II

What makes II so vital on a grander scale is that they have reached a masterful equilibrium with the elements that have made them the preeminent producers they are today.

A perfectly summery blend of Krautrock, prog rock and more danceable grooves.

At the very least, II manages consistency where so many collaborations sound like two minds in separate corners.

II feels like the dance-music equivalent of a compost heap: warm, organic, funky, but a tad squishy.

Some songs have bits that add up greater than the sum of the whole. Others get exhausted too easily and never quite ignite. When the magic does happen though, it’s so acute and ecstatic you don’t want to be anywhere else but inside the music.

This could be a great album with some gentle editing and condensing. Many of these songs cannot support the weight of 8 or 10 or 12 minutes, although the extended length seems to be nearly the whole point of this album.

There's no doubting the horizontal loveliness of For Ett Slikk Og Ingenting, and Rett Paa turns in a suitably hypnotic groove, but occasionally you listen attended by the feeling that were this the work of an American jam band called Amphibian Phungus rather than a couple of hip Norwegian dance producers, a lot of its fans wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.