Excellent - Excellent, soothing and very melodious. The songwriting is superb yet simple for everyone to relate and drift away. Definitley reccomend this and their other works for anybody with a good taste of musica.
Less is indeed more - One of the many great bands to come out of Scandinavia lately ( a region quietly creating one of the most interesting music scenes around ) are the Kings Of Convenience , a duo consisting norwegian singers-songwritters Erik Glambek Boe and Erland Oye . The chemistry of their friendship relfects on their work on this album , their first one on a major record company which includes a tracklist of well-crafted melodies , gentle and relaxed yet never light-weight . The witty lyrics meticously describe feelings and situations while the vocals remain calm and focused all the way through . Sex , Drungs And Rock n Roll this ain t since were re talking about a band who want hesitate , in case someone doesn t call them cool , to declare they like to organize chess-championships inbetween gigs...and well, that s what makes them so cool afterall, at least in my book . The enigmatic tracks ( Little Kids , Weight Of My Words ) work as good as the happy ones ( Toxic Girl ) yet the group is at the top of their game when they deceide to open up and reveal sensitivity and emotions like on the opening Winning A Battle , Losing A War or the impossibly beautiful Summer On The Westhill . Quiet Is The New Loud is a record which , along with recent releases such as Beck s Seachange or the Kings second offering , proves how far one can go just with an acoustic guitar and a lot of inspiration . A modern classic then , if there is such a thing anymore .
A favorite... - Quiet is the New Loud was my first exposure to the Kings of Convenience. A few summers ago I was subletting a room in Iowa City, and found the disc carelessly left out and exposed on top of the stereo. As a music director in college I am familiar with various record labels and the general quality of music they tend to release. So it s no surprise that I immediately noticed the Astralwerks logo on the bare CD. For those of you unfamiliar with the label, they ve published the music of great bands such as: Phoenix, Sondre Lerche, Air, and many others. I was later excited to learn that somehow I had overlooked the fact that Erlend Øye-- front man for Kings of Convenience-- was also the mastermind behind the DJ Kicks album and his solo dance-tronica debut Unrest, which was host to some great guest collaborations including Prefuse 73.Naturally I was curious and so I popped the CD in, expecting to hear some kind of electronica or IDM. This was during the day and I was trying to get myself motivated to be productive. I must say I was disappointed upon first listen. Here was these two Norwegian guys, singing soft melodies about the future, experiences, people, etc, and I couldn t wrap my head around it, and it certainly wasn t getting me up moving around. I decided to give it a second listen later that evening while relaxing with a book. And then I fell in love.This is a beautifully complex album. By the second listen, I was hooked. Each time I hear it, I pick up new subtleties, and the album itself is produced in such a way that the tracks really transition seamlessly into one experience. The songs can stand alone, but the album is really best enjoyed in one listen. This album is especially refreshing amidst today s pop music, chock full of fashion-whoring, emo kids, pop-punkers who ve lost touch with their roots (The Clash, Ramones, Sex Pistols), boy bands... and all of the other over-produced garbage that floods our senses out there. To find something so simple that it can be enjoyed effortlessly, but still so intricate that it s good through and through and time after time is exceptional. It s a rare album these days that you will find yourself wanting to play straight through from first track to last. I can only think of a few that come to mind (OK Computer being one of them).This is a thinker s album. Great for Sunday mornings in bed, relaxing with books or crossword puzzles, or just general lazing around. Whenever I play this album for a friend, it s an immediate hit.Recommended if you like: Simon and Garfunkel, Phoenix, Nick Drake, Belle and Sebastian, Yo La Tengo, L Altra, the One AM Radio, Ben & Jason, the American Analog Set.
Truly kings of convenience, and my personal favorites. - As a music producer myself, I ve turned wholeheartedly to Kings of Convenience for inspiration over the last few years. Seeing their video Misread on TV while on a trip to Italy started it all. The only album available to me at the time was Quiet is the New Loud (Misread is on their second album, Riot on an Empty Street), their first album, and I thought I d give it a shot. Off the plane from Milan, I dug in and became a fan over the next week. Here were two guys (similar to me in appearance/demeanor) from Norway performing what should be a rather dated style of acoustic music, but doing it with such relevance, rhythm and soul that I was hooked instantly. The bossanova elements and convenient chordal progressions on Quiet is the New Loud are modestly produced yet accented perfectly by the vocal harmonies of Eirik and Erland, two casual Norwegian pals in their early thirties. Comparisons to other similar groups don t hold much water as I ve tried to find similar artists (hungry for more!) and haven t found the same exotic quality in any other to date.Other Guitarists have created somewhat complex tablature for their songs but often overlook obvious ways of playing their songs rather credibly, Truly Kings of Convenience, this duo often find the easiest yet most fulfilling way of performing their progressions, revitalizing acoustic guitar music with layers of understated strumming, fingerpicking, and soft Gilberto-esque vocals. Understated is the key word here, nothing about KOC is over the top. And the sheer simplicity (a phrase used in their second album in harmony with guest vocalist Feist) of their songs is deceiving. These two know how to play guitar but they want you to pay more attention to the emotion than the production.While some may take the softness of KOC s music at face value, it is important to look past it to an almost ironic strength hidden in the layers. Very rarely do such beautifully blended melodies offer this level of relevance, carried between the notes in the tone of the voice and the words they sing. I ve never been much of a fan of acoustic guitar but Kings of Convenience speak to me as a peer. Their songs are easy to remember, fun to play, and packed with subtleties that will keep your musical tastebuds busy for a very, very long time.Quiet is the New Loud and KOC s second album (Riot on an Empty Street) hold a joint slot in my top 10 favorite albums of all time. And I can t say that for any other folk/acoustic group. Buy this album, you won t regret it.
Beautiful and Original - Firstly I would like to disagree, with both amazon and some of the other reviewers on here claiming their sound to be unoriginal and comparable to Belle & Sebastian. I have an enormous music collection that is beyond excessive and yet I have declared Kings of Convenience as my favorite band of all, and rightly so with the most play counts in iTunes. I never write music reviews, but I ve made an exception for this.No matter what mood I m in Kings of Convenience feels right. Whether going to sleep, feeling low, chilling with friends, or doing homework it doesn t matter, once you put their album on you are automatically in a relaxed and reflective mood. You will think of past loves, you will think of your cat, curled up in a ball on the couch, you will think of happy times, sad times, you will think of how much longer that candle will burn for, you will think.Now I do not say all this out of a biased worship, I am simply sharing my own personal experience with this music, everyday I listen to new music, and I have yet to find anything comparable. It may take a while to grow on you, but once you realize what you ve been missing, you too will be glad you added it to your collection.Out of all three albums my favorite is Quiet is the New Loud, and if you do become a fan the Versus cd is a must, while I didn t appreciate it at first it is essential and actually quite good after a few listens.