Solus Ipse



Thunderbear is the Århus, DK based one man project of Thorbjørn Krogshede, formerly of Under Byen. When playing with Under Byen piano and organs were the weapons of choice. With 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. His first album, Frydefulde Angest is instrumental music and has been said to be somewhere between French composer Erik Satie (among other things known for his furniture 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 piano playing 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. With Solus Ipse, his second album, Thorbjørn Krogshede returns to almost exclusively playing the piano, with only the occasional accompaniment of glockenspiel or distorted guitar. It marks a slight shift in direction away from Godspeed You Black Emperor and further towards Erik Satie. Amongst his influences you might mention Keith Jarrett, Yann Tiersen, and Shostakovich(!). The Thunderbear albums will no doubt interest fans of Under Byen. Not only was Thorbjørn the composer, but among the other musicians who take part in the making of the first 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. A sample from his latest album can be found on his official site, www.thunderbear.dk. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.