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DJ-Kicks

by Erlend Øye

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The job title of DJ may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Erlend Øye. The singer, songwriter and indie pop star behind Kings Of Convenience has only owned a set of turntables for a few months, but despite all this, Erlend Øye the DJ is anything but a joke. With his compilation for the latest installment of the DJ-Kicks series, the Berlin-residing Norwegian not only redefines the DJ mix, but unleashes a monster set of leftfield party tunes as well.

In a certain way, Øye brings to mind DJ-Kicks alums like Kruder & Dorfmeister, however, where they enriched their mixes in the studio using dub effects, keyboard overlays and distortions, Erlend Øye takes to the microphone. Having re-sung nine songs for this mix, Erlend deftly blurs the line between a DJ mix and a full on artist album. Three of these are so far unreleased compositions of his own and the other six are cover versions of tunes by Elvis, Bananarama, Pet Shop Boys and others.

Erlend’s selection for his DJ-Kicks draws from the best of both the dance and rock worlds. NYC dance rockers The Rapture are here, as are French house heads Phoenix, Japanese quirk-rock master Cornelius and electronica stars Royksopp. While this type of eclecticism is a constant in the DJ-Kicks series, few have left as distinctive a mark on their mixes as Erlend Øye.