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1975 2023 Artists (by group or surname) D Doctor Who Music Reviews R Radiophonic Workshop Soundtracks Soundtracks by Title Year

Doctor Who: Revenge Of The Cybermen – music by Carey Blyton

5 min read

Order this CDThere are quite few releases out there now of unused/rejected film scores. But with television? Not so much. The production timetable of TV just can’t handle an unusable score. It’ll either use less/none of what’s produced, but in most cases, there’s no time to hire someone else to come up with a replacement score, assuming that the budget can absorb a replacement. And it’s rarer still for anything left on the cutting room floor to ever be heard again.

All of that is to explain that Revenge Of The Cybermen, the more-than-complete score from Tom Baker’s first season-closing story as the star of Doctor Who in 1975, is a highly improbable release. The powers that be weren’t exactly crazy about the music Carey Blyton turned in, his third and final contribution to the series’ music. (His two prior scores were in Jon Pertwee’s first and final seasons, under a different producer.) With little time for a fix, Blyton’s recordings were handed off to Peter Howell of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to add some analog synths to the existing music…and then the makers of the show didn’t use most of that either. In the end, Revenge Of The Cybermen‘s four 25-minute episodes were sparse on music, and the vast majority of what’s on this CD was never heard in the show. Add to that the fact that it’s a Tom Baker-era score, and the music presented here is all sorts of rare. (The discovery that Blyton had kept tapes of his largely-unheard work for himself makes this release possible; even Revenge‘s DVD release and the 50th anniversary soundtrack collection had very little music from this story.)

The liner notes are particularly fascinating, digging into Blyton’s own correspondence to examine his reliance on non-traditional instruments, something the composer felt was a good fit for the show’s often non-traditional subject matter. But to Blyton’s mind, this meant instruments that had fallen out of common use in orchestral ensembles – some of them decidedly closer to “ancient” than “futuristic”, which may have been meant to signify the Vogans rather than the Cybermen, but may also have explained the synthesizer overdubs ordered by the show’s makers. All of this information helps to explain why so little of Blyton’s distinctive music was used…and, perhaps, why he was never tapped to provide music for Doctor Who again.

3 out of 4The resulting sound is spare (like Doctor Who’s more frequent composer, Dudley Simpson, Blyton simply couldn’t afford to assemble a full orchestra), and in all likelihood, this album will achieve the hat trick of feeling odd both to modern audiences (accustomed to the full force and fury of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales) and to fans of the 20th century series’ frequent scoring with synthesizers and radiophonic sound. There are synths here, but they weren’t intended to be there in the music’s original formulation, and they don’t really “rescue” it in any meaningful way (assuming you listen to the original, non-overdubbed pieces and feel that some kind of triage was needed). It’s an interesting listen that may fall into the category of being only for completists or the very curious. Despite that, it’s still incredible to hear a complete – and almost completely unused – score from a Tom Baker story from the ’70s.

  1. Doctor Who – Opening Title Theme (0:45)
  2. Return to Nerva Beacon (2:02)
  3. Can Anyone Hear Me? (0:36)
  4. Cybermat / Unspool / Plague (1:53)
  5. Cybership I (0:23)
  6. Searching Kellman’s Room (1:05)
  7. Sarah vs Cybermat Part 1 (0:31)
  8. Sarah vs Cybermat Part 2 (0:18)
  9. Sabotage (0:42)
  10. It’s Happening All Over Again (0:11)
  11. The Skystriker (0:26)
  12. On Voga (0:40)
  13. Sarah and Harry Captured Part 1 (0:47)
  14. Sarah and Harry Captured Part 2 (0:10)
  15. Cybership II (0:19)
  16. Enter Vorus (0:08)
  17. Remote Control Threat (0:33)
  18. Tyrum and Vorus (0:37)
  19. One More Pull (0:17)
  20. Caves Chase (0:50)
  21. Caves Chase Continued (0:29)
  22. Surrounded (0:35)
  23. Boarding Party (0:59)
  24. The Beacon is Ours (0:41)
  25. Tyrum Fanfare (0:15)
  26. Prisoners (0:13)
  27. Fresh Orders (0:19)
  28. It Cannot Be Stopped (0:21)
  29. Loose Thinking / The Bomb (1:27)
  30. The Countdown Has Commenced (1:01)
  31. Cybermarch (1:27)
  32. Radarscope (0:23)
  33. Adventures on Voga (1:19)
  34. Rockfall (1:15)
  35. Surface Party and Detonation (1:47)
  36. Nine Minutes (0:26)
  37. Cybermat vs Cybermen (0:44)
  38. The Biggest Bang in History? (0:45)
  39. Waltz – All’s Well That Ends Well (0:17)
  40. Doctor Who – Closing Title Theme (53” Version) (0:54)
     
    Alternative and Synthesizer Cues
  41. Sarah vs Cybermat (end of part 1 alternative) (0:20)
  42. Sarah vs Cybermat (start of part 2) (0:56)
  43. It’s Happening All Over Again (random organ) (0:06)
  44. Sarah and Harry Captured (alternative) (0:46)
  45. Put That Gun Down (synth cue) (0:20)
  46. Cybership II (alternative) (0:24)
  47. Remote Control Threat (alternative) (0:35)
  48. One More Pull (alternative) and Vogan Gunfight (0:58)
  49. Cybership III (synth cue) (0:17)
  50. Caves Chase (alternative) (1:20)
  51. Cybership IV (synth cue) (0:23)
  52. Caves Chase Continued (alternative) (0:36)
  53. Surrounded (alternative) (0:38)
  54. Boarding Party (end of Part 2 alternative) (0:25)
  55. Jelly Babies (synth cue) (0:10)
  56. Tyrum Fanfare (edited cue as used) (0:10)
  57. It Cannot Be Stopped (alternative) (0:37)
  58. Loose Thinking (alternative) (0:31)
  59. The Bomb (alternative) (0:19)
  60. The Countdown Has Commenced (alternative) (0:06)
  61. Looped Cybermarch (0:29)
  62. Looped Cybermarch with Synth (0:47)
  63. Adventures on Voga (synth cues) (1:07)
  64. The Red Zone (Random Organ) (0:06)
  65. Heartbeat Countdown I (synth cue) (1:25)
  66. Heartbeat Countdown II (synth cue) (1:09)
  67. Rockfall (alternative) (1:17)
     
    Bonus Tracks
  68. Session Tapes – Random Organ, Specimen Gong, Timps (3:08)
  69. Session Tapes – m42a & 42b (improvs) (1:58)

Released by: Silva Screen Records
Release date: November 24, 2023
Total running time: 51:54

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2022 Artists (by group or surname) Music Reviews Non-Soundtrack Music R Todd Rundgren Year

Todd Rundgren – Space Force

4 min read

Order this CDA kind of follow-up to 2017’s White Knight album, Space Force is an entire album of collaborations between Todd Rundgren and, one suspects, whoever picked up the phone and said “yes”. This includes some serious talent – The Roots, Adrian Belew, Thomas Dolby, Steve Vai, Neil Finn, to name just a few – and Rundgren’s attention to production detail lives up to its legendary reputation with each track. Musically speaking, this is the best stuff we’ve gotten out of Rundgren in years. Each song is a world unto itself, as the album hits as many genres and styles as possible, from “STFU”‘s in-your-face blues-rock stomp to the highlight of the album, “Espionage”, a delightfully atmospheric rap-pop crossover featuring Narcy. On some songs, Rundgren gracefully shares the limelight – I mean, who doesn’t want to harmonize with Neil Finn? – and on others, he’s very much at the forefront. The music resulting from this wildly diverse series of collaborations is absolutely fantastic.

If there’s a weak point to Space Force, it’s in the lyrics department. Some of them are sublimely heartfelt, such as the lead track. But Rundgren’s got a tendency to embrace satirical material and that side of him is much more hit-or-miss. “Down With The Ship” and “STFU” are just goofy; “Godiva Girl” is well one its way to being a blue-eyed soul number for the ages until, on its way to the exit, lyrics like “you gave me love diabetes” and “I got your sweet caramel stuck up in my grill” start creeping in. Comparing the subject of the song to candy is one thing, but then he’s got to get goofy on the off-ramp to the fade-out. Dude, you had it! You’d nailed it! It was a great song! And then…that. (Then the next track is “Your Fandango”, which goes off the deep end.) The hell of it is, there are some amazing lyrics on here too – I’m looking at you, “Puzzle” and “Someday” – and every once in a while the satirical material manages to stick the landing, such as “I’m Leaving” and its skewering of men who expect women to wait on them hand-and-foot. And then there’s the stuff in the middle, like “I’m Not Your Dog”, that I can’t even decide if it works or not. Rundgren’s always had that side to him; it’s just frustrating to have an album that has a winning slate of songs, some of which have lyrics that don’t seem to do the rest of the song justice.

4 out of 4Not every song has to be a Serious Statement about something in particular, that’s not my beef. It’s just that… you get the Roots and Sparks and Thomas Dolby to come sit in on the sessions for your new record, at least have some meat ready for them to chew on, right? The good news is that, Rundgren being Rundgren, every song is at least performed well and produced gloriously, and you can sense Rundgren jumping gleefully from genre to genre with each song depending on who he’s lined up to guest on that track. Even with its nonsensical lyrics, “I’m Not Your Dog” is delivered with so much funky swagger that maybe the words don’t matter. It’s a fun listen from beginning to end, if just a little bit frustrating. I’m all for artists not taking themselves too seriously; my complaint here is really a matter of balance, and everyone else’s mileage may vary. I give this one four stars for some great music, but some of the lyrics here are…lamentable. An occasional “Lockjaw” or a “Bang The Drum All Day” here and there is a fun diversion, but half an album of that?

  1. Puzzle with Adrian Belew (04:48)
  2. Down With The Ship with Rivers Cuomo (02:56)
  3. Artist In Residence with Neil Finn (03:13)
  4. Godiva Girl with The Roots (04:21)
  5. Your Fandango with Sparks (04:24)
  6. Someday with Davey Lane (03:00)
  7. I’m Not Your Dog with Thomas Dolby (05:49)
  8. Espionage with Narcy (05:02)
  9. STFU with Rick Nielsen (03:17)
  10. Head in the Ocean with Alfie Templeman (03:30)
  11. I’m Leaving with The Lemon Twigs (02:57)
  12. Eco Warrior Goddess with Steve Vai (05:32)

Released by: Cleopatra Records
Release date: October 14, 2022
Total running time: 48:45

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2022 Artists (by group or surname) Music Reviews Non-Soundtrack Music Royksopp Year

Röyksopp – Profound Mysteries III

4 min read

Order this CDNow that 2022 has reached its end, I can confidently look back and say that, despite being released really late in the year, and even though it was a year that saw new releases from the likes of Alan Parsons, Midnight Oil, Tim Finn, Tears For Fears, Soft Cell, and a new single from the Queen vaults, the thing I listened to and fixated on the most in 2022 was the third volume of Röyksopp’s Profound Mysteries trilogy. And yes, this has gotten more listen time than the first two entries in the trilogy. This is just peak Röyksopp.

Rewinding a bit, one might remember that in 2014, this was a duo that said it was giving in to the market reality that albums were no longer a thing in the age of music streaming and downloads, and that albums belonged to the age of the CD and the vinyl LP. And when seemingly random Röyksopp singles like “Something In My Heart” and “Never Ever” compelled more repeat listening than some bands’ entire albums, even an old-school album fan like myself had to confess that maybe they had a point, and I’d prefer sporadic singles to them simply going silent. But Profound Mysteries III is proof that a Röyksopp album is always going to be better than a Röyksopp single, because, hey, more Röyksopp. But where the first two Profound Mysteries releases were a bit hit-or-miss from song to song, the third one is their best release since The Inevitable End.

Where this album has its advantage is in the all-star roster of guest collaborators, some we’ve heard from before (Jamie Irrepressible co-writing the atmospheric instrumental “So Ambiguous” and “The Next Day”, and Susanne Sundfør’s vocal elevating “Stay Awhile” to one of the album’s best tracks), some new voices (Gunhild Ramsay Kovacs’s breathy vocals on the upbeat-yet-wistful “Me&Youphoria”), and people that it’s hard to believe hadn’t already collaborated with them (Alison Goldfrapp on “The Night”). Röyksopp really seems to be best-suited to women doing the guest vocals, and just about every song with that element is a standout; surprisingly, as much of a slam-dunk as one would expect it to be, the Alison Goldfrapp collaboration makes the least impact of the bunch. “Me&Youphoria”, “Stay Awhile”, and “Lights Out” are the album’s highlights, with “Just Wanted To Know” featuring Astrid S and a slinky slow groove not far behind. “Feel It” featuring Maurissa Rose is no slouch either; I suppose I should just give in to the obvious and say there’s not a dud track on this album. Some just command more attention than others.

If you’re looking for something that leans into Röyksopp’s history of doing straight-up electro that isn’t quite so downtempo, the ten-minute epic “Speed King” is there for you. Jamie Irrepressible brings a bit of a somber tone to “The Next Day”, and the whole thing wraps up with “Like An Old Dog”, again featuring Pixx, a curious but compelling mix of moody electronics and a wide-screen orchestral backing, an element it shares with “So Ambiguous”, which means that you can shamelessly and almost seamlessly hit repeat on the whole thing.

4 out of 4If Susanne Sundfør’s “Tell Him” had been held over from Profound Mysteries II and added to this album, it’d probably be a strong contender for the best album that this decade will produce, and Röyksopp’s best album ever. But even without it, it’s easily the best thing I listened to in 2022. It’s that good. More like this, please, Röyksopp & friends.

  1. So Ambiguous featuring Jamie Irrepressible (6:06)
  2. Me&Youphoria featuring Gunhild Ramsay Kovacs (4:41)
  3. Stay Awhile featuring Susanne Sundfør (6:11)
  4. The Night featuring Alison Goldfrapp (7:38)
  5. Lights Out featuring Pixx (5:27)
  6. Speed King (9:53)
  7. The Next Day featuring Jamie Irrepressible (4:16)
  8. Just Wanted To Know featuring Astrid S (4:13)
  9. Feel It featuring Maurissa Rose (8:14)
  10. Like An Old Dog featuring Pixx (3:55)

Released by: Dog Triumph Records
Release date: November 18, 2022
Total running time: 60:34

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2014 Artists (by group or surname) Non-Soundtrack Music R Royksopp Year

Röyksopp – The Inevitable End

4 min read

The Inevitable End isn’t the inevitable end of Röyksopp as a recording entity; the grimly titled album was their farewell to the album as the format in which they’d be releasing their work. That’s a very sad farewell indeed, because some of Röyksopp’s back catalog, including Melody A.M. and Junior, convinced me that maybe the album still had something to offer, and that the entire world wasn’t giving up to the whims of streaming and issuing singles only. And ironically, The Inevitable End falls into that category as well – an album so thematically cohesive that listening to it in one sitting is more rewarding than just hearing any one song from it in isolation.

The theme that recurs most often on The Inevitable End doesn’t become evident until you’re a couple of songs past the inevitable beginning. Beginning with “Sordid Affair”, whose subject matter is quite literally what it says on the box, the album seems to be chronicling different stages and perspectives of an extramarital relationship of some kind. (I always question this as subject matter for a song, especially since the songwriter’s going to be subjected to a lot of scrutiny afterward, i.e. “did you write this as a result of a personal experience?” “Sordid Affair” and “Compulsion” describe the rush of the illicit relationship while it’s happening, and “You Know I Have To Go” and “Save Me” explore the end of it from two perspectives. “I Had This Thing” mourns the relationship, and in a way, “Rong” does too, being an almost classically-flavored piece with a single repeating lyric (“what the f___ is wrong with you?”).

Röyksopp has become famous for its all-star line-up of guest vocalists, and while Robyn is all over the first two tracks of The Inevitable End, the real standout MVP who emerges is Jamie Irrepressible, vocalist on “You Know I Have To Go”, “I Had This Thing”, “Compulsion”, and “Here She Comes Again”. He’s got an incredible range and a great sense for dynamics, as his usual hushed delivery on “I Had This Thing” suddenly explodes into something more pleading and anguished toward the end of the song. (Spoiler: Röyksopp has continued as an entity that issues singles, and they continued to work with Jamie after this album, notably on the excellent “Something In My Heart”, so obviously they know a good thing when they hear it.)

“Coup De Grace” deflates the album’s somewhat steamy topic, filling the obligatory instrumental-only slot that’s become a tradition since “Röyksopp’s Night Out” on the first album. The album closer (and the farewell of Röyksopp as a duo that turns out albums) is “Thank You”, which works as effectively as part of the album’s storyline as it does without any of those trappings.

4 out of 4I’ll really miss Röyksopp as an “album band” – their best work has reminded me of the heyday of the Alan Parsons Project, both production-wise and as proponents of concept-based theme albums. It’s sad to hear them giving up on the latter. The singles that have arrived since The Inevitable End have been fantastic – “Never Ever” and “Something In My Heart” would be highlights of an album if they were on an album. But, I get it, album sales aren’t what drives iTunes…especially if no one wants to continue making them.

Order this CD

  1. Skulls (3:46)
  2. Monument (TIE Version)(featuring Robyn) (4:46)
  3. Sordid Affair (featuring Man Without Country) (6:19)
  4. You Know I Have To Go (featuring Jamie Irrepressible) (7:31)
  5. Save Me (featuring Susanne Sundfør) (4:38)
  6. I Had This Thing (featuring Jamie Irrepressible) (5:46)
  7. Rong (featuring Robyn) (2:32)
  8. Here She Comes Again (featuring Jamie Irrepressible) (5:04)
  9. Running To The Sea (featuring Susanne Sundfør) (4:52)
  10. Compulsion (featuring Jamie Irrepressible) (6:57)
  11. Coup De Grace (3:14)
  12. Thank You (6:15)

Released by: EMBAS
Release date: November 21, 2014
Total running time: 61:40

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2017 Artists (by group or surname) Non-Soundtrack Music R Radiophonic Workshop

The Radiophonic Workshop: Burials In Several Earths

3 min read

The Radiophonic Workshop is back, minus the BBC. If the band’s retinue of veteran analog electronic music pioneers can keep turning out original material like this, it might result in a new generation of fans wondering why they were slumming it for the BBC for so long. The Radiophonic Workshop is made up of former members of the storied BBC Radiophonic Workshop, an experimental electronic music & effects department of the BBC founded in the late 1950s to provide unique music and sounds for the steadily growing output of the BBC’s radio and television channels. The work, in those days before samplers and digital synthesizers, was grueling; membership in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop was always fairly limited because you had to love what you were doing, working with oscillators a beat and tone generators and analog reverb and tape loops. The Workshop remains, perhaps unjustly, best known for the original Doctor Who theme music dating back to 1963, but its body of work spread so much further than that…until the BBC closed the Workshop’s doors in the 1990s.

But its members, it turns out, weren’t averse to workshopping their unique sound without Auntie Beeb paying the bills. Having spent over a decade as a touring group recreating their sound the old-fashioned way for audiences who already knew their work and audiences only just discovering them, the Radiophonic Workshop has now gifted us with a new album with the unmistakable sound that gained them a following in the 1960s and ’70s. Is it abstract? At times, yes – about 13 minutes into the lead track, you’d swear they were trying to make a musical instrument out of the sound of the Liberator’s teleport from Blake’s 7. Everything from white noise to whalesong crops up. But what’s amazing is how tuneful it is at times. Echoing piano is a constant presence, along with actual guitar work (Paddy Kingsland, whose Doctor Who and Hitchhiker’s Guide scores in the early ’80s were ear-wormingly hummable, take a bow). There are a few places where a groove emerges from the soundscape and the Radiophonic Workshop proceeds to rock out.

Not a bad feat considering that some of these gentlemen are past what many touring musicians would consider retirement age.

4 out of 4The real fascination of Burials In Several Earths is that it’s electronic music created in a way that has almost been lost to time and the march of technology. That description doesn’t really do it justice though – that sounds more like the description of a tech demo. The Radiophonic Workshop is making actual music this way, delighting audiences on stage, and bolting new chapters onto a legacy of ridiculously hummable short tunes from a bygone age. At times ethereal, at times exciting, the one thing Burials isn’t is boring.

Order this CD

  1. Burials In Several Earths (18:58)
  2. Things Buried In Water (22:01)
  3. Some Hope Of Land (25:15)
  4. Not Come To Light (3:58)
  5. The Stranger’s House (11:23)

Released by: Room 13
Release date: May 19, 2016
Total running time: 1:21:35

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2008 Artists (by group or surname) Non-Soundtrack Music R Rubber Universe

Rubber Universe – Parliament Of Fooles

Rubber Universe - Parliament Of FoolesA few years ago, I raved at great length about L.E.O., a loose collective of (largely) indie label power-pop veterans joining forces to pay a “stylistic” tribute to Electric Light Orchestra without covering any of the band’s existing songs. I’ve always held ELO and Alan Parsons Project in a similarly high esteem – both of them routinely turning out engrossing, lush music with stellar production – so it’s good to find Rubber Universe, a band which offers up a similar “stylistic tribute” to Parsons.

Where it was easy to figure out the object of L.E.O.’s musical affections, Rubber Universe is almost like a tribute – or, better yet, a whole new entry – to prog rock in general. The band states up front that their chief inspiration was Parsons, but in a couple of places (namely on the tracks “Paint My World” and “Nine Minutes ‘Till Midnight”) they also remind one forcefully of the Moody Blues at the height of their early ’70s experimentation (i.e. when their every release was mind-blowing and not just in service of a paint-by-numbers tour), and occasionally – especially in those songs with a healthy dose of female vocals – Clannad comes to mind.

Not that Rubber Universe is slavishly imitating anyone. The admission to having sprung from a tribute/cover band may be a way to automatically grab the attention of a certain fanbase, but Parliament Of Fooles is a fresh new entry in the prog rock pantheon on its own; the whole “former cover band” line in the publicity material may end up being counterproductive. The project (no pun intended) may have started as a cover band that wanted to do something original, but while Parsons fans will appreciate it, it’s nothing that screams “Hey, they’re trying to sound like the Alan Parsons Project.”

Though in a few places, they kinda do, with a little help from their friends: Project guitar god Ian Bairnson contributes to one track, while Godfrey Townsend, Parsons’ current touring guitarist, plays on another. The real coup, however – if those two weren’t enough to lend it the seal of Parsons Project authenticity – is a spoken-word intro for “Let Me Rule Your Heart” by the Project’s most famous vocalist and co-founder, the late Eric Woolfson.

If there’s one trap that Parliament Of Fooles falls victim to, it’s a tendency for most of the songs to hover in the same mid-tempo territory. The good news is that, when a song that breaks that mold comes along (i.e. “Romance Of The Illusion”), it instantly stands out, but much of the album sticks around the same tempo; any second effort from Rubber Universe would do well to vary things a bit more.

But for a freshman outing by a new band, especially one that has one hell of a musical and production pedigree to live up to, built into its mission statement, Rubber Universe is an outfit that bears close 3 out of 4watching – and repeat listening. Though fans of the Alan Parsons Project, they’ve proven that they’re more than ready to carve their own path, and with Parsons’ own output having dropped to less-than-prodigious levels in the past 20 years, I’d welcome a new entity making music with the same expansive feel.

Order this CD

  1. Negative Spaces (4:23)
  2. Dream Catcher (6:53)
  3. Romance Of The Illusion (2:16)
  4. Madness In Slumberland (4:18)
  5. Garden Of Earthly Delights (3:54)
  6. Let Me Rule Your Heart featuring Eric Woolfson (5:36)
  7. Paint My World (3:35)
  8. We Insist (Place De Greve Mix) (5:05)
  9. Goodbye My Love (2:02)
  10. Trying To Go On (4:40)
  11. Nine Minutes ‘Till Midnight featuring Godfrey Townsend (4:04)
  12. Parliament Of Fooles featuring Ian Bairnson (5:47)

Released by: Rubber Universe
Release date: 2008
Total running time: 52:33

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2007 Non-Soundtrack Music R Royksopp

Royksopp – Back To Mine

On the surface, it sounds like a neat idea – you ask a celebrity DJ or remixer to assemble a bunch of their formative favorites, those singles that got them interested in the business, and put their own spin on them, literally. That’s the idea behind the Back To Mine series, which has thus far cranked out a couple dozen of these compilations. They’re basically mixtapes on CD, assembled by the likes of Danny Tenaglia, Orbital, an so on. When a Back To Mine CD was announced, with a playlist personally picked out by those Norwegian masters of the downtempo genre, Royksopp, I thought I’d give it a try.

On the one hand, it’s interesting to hear the tunes that make Royksopp tick. With a playlist that goes from Talking Heads to Mike Oldfield Art Of Noise to Funkadelic, and stuff in between that I either haven’t heard in decades or have never heard of at all, there seems to be the promise of quite a fun ride. The other promise, though – that Royksopp will be giving you that guided tour and putting their own spin on things – is only partly fulfilled. I was eager to hear Art Of Noise a la Royksopp, simply because the collision of two of my favorite acts is a nearly irresistible proposition. Imagine my disappoint when Art Of Noise a la Royksopp turns out to be a short, exceedingly simple edit, sped up so it’s in the right key to dovetail with the tracks before and after it.

Some of these songs really do get the Royksopp treatment, such as Sphinx, which is transformed in much the same way that an obscure cover of Bacharach’s “Blue On Blue” was transformed into “So Easy” on Melody A.M.. I was amused to see a track by Emmanuel Splice slipped into the running order, that act being Royksopp itself under a pseudonym, effectively meaning that the track in question is Royksopp remixing Royksopp. But for the most part, it really does come across as a mixtape, with both the favorable and unfavorable things associated with that. You get to hear a lot of music and, like the weather, if you don’t like it, wait two minutes and it’ll change. But when the name “Royksopp” is what’s drawing people to this CD, 2 out of 4and there isn’t that much Royksopp in evidence, it smacks of a cheaply licensed throwaway compilation.

The selection of material is fine, but the scarcity of actual Royksopp remixing on what’s touted as an album of tunes remixed by Royksopp counts off some major, major points. Do yourself a favor, pass on this one, and wait for the group’s next original studio effort instead.

Order this CD

  1. Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) performed by Talking Heads (3:34)
  2. Sphinx performed by Harry Thumann (2:33)
  3. One More Round performed by Kasso (2:35)
  4. Ma Quale Idea performed by Pino D’Angino (3:54)
  5. Above And Beyond performed by Edgar Winter (1:38)
  6. Off Side performed by Ray Mang & Nathan D’Troit (1:37)
  7. Take A Chance performed by Mr. Flagio (4:22)
  8. Platinum (Part 3: Charleston) performed by Mike Oldfield (1:20)
  9. Meatball performed by Emmanuel Splice (2:53)
  10. That’s Hot performed by Jesse G (4:25)
  11. Legs performed by Art Of Noise (2:52)
  12. 3:00am (12″ version) performed by I-Level (1:49)
  13. Dirty Talk performed by Klein & MBO (3:08)
  14. It Ain’t Easy performed by Supermax (4:03)
  15. Could Be Heaven Like This performed by Idris Muhammad (8:26)
  16. Night People (New York Club Mix) performed by Guy Dalton (4:07)
  17. Get Closer (Vocal) performed by Valerie Dore (4:55)
  18. Can’t Be Serious performed by Ginny (5:12)
  19. I’m Never Gonna Tell It performed by Funkadelic (3:24)
  20. It’s Been A Long Time performed by The New Birth (5:40)

Released by: DMC Records
Release date: 2007
Total running time: 72:27

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2007 Non-Soundtrack Music R Ror-Shak

Ror-Shak – Deep

Ror-Shak - DeepThe brainchild of two UK-to-US transplants with near-legendary backgrounds in production and A&R on both indie and major labels alike, Ror-Shak is an indie club music project with so much going on under the surface that, even if you’re not normally drawn to dance music, it’s definitely worth a listen. The whole thing has quite a cinematic feel to it – there’s depth to both the songs and the production, and it just sounds “widescreen” – as much as anything possibly could.

It definitely doesn’t hurt that Ror-Shak was able to call on some high-profile talent to come along for the ride. Julee Cruise, Lisa Shaw, Wendy Starland and others contribute vocals and, in many cases, to the music and lyrics themselves. Perhaps the most striking song of the whole set is “Fate Or Faith” featuring Julee Cruise; one doesn’t normally expect to hear an internal philosophical/theological dialogue set to music on any given day of the week, never mind set to a hypnotic beat. And the lyrics aside, it’s just great music. Not that any of the other songs are slouches – “Golden Cage”, “A Forest”, “Rescue Me” and “I Don’t Want (A Remake)” are standouts as well. There are a few instrumentals as too, with the moody “Heist” being an especially promising example.

3 out of 4Hopefully Ror-Shak can break out of the indie label orbit (not that there’s anything wrong with that – most of my “new artist” music purchases these days are on indie labels) and into the mainstream with this one, because it’s really, seriously good stuff. This is definitely an act to listen for down the road – to say nothing of giving them a listen here and now.

One minor note: the 11th track, “Window Pain” featuring Julee Cruise, is listed on the packaging but is nowhere to be found on the actual CD, not even as a hidden bonus track attached to the end of one of the other tracks on the album. I’m not sure if this misprint is on every copy in circulation or not.

Order this CD

  1. Lisa’s Song featuring Lisa Shaw (5:24)
  2. Fate Or Faith featuring Julee Cruise (6:55)
  3. A Forest featuring Chantal Claret (6:17)
  4. Golden Cage featuring Julee Cruise (6:11)
  5. Rescue Me featuring Wendy Starland (5:14)
  6. Interlude #1 (2:24)
  7. Be There (7:17)
  8. Love & Pride featuring Wendy Starland (5:26)
  9. Heist (3:20)
  10. I Don’t Want (A Remake) featuring Julee Cruise (4:38)
  11. Trust featuring Mark Holmes (2:48)

Released by: Koch Records
Release date: 2007
Total running time: 55:57

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2006 Non-Soundtrack Music R Royksopp

Royksopp – Royksopp’s Night Out

Royksopp - Royksopp's Night OutI’m generally not a huge fan of live albums – why bother, when studio albums deliver the meat and potatoes minus the screaming? – but every once in a while I’m either enthusiastic or curious enough about a specific act to go ahead and check out a concert recording. I was a little bit skeptical going into Royksopp’s Night Out, simply because Royksopp relies so heavily on technology, sampling and other studio techniques to create their sound – could they deliver the goods without that at their disposal?

The answer turns out to be a resounding yes. Things are energized considerably by getting a touring group together to bring the previously sampled drums, guitars and other instruments to life. There’s still plenty of technology on display, but in some cases the live performance actually obscures things less than the studio recordings: “What More Is There?”, to name just one example, finally reveals its somewhat bizarre lyrics clearly. (The flipside of that is that it seems like only half of the lyrics of “Sparks”, the lovely torchy number from Royksopp’s first album, are ever sung on stage.)

With its short running time, Royksopp’s Night Out hangs somewhere in the balance between EP and full album, and yet depending on where you look, it commands a full album price tag; that probably makes this collection something for the diehards only. But even if you think you’ve heard Royksopp before, this intriguing live recording reveals new layers and new energy by getting everyone out of the studio – in short, it’s exactly what a concert recording should be.

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  1. What Else Is There? (3:19)
  2. Only This Moment (4:04)
  3. Remind Me (3:47)
  4. Sparks (5:09)
  5. Poor Leno (Istanbul Forever Take) (5:24)
  6. Go Away (5:35)
  7. Alpha Male (8:03)
  8. Go With The Flow (3:13)
  9. Teppefall (0:58)

Released by: Astralwerks
Release date: 2006
Total running time: 39:32

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2005 Non-Soundtrack Music R Royksopp

Royksopp – The Understanding

Royksopp - The UnderstandingRoyksopp’s debut album, the mesmerizing Melody A.M., made enough waves to get attention outside of dance music circles, and in the weeks leading up to the release of The Understanding, I found myself wondering if the Norwegian duo’s first outing might not be as much a curse as a blessing – raising expectations too high for the follow-up. The good news is, The Understanding isn’t Melody A.M. Part 2, nor is it even trying to be. It takes off in a whole different direction – probably the smartest thing Royksopp could so.

Where Melody A.M. was an interesting experiment in achieving a kind of timelessness by mixing modern electronic dance music with influences such as 50s torch songs and Bacharach ballads, The Understanding fast-forwards a bit. The chief influence here is clearly 80s new wave, with a dash of 70s funk thrown into the mix. If anything, the test run for The Understanding was the unabashedly new wave-esque radio edit of Melody A.M.’s single “Remind Me”. Royksopp unapologetically paints the new album in similar shades of bright, day-glo Euro-synth sound. Anyone who spent some quality time with the radio anytime from 1979 to 1984 will probably experience a strange sense of familiarity here, despite never having heard these songs before.

Another unusual phenomenon on The Understanding: more of this album’s songs have vocals, and while there’s a retinue of talented guest vocalists on hand for some songs, many of them are sung by the two band members themselves, and sung well; the group’s own vocals are a low-key near-whisper that fits the retro sound of some of the tunes. It serves especially well on “Someone Like You”, “Only This Moment” and “Beautiful Day Without You”, among others, though for those who splurged on the two-disc limited edition, Go Away gives you a chance to hear the band’s own vocals on a more forceful level. I have nothing against the guest artists on The Understanding, but I daresay Royksopp could’ve been completely self-contained on this album and everything would’ve been fine. And if you don’t care to hear anyone’s vocals, fear not, for there are plenty of instrumental tracks as well, though I have to say, there’s nothing to compare to Epie or “Royksopp’s Night Out” here. Somehow, The Understanding‘s instrumentals just didn’t hit me on the same level as Melody A.M.‘s – it’s not that they aren’t good, rating: 4 out of 4but they just haven’t stuck in my head the way the first album’s instrumentals did.

Overall, it’s a nice sophomore effort which may confound a few fan expectations from the first album, but the diversity and adaptability that Royksopp shows off here is part of the duo’s charm. Now I wonder what they’ll do next.

Order this CD

  1. Triumphant (4:20)
  2. Only This Moment (3:55)
  3. 49 Percent (5:11)
  4. Sombre Detune (4:52)
  5. Follow My Ruin (3:51)
  6. Beautiful Day Without You (5:29)
  7. What Else Is There? (5:17)
  8. Circuit Breaker (5:24)
  9. Alpha Male (8:11)
  10. Someone Like Me (5:23)
  11. Dead To The World (5:20)
  12. Tristesse Globale (1:24)

Bonus disc:

  1. Go Away (3:53)
  2. Clean Sweep (5:17)
  3. Boys (4:46)
  4. Head (5:04)
  5. Looser Now (6:04)

Released by: Wall Of Sound
Release date: 2005
Disc one total running time: 58:43
Disc two total running time: 25:05

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