Is Lost”) is out in April. The Denmark group’s followup to 2006′s Samme Stof Som Stof definitely has an anguished, although not done-for feel. In their new form, they’re without a pianist and their one-time orchestra, which makes things immediately sparer, like the whispered warping and unfurling bedroom-folk abstractions of Islaja or Lau Nau. See, for instance, the collection’s quietly swarming title track. In a translated statement about its video, director (and visual artist) Sidse Carstens says she’s commenting on “how women of today still have to tear down their conception of perfection.” It’s like an intensely spare diorama installation. The Yellow Wallpaper came up around the water cooler this morning. You wouldn’t be wrong to think about “Romance Is Boring,” too.

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More news from BTW alums: Earlier this year we learned of a very special one-time concert featuring Danish cinematic art-rockers Under Byen with accompaniment from the Danish Radio Sinfonietta. 1500 people were lucky enough to be there; for the rest of us, there was the Siamesisk EP, capturing five tracks from the band’s catalog, rearranged and bolstered by the 42-piece orchestra. We posted that night’s take on “Plantage” then. Now we have the best way for you to kill time the afternoon with video of the entire EP, documented here via professional, multi-camera footage. So kick back and engage your bandwidth for a dramatic and sultry night at the theater.

“Plantage”

Yes. More of the EP awaits.

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As if BTW Under Byen weren’t cinematic, symphonic, or possessed of enough members on their own, in April of ’07 the great Danes went out and got themselves a 42-person orchestra. It was just a one night affair, in Copenhagen for the benefit of 1500 people and with the Danish Radio Sinfonietta, which specializes in “recreating the 18th-century world of Mozart and operas.” As an octet, Under Byen already brought a full sound to their live shows; judging by the arrangements on this track, recorded on Sinfonietta night, they knew this. Instead of letting the lush sweep be subsumed by orchestral pomp, the arrangers (Under Byen pianist Thorbjørn Krogshede and composer Carsten Fundal) pick their moments, with pizzicato here and momentary flourishes there.

Under Byen – “Plantage” (Live) (MP3)

The entire show was set to tape, culled to a five-track EP entitled Siamesisk, out 3/27 on Paper Bag. The rest of the tracklist as well as a few pics from the night after the jump.

[Photo from Under Byen @ Mercury Lounge, NYC 10/4/06]

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Not sure what the contributing factors were, but it seemed like everybody was a little frustrated yesterday down at SouthBy; people showing up to the right day party at the wrong time, jumbling their schedules, taking wrong turns in what’s otherwise the most easily navigable downtown you’ll ever see. And our day was no different. (Okay, we were actually describing our day right there — but we swear other people were bitching, too!) Somehow, though, despite the late start and the wonky show mojo, we escaped our Thursday in Austin with a good number of great bands under our belts.

After whiling away precious daylight hours blogging the previous day’s goods for ya, we ambled down to the Tag Team party in time to catch Andrew Bird whistle sweet nothings into the Emo’s punters’ ears, with our other favorite multi-instrumental madman Martin Dosh behind the kit. After taking in a few Armchair Apocrypha tunes, we broke in our boots with the LONG walk to Todd P’s party at Ms Bea’s on 6th St. for the fret-blazing exploits of one Ms. Marnie Stern. We’re huge fans of the Sleater-Kinney-meets-Shreddie Van Halen sound Marnie’s concocted on her excellent debut In Advance Of The Broken Arm — and had no idea she was so dreamy in person — but playing (and singing) along with a fully-arranged version of her tunes from her nano (which was impressive only when she’d harmonize her tapping, and uncomfortable when she’s miscue the track) didn’t impress. Wish she had a karaoke version of the record to play with, but no matter; we remain steadfast Stern champions. (She also rocks a note-perfect Rodney Dangerfield impression to kill time: “Get in the caaaw, these heels are killing me!”)

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Tonight at Bowery Ballroom, Band To Watch Under Byen brings their two drums, saw, and floral light projector to show off their fine, avant-cinematic rock. The show is part of a larger tour we’re proud to present, and we’re celebrating with a couple of remixes of the Samme Stof Som Stof standout “Af Samme Stof Som Stof.” Polmo Polpo’s take on the track (the “Make Me Fall In Love” remix) deemphasizes the submarine horns, stretching thin the track’s nervous arrangements but keeping its nocturnal pulse, while Sando Perri’s re-edit is there for you crazed Under Byen completists.

Under Byen – “Af Samme Stof Som Stof (Make Me Fall In Love Remix)” (MP3)
Under Byen – “Af Samme Stof Som Stof (Re-Edit by Sandro Perri)” (MP3)

And for the vinylphyles among you, Paper Bag is holding a contest to win some a limited edition Samme Stof Som Stof long-playing record here. Can’t win unless you’re in.

Enjoy.

[Pic from Under Byen's show at Mercury Lounge 10/4/06.]

It’s been a busy day, but we’re not letting it go by without telling you that our recent-crush Under Byen were phenomenal last night. Hey, any band featuring a saw player gets a thumbs up from us! (This includes Amina.)

So, let us just say Bjork. And Sigur Rós. Sorry — we’re contractually obligated as music nerds to reference those Nordic stalwarts when describing this Danish outfit because, in all honesty, they’re inescapable reference points. Indeed, there’s a lot of sonic similarity: tortured, dramatic, and animated vocals over pulsing rhythms, urgent dynamics, and that sense of Scandinavian surreality.

But you need go no further than the instrumentation to see distinctions. For example: Under Byen no likey guitars! You won’t find a single six-string on that stage; it’s all keys, cello, violin, bass, saw, and not-one-but-two drummers. And despite the size of their crew, Under Byen brought their light projector across the Atlantic, bathing the stage in flowery patterns of white light, catching the performers’ faces just so, to create a dramatic (and difficult to photograph) visual.

“Pilot”‘s smoldering skin-smashing was an instant mood setter, while “Den Her Sang Handler Om At Få Det Bedste Ud Af Det” (imagine that with a double-word score in Scrabble) — with its 3 bass-note vamp under acending, dissonant-then-driving strings, and ending with a descending chromatic run under a repetitive piano figure — sucked the fucking wind out of our lungs. Other highlights included “Tindrer,” which was inescapably awesome (and inescapably Sigur Rós — sorry, there it is again), and the title track to their latest, greatest record At Samme Stof Som Stof.

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On repeat today is the Danish eight-piece Under Byen (pronounced “ohna boon,” but you knew that). At times they recall Björk, Mogwai, and Tortoise, but ultimately it’s unlike everything else I’m listening to these days. Like their MySpace page says, it’s experimental.

Start with the Samme Stof Som Stuf title track/single. Reminiscent of the nervous orchestration of Apple-era XTC … but performed by Björk and two kickass drummers. “Tinder” has a nifty music box intro that unravels into a brooding ballad showcasing Henriette Sennenvaldt’s fragile Sia-like inflections. No axes for Under Byen, but violinist Nils Gröndahl plays a mean saw.

Samme Stof Som Stof will be the band’s first international release, courtesy of Paper Bag Records. Look for it in stores 9/26, and on blogs now.

From Samme Stof Som Stof (2006)
Under Byen – “Af Samme Stof Som Stof” (MP3)
Under Byen – “Den Her Sang Handler Om At Få Det Bedste Ud Af Det” (MP3)

From Det Er Mig Der Holder Træerne Sammen (2002)
Under Byen – “Plantage” (MP3)
Under Byen – “Lesesag” (MP3)

From Kyst (1999)
Under Byen – “Hjertebarn” (MP3)
Under Byen – “Kyst” (MP3)

Hear more at myspace.com/47795897.

Here’s the new video for “Af Samme Stof Som Stof.”

Fantastiske.