Norway – My (life in) music lists

Best tunes of 2001: #14 Kings Of Convenience “Winning a battle, losing the war”

Yes, the Kings of Convenience. They of the cool name. This duo were indie folk before it was a thing.

Although Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe formed the group as a duo in 1999 in Bergen, Norway, the two had known each since grade school and had performed in a group together as early an age as 16. I feel like I didn’t come across these guys right away but probably in 2002 or 2003, a year or two after their debut album’s release, and likely became familiar with them given the hype bestowed upon “Versus”, a remix album of their debut.

Speaking of their debut album, the title really says it all: “Quiet is the new loud”. Those older amongst you reading this might listen to their music and immediately identify Simon & Garfunkel as the most obvious influence. And you wouldn’t be wrong but their also drew inspiration from contemporaries Elliott Smith and Belle & Sebastian. “Winning a battle, losing the war”, the first track on the debut, is representative of its entirety. It is mainly gentle finger plucking on the acoustic guitars and lilting vocal harmonies, Any other instrumentation is almost incidental. It is as lovely, quiet, and calm as a Sunday morning at the cottage and listening to their music makes you yearn to be there.

Oh, what I’d give… I think to myself as I board the bus to work. Thankfully, it’s Friday.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2001 list, click here.

100 best covers: #95 Aurora “Half the world away”

<< #96 | #94 >>

I was driving home from work last night, listening to the CD that was in the car’s player, which happened to be a mix I had made at the behest of my lovely wife. And I was thinking of Victoria because she is away in Toronto right now and I was returning home to an empty house. And I definitely smiled when this particular song came over the speakers at about the midway point in my trajectory, not because Toronto is even close to ‘half a world away’, but because I knew, even when making the mix, that despite this cover’s beauty, Victoria would never be a fan.

I’ve mentioned already in previous posts in this series that Victoria is not fond of covers and that, in her humble opinion, there’s definitely bands whose songs should never be touched. Oasis would likely fit nicely into this category. They are among the first bands that I introduced her to back in university and to whom she really took. Victoria could easily listen to anything by them in the era during which their first two albums were recorded and that even includes the B-sides, such as this track: “Half a world away”. Originally included on the “Whatever” single in 1994, Oasis’s version features Noel on vocals, acoustic guitars, and drums (!) with Paul Arthurs backing him on keys. It became pretty popular in the UK due to it being used as theme song to a sitcom there, called “The royle family”, in the late 90s.

However, if you google the words “Half the world away” today, chances are that Aurora’s cover is the first listing you will see. I came across this cover last year when I was first listening to the young Norwegian singer-songwriter’s debut album, “All my demons greeting me as a friend”, and I noticed it among the bonus tracks included on the deluxe edition. The album as a whole is fantastic. I pretty much latched on to her dark and haunting sound right away, likening it to the more Kate Bush-sounding Florence and the Machine songs. Her take on “Half the world away” is simple, yet lovely, her ringing voice skipping along a layered bed of pianos and strings. It’s even more wistful sounding and emotional than Noel’s tough-guy-with-a-tear rendition.

I love both versions pretty much equally, but in the absence of the original on the mixed CD, I was quite content to replay Aurora’s cover for the rest of the drive home. And smiling, of course.

The cover: