Erlend Øye is a DJ from Norway. He is better known as half of the pop duo The Kings of Convenience. After Kings of Convenience release Quiet is the New Loud, Øye decided to make a career in music. Soon after he began working with Norweigian group Röyksopp, and that eventually spawned a solo career. He began recording his solo material after gaining several indie connections at an electronic music festival in Finland.
His first album, titled Unrest, was a collection of ten songs written at ten different times with ten different collaborators. The collaborators included acts like Soviet, Prefuse 73, and Schneider TM. His beats have been compared to greats like Boards of Canada. There is one major difference in the music however. Øye is a DJ who makes great beats, yes, but he is also known for adding his own whispery vocals overtop of the music. This adds a new dimension to the music because his vocals are fantastic.
Credits:
Alf - Producer
Michael Baumann - Producer
Davide Bertolini - Engineer
Klaus Dahmen - Design
Francesco DeBellis - Producer
The DFA - Producer
James Duncan - Trumpet
Fred Falke - Producer
Roger Greenawalt - Producer
Ali Kepenek - Photography
Craig Morrison - Producer, Remixing
Keigo Oyamada - Producer
Erlend Øye - Producer, Liner Notes, Art Direction
Phonique - Mixing Consultant, Technical Consultant
Mario Pierro - Producer
Øye's 2004 album DJ-Kicks is an album in a long series of DJ Kicks albums. This is a departure from the classic DJ Kicks albums because he is a singing DJ. The tracks on the album are meticulously chosen, and the tracks where he sings are the highlights of the album.
Most of the album is based on German techno songs, mainly because that is where Øye currently resides. Among these include amazing songs like Jürgen Paape's "So Weit Wie Noch Nie," Justus Köhncke's "2 After 909," Jackmate's "Airraid," Ricardo Villalobos' "Dexter," Morgan Geist's "Lullaby," and Ada's "Luckycharm."
In addition to the songs that he adds vocals to, the remainder of the songs (from artists like the Rapture, Phoenix, and Cornelius) already have vocals. The result is an album of dance music that is more vocally driven than most dance you may have heard.
If there is one down side to the album, it is the transitions between songs. It is clear that Erlend hasn't quite mastered DJing yet, and the result are a couple of jarring transitions, most notably between "2D2F" and "I Need Your Love", and also between "If I Ever Feel Better" and "Radio Jolly/Prego Amore". The result is a set that is more broken up than he might have liked. Luckily the songs are so great, they easily make up for the less than smooth transitions.
Highlights of the album include the phenomenal Phoenix song "If I Ever Feel Better", Erlend Øye's vocal stylings on "Sheltered Life/Fine Day", "Poor Leno [Silicone Soul's Hypno House Dub]/There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (yes, he sings the classic Smiths song, and I think his version is wonderful), and the album closer "Lullaby/A Place in My Heart".
Many of the songs serve as standard dance filler, but there is only one notably low part of the album, on the song "2D2F" (short for too drunk to ***). It really doesn't fit the overall laid back mood of the rest of the album, and it's placement right in the middle creates an obvious divide in the record. That cost this when it comes to my final rating, as it would be so much better without that track.
Notable Tracks:
***=tops on the album
"Sheltered Life/Fine Day"
"Drop"
"If I Ever Feel Better"***
"I Need Your Love"
"2 After 909/Intergalactic Autobahn"
"Poor Leno [Silicone Soul's Hypno House Dub]/There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"***
"Dexter"
"Lullaby/A Place in My Heart"***
