Filed under: Albums You Should Own | Tags: Acoustic, Eirik Glambek Bøe, Erlend Oye, Kings of Convenience, Leslie Feist, Marcin Oez, Riot On An Empty Street, Whitest Boy Alive
Kings Of Convenience
Riot On An Empty Street (2004)
About the Artist: Kings of Convenience is the collaboration of uber DJ/Singer Erlend Oye (The Whitest Boy Alive) and singer/songwriter Eirik Glambek Boe (Kommode). Together since 2000, the duo has released 3 albums and are currently in Mexico working on a new album that will be released sometime in 2008. Both artists have also released solo projects like Oye’s wonderful album “Dreams” with his “The Whitest Boy Alive” partner DJ Marcin Oez.
About the Album: Have you ever imagined what Simon and Garfunkel would sound like today if they had never broken up and were privy to current recording technology? The answer is Kings of Convenience and the album they would have made is Riot On An Empty Street. The heartfelt opener “Homesick” reminds of the classic road weary track “America” as Oye and Boe harmonize over breezy acoustic chords and paint a picture of longing and soul searching. Standout compositions like “Misread” (the only up-tempo piece included), “I’d Rather Dance with You” and the quietly powerful “Live Long” beg for multiple listens before they almost dare you to try to forget the beautiful melodies that will stick inside your brain. The one-two punch at album’s end with the folk influenced “Gold In The Air of Summer” and the moving collaboration with canadian songstress Leslie Feist “The Build Up”, which stands as their most stark and emotive single to date. Riot On An Empty Street is a truly complex and satisfying album that from beginning to end forms a sanctuary you will want to visit again and again.
Filed under: Albums You Should Own | Tags: 1970's, Bryter Layter, Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Bryter Layter (1970)
About the Artist: Nick Drake was a very talented and very troubled musician. His bouts with depression and mental illness led to his death by an overdose of antidepressants in 1974. He recorded only three albums during his short career (Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter and Pink Moon). His musical style could best be described as jazz-tinged folk with a dark, moody edge.
About the Album: Bryter Layter is the second of Drake’s three releases. Compared to the earlier Five Leaves Left, it could almost be considered upbeat. Drake was accompanied on the album by John Cale of The Velvet Underground and accomplished guitarist/singer Richard Thompson as well as many others. Drake used horns,flutes and string arrangements to lift “At the Chime of a City Clock” and “Hazy Jane I and II” to a jazzier and lighter place than his previous releases and piano and guitar to create the album’s most moving moment “One of These Things First”, a song about what could have been. Other notable tracks are “Fly” and the love lament “Northern Sky” (both featuring Cale) and the fragile “Poor Boy”. Bryter Layter is the perfect starting point for the uninitiated and one of the more celebrated albums of the 1970’s.
