Oye, Erlend "Dj Kicks"

Norway's Erland Oye (of Kings of Convenience fame) adds his own spin to the DJ Kicks series. As you'll hear, the focus isn't on mixing. Instead, Oye covers a bunch of songs (and some of his own work) with his own vocals. Oye's voice has an unmistakable, dreamy quality and is strangely addictive.

Be warned: a lot of the tracks fade into other tracks at their tail ends, so play on continuous mode (but avoid track 7!) or know when to fade.

I totally dug tracks 3 (a Cornelius cover), 6 and 16. Also check out 1, 10, 12, 13, 17.

- Captain Dee, 6-04


*1. Sexy house-y beat with guitar strum. Restrained but soulful female vocals. (3:44)
2. Ambient synths, Kraftwerk-like beat and feel. Oye's vocals merrily daydream. (2:04)
**3. Cover of a great Cornelius song! Sick dreamy guitar strumming with multiple layers of semi-spoken vocals (in Japanese). Cool water sounds in background. (3:30)
4. Get-down funky vibe with multiple soulful vocal tracks. (3:10)
5. Big time funk feel, echoing rapping, laser-ish sounds. (2:05)
**6. Instrumental. Synth heavy, strong 80's feel. Very catchy! (3:58)
7. FCC Violations everywhere! DO NOT PLAY. Two females speak crass sexual/excretory imagery. Minimal beat/melody. This is awful. (2:51)
8. Club feel, beeps in background. Distant but assertive vocals. (1:55)
9. Ethereal vocals from Oye. Somewhat spacey. Mid-tempo. (1:03)
*10. Spoken word. Super spacey/robotic. Blippy sounds. (2;36)
11. Old school vibe, whimsical vocals. Last minute starts the next song. (5:04)
*12. Instrumental. Spacey, Derrick May-esque synths. Uptempo beat. (2:06)
*13. Remix of Royksopp's infamous "Poor Leno." Smooth beat, cosmic sounds. Sparse vox. Good night driving music. (5:33)
14. Vocals float over washed out, spacey background and pounding beat. (2:11)
15. Instrumental. Drone-y. Like you’re all alone in some big room full of giant computer equipment. (2:59)
**16. Fast, beautiful blips and beeps in background. Compelling robot-like vocals. Wind instruments towards end. Great! (3:47)
*17. Simple sound, nice groove. Wistful, innocent sounding vocals. (2:32)
18. Loopy/trippy pulsating sounds, thoughtful vocals. (3:37)