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March 29, 2024


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Kings Of Convenience
Versus (Source)

By: Cam Lindsay

Nine times out of ten, remix albums are a dreaded waste of plastic. Norwegian duo Kings Of Convenience are likely one of the last bands you'd expect to release one, but surprisingly, they did, and even more surprisingly, it is great. Already having one of the best records of the year under their belt ("Quiet Is The New Loud"), Eirik Glambek B?e and Erlend ?ye have selected some top acts to remix, remake and rearrange their songs, including themselves. Their Norwegian mates R?yksopp alter "I Don't Know Where It Comes From" ever so slightly, adding some skipped beats and thin bass lines to give it some more groove. Four Tet, who gets two versions of his remix on here (a vocal and an instrumental one) continues what he did with his latest album, transforming "The Weight Of My Words" into a laid back, chill out tune. String arrangements done by David Whitaker and K.O.C. take "Toxic Girl" and "Failure" and fill them in where the original versions were strictly drums, vocals and guitar. As for the remakes, Alfie covers "Failure", making it their own song with their experimental style of folk rock, while Evil Tordivel redoes "Leaning Against The Wall", with the finest brand of cheesy synth-pop around. No one ever expects remix albums to be any good, which is why Versus is such a triumph. Recommended first though is their other record, Quiet Is The New Loud. Then it will be easier to see why a band with such a minimal approach is so easy to mess with.
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