Pity downtempo. The genre tag ubiquitously and properly applied to Röyksopp's brand of smooth, pre-dawn electronic-pop must forever endure over-hyphenated allusions to its status as the turn-of-the-Y2K high-end retail-shopping soundtrack of choice (uh, see?). Those who have heard Röyksopp's two albums, 2002's Melody A.M. and last year's The Understanding, won't be surprised to learn the Norwegian duo's live set is much better and more raucuous than hunching next to the speakers at yer local Crate & Barrel. And yet the live Röyksopp's Night Out EP isn't completely unlike that store's unnecessary baubles.
Put it on your wedding registry: "What Else Is There", in which touring singer Anneli Drecker does a great impression of the Knife's Karin Dreijer's studio-version Björk impression, while Röyksoppers TorbjØrn Brundtland and Svein Berge lay out their template of club-thumping drum pads and Airy analogue synths. "Only This Moment" finds the frontmen coolly engaging in Depeche Mode mode with guest sighs/moans from the excellent Kate Havnevik. "Poor Leno (Istanbul Forever Take)" spreads open the original like a starless night sky, albeit dropping the vocals. An intense "Remind Me" rides fashion-show guitars, which work despite the replacement of Erlend Øye with a vocoder.
And, yes, Röyksopp do perform Queens of the Stone Age's "Go With the Flow", the primary reason the Norwegian band's longtime fans will want this record. Its bleak death-wish lyrics and martial melody make surprising sense amid rocket-propelled synths and understated vocals, but the cover's still a curio when laid beside Röyksopp's superior, original compositions. Plus, the eight-minute "Alpha Male" is the same lasers-firing space obelisk dropped on the What Else Is There? EP like, three months ago. Well, we already done reviewed that, and most people who wanted it probably already bought it.
Like a $49.95 designer urn or a $79.95 lasagna pan, Röyksopp's Night Out EP is pretty but largely inessential. The uninitiated should pick up either of the full-lengths (or that still-great remix of the Streets' "Weak Become Heroes"). Nevertheless, the disc makes an argument for Röyksopp's downtempo even staunch rockists can appreciate: It sounds good live. OK, save your pity for another genre. Like maybe mainstream country.
