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Kings of Convenience - Versus Audio CD

A fair review of the Kings of Convenience "Versus" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Kings of Convenience reviews here, or go back to the Kings of Convenience tabs.

Kings of Convenience Band: Kings of Convenience
Title: Versus
Rating:
Release Date: 2001-10-30
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: I Don't Know What I Can Save You From [R�yksopp Remix] 2: Weight of My Words [Four Tet Remix] 3: Girl from Back Then [Riton's �ber Jazz Mix] 4: Gold for the Price of Silver [Erot Vs. Kings of Convenience] 5: Winning a Battle, Losing the War [Andy Votel Mix] 6: Leaning Against the Wall [Evil Tordivel Upbeat Remake] 7: Toxic Girl [Monte Carlo 1963 Version] 8: Failure [Alfie Remake] 9: Little Kids [Ladytron Fruits of the Forest Mix] 10: Failure 11: Leaning Against the Wall [Bamboo Soul Remix] 12: Weight of My Words [Four Tet Instrumental Remix]

Much better than "Quiet Is the New Loud"!
But it's actually more than that: it's a step above its parent album. For the most part, "Versus" is an album of remixes from "Quiet Is the New Loud". The remixed versions keep you into the album, something that the original tracks were unable to do for the most part. While I still prefer the band's (much folkier-sounding) "Riot on an Empty Street", "Versus" is a pretty good album by the Norwegian duo.


if you feel like stoning
Royksopp's rendition of Don't know what I can save you from is reminiscient of the background music of the old kid's computer game "Treasure Cove", which is laidback and lovely. Very good chillout music. The circus-sounding Leaning against the Wall by Evil Tordivel is fresh and amusing, and Winning a Battle, Losing a War should be heard by anyone who's ever loved someone without being loved in return.


Who wouldn't like this?
I mean, really. I see I'm not the first person who was a little shall-we-say skeptical of the concept. Electronica remixes of acoustic folk lullabyes? Does it get any more gimmicky?

Yea, all signs pointed to "save your money" on this one. But deep down I wanted to believe. I knew that a concept like this really could make for wonderful music, if only it was done right. With taste, with imagination, with respect for the source material -- I mean, it could be really good! Couldn't it?

So, with a little trepidation, I purchased Versus. I bought it used, so as to limit my losses. And what do you know.

It's better than I'd even hoped. My wife loves it too -- we even found that the baby will stop crying when we put it on. She just stares at the speakers with an expression halfway between awestruck and dumbstruck.

We love it so much that we were hesitant to buy the original versions ("Quiet is the New Loud") until just recently. I figured they would seem empty to us. Wrong again. Blown away again. But that's a subject for a different review.

I can go back and forth between this and QitNL without any of that jarring feeling -- you know, like when you hear an old song that your favorite band covered once, and you're so used to the cover that something always seems to be missing, and you can't stop noticing its absence? Well, none of that. It's like each of the artists brings such a new vision to their track that they created a whole new song altogether. Almost all of them, anyway.

Maybe if I'd bought QitNL first it would be different. I don't know. I say, get this one first. It's a little more "hooky".

There is a bit of repetition. Personally, I would have chosen just one of the "Failure" mixes; they're just too similar. Not so with the two versions of "Leaning Against The Wall. " They're very different and both fantastic and both fit in well. And Four Tet coming back again at the end? Love it. Can't get enough of that one.

Usually I try to explain "if blah blah, then you'll like this, and if blah blah blah, then you may not. " But I don't really know what kind of music fan wouldn't like this disc. I don't know, your mother, maybe. If you see a one-star review ever show up here one day, your mother is suspect.


The best of the 'Kings of Convenience' albums....
This is a exemplary slice of `Folktronica' (Folk inspired Electronica), and with this release they take existing artists (Ladytron, Four Tet, Andy Votel, Röyksopp), and rework them to work within a `Folktronica' rearrangement (mostly downtempo melodic harmonies), and if all of this sounds a bit `Pleasant'. . . . you'd be right, but that shouldn't distract from what is some of the most blissfully hushed electronic music. `"Andy Votel's - Winning a Battle, Losing a War" steals the show with it's tremulous choruses, and gentle Synth-Pop strumming, containing as much melancholic ideas, as conventional singer/songwriter acoustic artists. . . . . and although there is nothing song wise (apart from `Ladytron's' remixed "Little Kids") that raises above quietly melodious grooves, this album has a real substance. . . . . it could even be argued that "Quiet!!. . . is the new Loud!!".


'Quiet' vs. Loud
From beginning to end, I was amazed to hear that this duo could make their songs even better by adding more sounds. 'Quiet is the New Loud' has the accoustic guitars, but 'Versus' has the dancing beats perfect for a ride in the car. "I Don't Know What I Can Save You From" shines as track #1, then "Little Kids" has you singing along until you hit "Failure" a few more times.
I would recommend that 'Versus' could replace 'Quiet', but then you would be missing out on the fantastic song, "Parallel Lines". Whatever you decide, give these two Scandinavians a listen.


You can see a complete list of all Kings of Convenience discography, or go back to the Kings of Convenience tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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