Trentemøller: Live in Concert EP

Denmark’s Anders Trentemøller has been one of electronic music’s biggest names ever since his flawlessly produced, award winning Last Resort blew 2006 wide open. A half remix/b-sides type compilation followed in 2007 with less fanfare, yet supported by a massive, world-sweeping tour. As you could have guessed, Live In Concert is a live EP, and it is his first venture as such. Recorded with the home venue advantage, the (mildly annoying) crowd sounds very much behind him, though their noise is often given a little too much presence in the mix throughout the four “live” cuts. More pressing is the fact little of the music actually sounds live. A friend of mine caught his Vancouver gig last year and, though he had a live drummer, much of the songs were constructed through preprogrammed triggers, and that is exactly what this sounds like. Push a button, push a button, hold for applause, push a button, and go home.

Three remixes fill out the tracklisting, two of which don’t even hint at the power of the originals. The extended version of Gluteus Maximus’ “Miss You” remix comes close, though, on the back of some organic sampling and intricate production still given the room to breathe, but it’s not quite enough to make the whole effort worthwhile. This EP can only be recommended to completists. Everyone else would be well advised to find his studio albums first, and then attentively preview this Live In Concert EP before considering purchase.