Röyksopp (sometimes typed 'Royksopp' and 'Røyksopp') is an electronic music duo based in Bergen, Norway composed of Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge. The group formed officially in 1998 and released their debut album Melody A.M. in 2001.

Despite the fact that Brundtland and Berge were schoolmates in their home town of Tromsø and did experiment with electronic instruments in the early 90's, 'Röyksopp' only appeared years later when they met again in Bergen. The city had a vital scene for underground electronic music at this time, and they got to work with other Norwegian musicians such as Frost, Kings of Convenience, Those Norwegians and Drum Island in what was called the Bergen Wave. Their first singles were released by local independent label Tellé and later as the word spread, they got to release Melody A.M on British label Wall of Sound. It spawned singles like Eple, Poor Leno, Remind Me and Sparks.

The popularity of the duo's album was boosted by several graphically experimental music videos. One of them, an infographic-styled video by French company H5 for the 'Remind Me' track, won the 2002 MTV Europe Music Award for best music video.

The name Røyksopp means literally, "smoke mushroom", which is the Norwegian name for the Lycoperdale genus in the fungus kingdom; a type of mushroom that will make a smoky cloud if touched.

External links

• Site at Astralwerks
• Official site