Elephant9 Psychedelic Backfire I CD

Elephant9 was already established as a vital live favourite on the Norwegian scene - due to a number of energetic and enthusiastically received concerts - before their highly acclaimed debut album "Dodovoodoo" was released in May 2008. 11 years later, and after another four studio albums, it was about time to properly document this live force in the form of not only one album, but two double albums.

Indeed, the very limited vinyl only "Live at the BBC" album was released in 2011, but this time the band booked a four day residency at the intimate Kampen Bistro in Oslo and invited old friend Reine Fiske - a vital presence on previous albums "Atlantis" and "Silver Mountain" - along for two of the evenings. Everything was recorded in front of enthusiastic crowds and later mixed by Christian Engfelt, another trusted collaborator. It's a rough warts-and-all mix, with no overdubs, repairs or edits. Tracks are picked from all their albums, often given lengthy workouts with room for improvisation.

The trio is extremely tight and telepatic, with St le as the obvious soloist, but it's worth to mention the drummer for a change, Torstein being a powerhouse that truly shines on these recordings.