927. Melody A.M. - Royksopp

A great abum to have in the build up to our wedding for many reasons, foremost of which was that it wasn't thrash metal. Building up to our big day with a nice chilled out vibe, including many recognisable tracks, was just what was required. This is an album that I was reasonably familiar with, as I owned it and had heard it a fair few times just after it came out. I hadn't heard it it for at least a decade though, so it was like visiting a familiar friend; pleasant, comforting, but not necessarily exciting. 

Melody A.M. was Royksopp's debut, released in 2001, and had a pretty galvanising impact on the dance scene in the early 2000s. It was strongly thematic, with a real depth and variety to the songs that ebb and flow throughout the body of work. Royksopp are a Norwegian group made up of two DJs, Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland. They were strongly infuenced by the handful of radio stations they could listen to in their northern city of Tromsø. Indeed, this album has strong parallels with Mylo's Destroy Rock and Roll, both in terms of its sound and the influence of fragmented snatches of radio broadcasts. 

Eple was the bggest selling single from this collection, and it is instantly recognisable as it has featured in the mood music of many TV shows and adverts. Sparks is a great song, with a beautiful, delicate vocal score that is reminsicent of Portishead at their best. Royksopp's Night Out was a real grower for me, and the only properly clubby number on the album, but the stand out song was Remind Me, that features an incredible vocal line by the Kings of Convenience lead singer Erlend Øye. It builds and grows, and you get carried along in this lush arrangement of textures and sounds.

In many ways, this album deserves a higher score than I've given it. However, the variety I speak of is only there if you really focus on the music, and that requires a greater effort than would happen by defult. It is a great album to have playing in the background, or if you're trying to revise, but I dont every feel like I can just sit and fully focus on it straight through. Indeed, trying to do this on a long distance flight led me to skipping through several tracks - hardly a ringing endorsement. 

Chloe's rating: 6
Chloe's favourite track: 3. Sparks
Olly's rating: 6
Olly's favourite track: 9. Remind Me

Next week we have 441. Pretenders by The Pretenders, a band I know very little about, but my future father in law loves; I shall obviously remain impartial.