Kings of Convenience

Acoustic guitar duo consisting of Eirik Glambek Bøe (lead vocals, guitar) and Erlend Øye (guitar, harmony vocals). Hailing from Bergen, Norway, Eirik and Erlend first met at age eleven, in the final of an inter-schools Geography competition. Erlend won due to his incredible ability to draw a world map from memory in no time flat.

The first band formed by the two was a Cure-influenced rock group called Skog (Norwegian for "forest"). Erlend was the singer, bassist, and main songwriter of Skøg; Eirik was one of the guitarists. Skog released one EP and recorded a cover of the song "The Eternal" for a Norwegian Joy Division tribute album. The band split up due to their drummer having to join the Norwegian army.

After Skog, Eirik began psychology studies and Erlend moved to London, where he became a member of the Norwegian band Peachfuzz. Eventually Eirik moved to LLondon as well and the duo began to compose songs together again on a regular basis. At this time the name Kings of Convenience was chosen based upon the convenience of playing their music solely with two acoustic guitars.

Kings of Convenience recorded an eponymous full-length album for Kindercore Records before signing with Source Records. A second full-length album, Quiet is the New Loud, was released by Source/Astralwerks in March 2001. It includes many of the songs on their Kindercore debut. Their third full-length album, Versus, was released by Source/Astralwerks in October 2001. This album includes re-workings of tracks previously found on Quiet is the New Loud.

In December 2002, the song "Toxic Girl" from Quiet is the New Loud was used in a Nokia television commerical.

They've been compared to Nick Drake, Belle and Sebastian, and Badly Drawn Boy, but (in my opinion) they sound more like Simon and Garfunkel than anything. The music and lyrics are simplistic and very pretty.

Some biographical information taken from:
http://www.kingsofconvenience.com
http://source.astralwerks.com/koc/

Discography:
Kings of Convenience (Kindercore, February 2001)

1. Toxic Girl
2. I Don't Know What I Can Save You From
3. Failure
4. Leaning Against The Wall
5. Brave New World
6. An English House
7. Days I Had With You
8. Parallel Lines
9. Winning A Battle, Losing The War
10. Surprise Ice

Quiet is the New Loud (Source/Astralwerks, March 2001)

1. Winning a Battle, Losing a War
2. Toxic Girl
3. Singing Softly to Me
4. I Don't Know What I Can Save You From
5. Failure
6. The Weight of My Words
7. The Girl From Back Then
8. Leaning Against The Wall
9. Little Kids
10. Summer on the Westhill
11. The Passenger
12. Parallel Lines

Versus (Source)/Astralwerks, October 30, 2001)

1. I Don't Know What I Can Save You From (Röyksopp remix)
2. The Weight of My Words (Four Tet remix)
3. The Girl From Back Then (Riton's uber jazz mix)
4. Gold for the Price of Silver (Erot vs. Kings of Convenience version)
5. Winning a Battle, Losing a War (Andy Votel mix)
6. Leaning Against the Wall (Evil Tordivel upbeat remake)
7. Toxic Girl (Monte Carlo 1963 version)
8. Failure (Alfie version)
9. Little Kids (Ladytron fruits of the forest mix)
10. Failure (radio edit)
11. Leaning Against the Wall (Bamboo soul mix)
12. Weight of my Words (Four Tet instrumental)