More Info on Kings of ConvenienceSimilar Pop & Rock MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Kings of Convenience| image = Kings of Convenience in Bangkok.jpg| caption = Kings of Convenience live in Bangkok, 2010| image_size = 250| landscape = yes| background = group_or_band| years_active = 1999–present| origin = flagicon|Norway Bergen , Norway | genre = Indie pop , Indie folk | label = EMI , Astralwerks , Kindercore | associated_acts = The Whitest Boy Alive | current_members = Erlend Øye Eirik Glambek Bøe | past_members =| website = http://www.kingsofconvenience.com/ www.kingsofconvenience.com Kings of Convenience are an Indie music|indie folk-pop duo from Bergen , Norway . Consisting of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe , the musical group is known for their delicate tunes, calming voices, and intricate and subtle guitar melodies. Øye and Bøe both compose and sing the songs.
History
Øye and Bøe were both born in 1975 (Øye on November 21 and Bøe on October 25) and have known each other since they met while participating in a geography contest at the age of 10. http://www.kcrw.com/music/programs/mb/mb050518kings_of_convenience At sixteen, they played together in the band Skog ("forest") with two other friends, releasing one Extended play|EP , Tom Tids Tale , before breaking up and later forming the Kings duo.
The duo were signed to the American label Kindercore Records|Kindercore after appearing in European festivals during the summer of 1999. After a spell living in London in 2001, they released their debut album Quiet Is the New Loud . The album was produced by Coldplay producer Ken Nelson (British record producer)|Ken Nelson . The album was very successful and even lent its name to a small movement of musicians in the pop underground (including steel-string acoustic guitar|acoustic contemporaries such as Turin Brakes ) which took Elliott Smith , Belle & Sebastian and Simon & Garfunkel as their inspiration and focused on more subtle melodies and messages.
Versus (Kings of Convenience album)|Versus , an album of remixes of tracks from Quiet Is the New Loud , came out shortly after. After this breakthrough year, not much was heard from the band. Øye spent the next few years living in Berlin and doing solo material, releasing music under the DJ Kicks series as well as a solo album titled Unrest (Erlend Øye album)|Unrest . He also has a side project named The Whitest Boy Alive .
It was not until 2004 that the Kings' follow-up Riot on an Empty Street was released. The video made for "I'd Rather Dance With You," the second single from the album, topped MTV 's European list as the best music video of 2004. The album also featured contributions by Feist (singer)|Feist .
The band had a period of inactivity, which led to speculations that they had stopped working together. On March 7, 2007 however, the duo played a one-off concert in Mexico City. There was also a concert scheduled for March 6, but it had to be cancelled, because Øye had a problem with " Traveler's diarrhea#Montezuma's revenge|Montezuma's Revenge " and was not feeling well. They played two concerts on March 7 and announced they were going to start work on their new album in Puerto Vallarta , Mexico. In January 2008 the band played concerts in the Northern Norwegian cities of Tromsø , Svolvær and Bodø , and Swedish city Umeå along with a concert in August in Stockholm .
Most recently, the band toured North America, Latin America and Europe, including stops in Boston, New York, Toronto, Detroit; Latin American stops in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and Chile. European stops include Italy, Switzerland and Spain. On some of their American tour stops they appeared with the band Franklin for Short who joined them on stage for a few rousing numbers.
The third album, called Declaration of Dependence , was released on October 20, 2009. http://www.emi.no/nyheter/2009/juli/kings_of_convenience_med_nytt_album.aspx
Discography
Albums
Year
Album
Peak Chart Positions
NOR small> cite web
UK small> cite web
ITA small> cite web
FRA small> cite web
SWE small> cite web
U.S. small> cite web
U.S. Heat. small>cite web
U.S. Indie small>cite web
2001
Quiet Is the New Loud
First studio album
Released: March 6, 2001
1
72
—
103
—
—
—
—
Versus (Kings of Convenience album)
First remix album
Released: October 30, 2001
30
135
—
—
—
—
—
—
2004
Riot on an Empty Street
Second studio album
Released: June 21, 2004
2
49
3
80
53
—
—
41
2009
Declaration of Dependence
Third studio album
Released: October 20, 2009
8
69
10
71
53
112
3
—
EPs
Magic in the Air (Limited 3-track CD; includes cover of a-ha 's " Manhattan Skyline (song)|Manhattan Skyline ") (2001)
Playing Live in a Room (5-track CD) – Virgin – (2000)
''Kings of Convenience's Live Acoustic Sessions - Milan 2009 (4 track EP) (2010)
Singles
Year
Single
Charts
Album
UK Singles Chart>UK small>
1999
"Brave New World"
—
"Failure"
—
Quiet is the New Loud
" Toxic Girl "
—
2001
"Failure" (re-release) small>
63
"Toxic Girl" (re-release) small>
44
" Winning a Battle, Losing the War "
82
2004
" Misread "
83
Riot on an Empty Street
" I'd Rather Dance with You "
60
2005
"Know How" (feat. Feist) small>
86
2009
" Mrs. Cold "
—
Declaration of Dependence
" Boat Behind "
—
Collaborations
Cornelius (musician)|Cornelius – "Drop (The Tusen Takk Rework)" (2002) and "Omstart" (2006)
Feist (singer)|Feist – "Know-How" and "The Build Up" ( Riot on an Empty Street ) and in "Cayman Islands" from the "Know-How" single (2004)
Biz Markie - "Clowns and Kings" Split Tour EP (2004)
References
reflist
External links
http://www.kingsofconvenience.com/ Kings of Convenience official site
http://www.erlendoye.com/ Erlend Øye official site
Kings of Convenience Category:Astralwerks artists Category:Norwegian indie rock groups
af:Kings of Convenience ar:???? ???????? da:Kings of Convenience de:Kings of Convenience es:Kings Of Convenience fr:Kings of Convenience id:Kings of Convenience it:Kings of Convenience ka:Kings of Convenience nl:Kings of Convenience ja:????·??·??????? no:Kings of Convenience pl:Kings of Convenience pt:Kings of Convenience ru:Kings of Convenience fi:Kings of Convenience sv:Kings of Convenience th:???????????????????? tr:Kings of Convenience vi:Kings of Convenience zh:?????