Riot on an Empty Street

Kings of Convenience

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 27, 2004)
• Original Release Date: July 27, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Astralwerks
• ASIN: B00026W82U
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,345 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Their second album, 'Riot On An Empty Street' picks up where 'Quiet Is The New Loud' left off. Recorded over the last six months in Bergen, with periodic visits from ex-patriot Erlend - Riot contains more complex arrangements tWith You', 'Know How,' 'Love Is No Big Truth' or first single 'Misread', every track sounds like an old friend coming home to you.

"It's quite style schizophrenic," adds Eirik "We're each inspired by different things so it can be a little confusing, but that seems to be a modern phenomenon, people don't know what genre to put themselves in."

"I'm looking forward to everyone saying it's not as good as the first album," laughs Erlend, "It's funny because two of the songs are from 1998, so it's us, covering us from five years ago," he adds.

The Kings were joined in the studio by hotly tipped Canadian songstress Feist, who appears on two of the albums twelve tracks, the bossa-fuelled 'Know How' where she assists Eirik, and the album's closing track 'The Build Up'- where she duets with Erlend in what is one of the Kings' most stark and beautifully emotive tracks, a rare moment captured in time. Both were big fans of her much-fabled "Red Demos" and she melds perfectly amidst them, bringing an air of added suspense and emotion and of course her majestic voice. "Her voice is amazing", gushes Erlend, "I'm very proud of the 'Build Up', for the first time ever we managed to do something spontaneous, Feist wrote the words an hour before she sung them, and it doesn't sound like anything else we've ever done."

So there you have it. Kings Of Convenience - 2004. A therapist and a superstar singing DJ, an odd couple, but still the best (old) new acoustic band in the world. 'Riot On An Empty Street,' forms their very own republic of two, principality of Eirik and Erlend. A great place to visit again and again.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Music for a lazy afternoon, June 23, 2004

By	majorka "majorka" (Norway) - See all my reviews

It must be tough to follow up a success such as "Quiet is the New Loud", and many people feared that Kings of Convenience would be a one-off as the band members each got stuck into other projects - Erlend Øye went solo with an ambient project, and Eirik Glambæk Bøe concentrated on his studies (in psychology, I think). But here it is: The long awaited follow up. And it's a very pleasant listen.

This sort of subtle, acoustic music never really goes out of style. You could just as easily give this album to your mother or even grandmother and they'd probably enjoy it just as much as you do (yikes!). That doesn't much sound like a good recommendation for a pop record ... but it is. The crisp clean production and first-rate musicianship makes this a treat to listen to, even though the harmonies are the oldest in the book, but also probably the most immediately pleasing for exactly that reason. This time the duo invite a French female guest writer and vocalist Feist for some variation - which works really well.

Take Simon and Garfunkel - add a bit of jazzy stuff here and there and a bit more melancholy in some places, and you have a pretty good general idea of what this record has to offer. I don't understand, though, why some reviewers find this only mopey - but then again I am familiar with Erlend and Eiriks home town where the weather is always rainy. We do nothing but stare out of rainsplashed windows all year (well, almost). And I know that this is when you want something as soothing as this on your stereo: While you make a cup of hot tea and read the paper, or invite some close friends around for a quiet, home-cooked meal. But it's equally good to rest your sleepy head to on a sunny, lazy summer afternoon: "Gold in the air of summer", indeed.

I'm also already waiting in anticipation for the Röyksopp dance remix of "I'd rather dance" - probably the catchiest uptempo tune on this record. (Röyksopp, can you hear me??)

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Whisper Rock, January 21, 2005

By	Larry White (AdultPop.com) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Keep this to a hush, but there is a new, so far unnamed sub-genre in Rock `n Roll. We'll name it "Whisper Rock" and let the trendoids follow. It is basically self-explanatory. Pretty, understated, acoustic or quietly electronic music, whether upbeat or melancholy, with vocals rarely rising above the conversational tones of the late, great Mr. Rogers or Captain Kangaroo. This music may have its antecedents with the likes of The Fleetwoods or Donovan or, going back a bit further, 12th Century Monks, but it seems to have begat the recent likes of Cat Power and Iron and Wine and Belle and Sebastian and a slew of others including this Norwegian duo, Erland Oye and Eric Glambek Boe (those "o"s should have Scandanavian slashes through them) slightly better known as Kings of Convenience. These guys have written a batch of lovely, catchy tunes sung in graceful 2-part harmony in impeccable English, no less. The only additional voice is that of a female named simply Feist whose 2 small, sweet contributions certify the album as a keeper.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, refreshing change of pace, August 18, 2004

By	Michael Olshansky (Marietta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In a day and age where musical artists come and go and pop acts are a dime-a-dozen, Kings of Convenience are a refreshing change of pace.

Beautifully minimal without the copious electronics, overdubbing, and processing that most music goes through these days, it's nice to hear a couple guys and a guitar making great music.

When I first heard them, I immediately though of Simon and Garfunkle in terms of their asthetic and songwriting similarities. These guys have a little more pop sensibility about them, as witnessed in tracks like "Sorry or Please", "Love It No Big Truth", and "I'd Rather Dance With You."

Like most great music I come across, I discovered these guys purely by accident. I found a remix of one of their tracks which of course lead me to check out the band's original work. I was immediately impressed with their lyrical, vocal, and musical sensibilities and have been listening to this album non-stop for days.

The only reason I gave this disc 4 stars was because there are 2-3 tracks that sound too similar to one another.

Check out the samples and you'll quickly see what a refreshing change of pace Kings of Convenience are. They come highly recommended.