Astralwerks
2001
Versus
About This Album
It is quite rare for a remix album to better the source material. Versus by Kings of Convenience is one of those select few. Their album Quiet Is the New Loud is a very pleasant disc, but the songs all begin to sound the same halfway through. That's not a problem here, as the various remixers take varying approaches to the Kings' hushed and nocturnal sound. They also keep enough of the band's essence so it sounds like a real record by Kings of Convenience and not some cobbled-together mess. (Only once are Erik Glambek Bøe's lovely vocals omitted, and that is on the very last track.) Some of the remixers take the electronic route: Röyksopp keeps the acoustic guitars and whispered vocal of "I Don't Know What I Can Save You From" and adds a perky bassline and loping looped beat; Four Tet alters the acoustic guitars into a blurred symphony of noise and adds a head-bobbing hip-hop beat to "The Weight of My Words," but keeps the melancholy gloom of the song intact. Some of the remixers take an organic route: Riton turns "The Girl From Back Then" into a smoky jazz tune complete with a Milesian muted trumpet solo; Alfie adds sawing cellos and huge, reverbed drums to "Failure"; David Whitaker doesn't alter anything, but adds a full orchestral string arrangement.
Track List (try tracks 3,4,5,7 and 11)

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