Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
| 1. Homesick |
| 2. Misread |
| 3. Cayman Islands (Album Version) |
| 4. Stay Out Of Trouble |
| 5. Know-How |
| 6. Sorry Or Please |
| 7. Love Is No Big Truth |
| 8. I'd Rather Dance With You |
| 9. Live Long |
| 10. Surprise Ice |
| 11. Gold In The Air Of Summer |
| 12. The Build Up |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
With Riot on an Empty Street Kings of Convenience prove yet again that understatement and subtlety can be truly thrilling. When not attempting to replicate the harmonious acoustic shimmer of Simon and Garfunkel on lacklustre tracks such as "Homesick" and "Surprise Ice", Norwegian folksters Erlend Oye and Eirik Glambek Boe deliver charming, self-effacing lyrics backed by unhurried and refreshingly simple melodies that embrace and cajole. Stand-out moments include "I'd Rather Dance with You" and the sublime upbeat acoustic strut of "Love Is No Big Truth", which mixes Eirik's infectious banjo hook with artfully mellifluous lyrical observations. Fragile, emotive and as biting as the Nordic wind Riot on an Empty Street is a demonstration of enduring talent. --Christopher Barrett
Album Description
The Kings of Convenience release their long-awaited second album, Riot on an Empty Street, from which the beautiful single "Misread" is taken. This is the first album from the winsome Norwegian duo of Erlend Oye and Eirik Glambek Boe since their critically acclaimed debut, Quiet Is the New Loud, which earned them favourable comparisons with have Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel and Belle and Sebastian.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is one of the most beautiful albums I have heard in a long time. I've had the pleasure of listening to an advance copy and it's just mind blowing. It takes Quiet Is The New Loud on 50 fold, with Misread, Cayman Islands and I'd Rather Dance With You as standout tracks and Homesick, Sorry or Please and Stay Out of Trouble millimetres behind in terms of loveliness. Their wordplay and acoustic melodies throughout are like nothing you'll hear anywhere else, and it's great to hear Leslie Feist. Homesick sounds JUST like Simon and Garfunkel when you first play it and you almost have to check the box to make sure you haven't slipped one of their albums in by mistake. If you don't buy another album all year, then buy this. Stunning.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
A triumphant return from the Kings here on this their follow up to the outstanding album from the 'new-acoustic movement' in 2001 entitled 'Quiet Is The New Loud'. If you've already got that (and you should have), then this is a treat.
Simply, this is more of the same. Great melodies and some instantly catchy material that is so carefree and floaty that it is now a unique attribute of their music.
The one difference is a more Americana sound emerging on some songs. This is best highlighted by the superb 'Love Is No Big Truth' that has shades of Blur's 'Think Tank', Lambchop's 'Up With People' and a bit of Flaming Lips/Mercury Rev thrown in too. However, it still sounds distinctivly like a Kings tune. In addition, the pace of some tracks are more urgent than on QITNL. 'I'd Rather Dance With You' has hints of Moloko's 'Familiar Feeling' without sounding over-produced. This is probably Erland's influence from his dance excursions in the last couple of years. Personal favourites would have to be 'Homesick', 'Misread', 'Cayman Islands' (truly beautiful) and 'Gold In The Air Of Summer'. All are more traditional Kings tunes really.
So, a welcome return and you don't really realise how good they are until you don't hear from them in a while. Still an under-rated and under-exposed treasure for fans of quality songwriting. Forget Franz Ferdinand, this pair the real girls favs. This is the audio equivalent of getting in touch with your feminine side!
Simply, this is more of the same. Great melodies and some instantly catchy material that is so carefree and floaty that it is now a unique attribute of their music.
The one difference is a more Americana sound emerging on some songs. This is best highlighted by the superb 'Love Is No Big Truth' that has shades of Blur's 'Think Tank', Lambchop's 'Up With People' and a bit of Flaming Lips/Mercury Rev thrown in too. However, it still sounds distinctivly like a Kings tune. In addition, the pace of some tracks are more urgent than on QITNL. 'I'd Rather Dance With You' has hints of Moloko's 'Familiar Feeling' without sounding over-produced. This is probably Erland's influence from his dance excursions in the last couple of years. Personal favourites would have to be 'Homesick', 'Misread', 'Cayman Islands' (truly beautiful) and 'Gold In The Air Of Summer'. All are more traditional Kings tunes really.
So, a welcome return and you don't really realise how good they are until you don't hear from them in a while. Still an under-rated and under-exposed treasure for fans of quality songwriting. Forget Franz Ferdinand, this pair the real girls favs. This is the audio equivalent of getting in touch with your feminine side!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The 'New Acoustic Movement'- for those who don't remember- was a failed genre revival by the NME, which is now swept firmly under their crowded rug. Needless to say, most of the acts are probably back in their pre-folk star office jobs, with the exception of breezy songsmiths Turin Brakes and this lot, a kitten-soft, Simon and Garfunkel-esque Norwegian duo. Since their debut, Quiet Is The New Loud, quietly barged its way onto every self-respecting hipster's coffee table, Eirik Glambek (the cool one) and Erlend Oye (the geeky one) have kept themselves busy by organising superb remix albums, making so-so solo albums and opening the doors for Norway's new musical elite, such as mega-selling chillout act Royksopp.
Riot On An Empty Street is QITNL's much-anticipated follow-up proper. It treads the exact same ground as its classic predecessor: hypnotic acoustic guitar lines, fluffy nice-boy vocals and a Twee Factor to rival Belle And Sebastian. The only exception to these three rules is red herring single I'd Rather Dance With You, which comes equipped with drums and a delightfully uncool retro beat. The lack of pace-change may cause sniggers from alt.rock's too-cool-for-school community, but no one can deny how irritatingly listenable these songs are, even if the final three songs all seem rather superfluous. But like the cream of the singer-songwriters and über-quiet neo-folkies, Riot On An Empty Street is far from just mood music. Glambek's gorgeous voice could calm any stressed soul, but some of his tales of lost love are genuinely sad. 44 minutes of gentle, boundary-conforming acoustic music may seem like hell for those with short attention spans, but after multiple plays, your indie-snob doubts will vanish. A truly lovely set of songs which deserves far more than the occasional spin at a dinner party.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent as usual
The kings of convenience are definitely kings of music. Beautiful balanced songs and still so pure and simple. A sound so particularly for them. Read more
Published 13 days ago by realmusic
So So
Could have been any of their other albums. Some variety and originality would make refreshing change.
Published 23 months ago by R. Harris
Really good.
This album is refreshingly different with a very slick sound to it, I recommend it.
Published on 16 Oct 2007 by Dave Stewart
'Never thought it would be this clear'
A friend from Amsterdam played Cayman Islands one of the beautiful songs on this gem of an album 'Riot on an Empty Street'. Read more
Published on 11 July 2007 by R. Welsh
An album to day dream to.
I cant help but feel that this is the one of the most understated albums of recent times, its simplicity is so brilliantly effective and the soft vocals complitment the music... Read more
Published on 23 April 2007 by C. Domoney
Music for rainy Sunday afternoons
An album full of instantly likeable songs, melodies that you somehow always knew existed. The more I listen to these guys the more I love their music. Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2006 by whisperingmatt
'sheer simplicity'
I found myself listening to this album to begin with, not as a whole, but one song at a time, on repeat, until the next song would capture my mood and become just as addictive. Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2006 by C. Nobes
Beautiful music
There are few artists that communicate the same sense of tranquility as these two Scandinavian chaps. Read more
Published on 30 April 2006 by N. Wood
Rebels Wear Cardigans
Oh my soft Scandinavian boys - peering distractedly up from their guitars or goofing around on the dance floor, all Elvis-legs and Pulp-Fiction fingers. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2005 by Is
Music for my heart
i think this band it's so beautiful, coz their words has a bounch of nostalgic, melodic and dramatic words, that makes me crazy, y used to listen in the morning drinking some... Read more
Published on 23 Feb 2005 by habner
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
