Royksopp’s Night Out: Live EP
Yesterday saw the surprisingly hushed US release of Royksopp’s new live EP, appropriately titled Royksopp’ Night Out. The EP was recorded at the Rockefeller Music Hall in front of an ecstatic hometown crowd in Oslo, Norway at the tail end of their 2005 international tour last November, and culls tracks from their stellar debut album, Melody AM, which sold 1,000,000 copies worldwide and 500,000 in the UK alone, and 2005’s equally-fantastic The Understanding. Royksopp is made up of Torbjorn Brundtland and Svein Berge (if you’re looking for a pronunciation key, sorry, I’ve got nothing for you), and they’re easily my favorite electronica group, so be sure to go here to check out the artist profile I ran on them last December for more info and mp3s (that unfortunately don’t work). Anyway, as for the EP, it’s a great listen, even for fans who already have all of Royksopp’s recorded material.
Live albums often prove to be only of interest to extreme fans and completionists only, but the electronica duo absolutely rocks it here, and Royksopp’s Night Out is definitely worth your time, regardless of who you are. Royksopp, which means”smoking mushroom” in Norwegian, completely reinvent their songs in the live setting as many electronica acts do, and even throw in a completely unexpected - but completely awesome - cover of Queen of the Stone Age’s “Go With The Flow” on the EP. The first two tracks, “What Else Is There?” and “Only This Moment”, are two of my favorite Royksopp songs on record, but remain mostly unchanged here, though Karin Dreijer’s (of The Knife) incredible vocals on “What Else” remain absolutely stunning live. “Remind Me” is supercharged with a pounding beat not found on it’s Melody AM counterpart, while the languorous pace of the original version of “Sparks” is exchanged in favor of a much more danceable, club-approved rendition of the song. The duo takes a similar approach on the live version of “Poor Leno”, choosing to play the remixed and vocal-less “Poor Leno” (Istanbul Forever Take) instead. However, the main attraction of this EP for most will be the only new content, Royksopp’s excellent cover of “Go With The Flow”. Here they strip away all of the organic elements of the original and deliver a pulsing, electrified version of the song, over which Svein (or is it Bjorn, I’m not sure) delivers a surprisingly faithful vocal rendition. Below is the complete tracklist, where you can download their cover of “Go With The Flow” and the other highlights from this excellent live album.
Royksopp’s Night Out (Live in Oslo):
1. “What Else Is There?” [highly recommended]
2. “Only This Moment” [highly recommended]
3. “Remind Me”
4. “Sparks” [highly recommended]
5. “Poor Leno” (Istanbul Forever Take)
6. “Go Away”
7. “Aplha Male”
8. “Go With The Flow” [highly recommended]
9. “Teppefall” (Outro)
I’ve also included some bonus mp3s and videos for your enjoyment. My only qualm with Royksopp’s Night Out is with the glaring lack of “Eple” from its tracklist. “Eple” is Royksopp’s best work to date and is a huge fan-favorite (so much so that they actually played the same version of it twice at their last NYC show), so it’s exclusion from this live EP is both inexplicable and frustrating. Annnnd I’ve re-uploaded the mighty Trentemoller’s remix of “What Else Is There?”, which held the #6 spot on my Top 10 Remixes of 2005 list and is a true remixing marvel. I’ve also uploaded the duo’s fantastic remix of Coldplay’s “Clocks”, which despite not altering the original too much, manages to still have that signature Royksopp feel. Finally, I’ve also included Royksopp’s two best videos, for “Poor Leno” and “Only This Moment”, the latter of which I named the third best video of 2005.
MP3s:
“Eple” - Royksopp [highly highly recommended]
“What Else Is There?” (Trentemoller Remix) - Royksopp [highly recommended]
“Clocks” (Royksopp Trembling Heart Remix) - Coldplay
Videos:
“Only This Moment” - Royksopp [highly recommended]
“Poor Leno” - Royksopp [highly recommended]