ERLEND ØYE DJ-KICKS ALBUM K7 RELEASE: APRIL 20, 2004 REVIEW: JUNE 21, 2004

Norwegian geek pop genius Erlend Øye is a queer choice of DJ for this prestigious line of mix albums. But then Øye hardly behaves like a DJ here. At least "mixing" is too fancy a term for describing what happens between the songs. He is rather an MC unable to keep himself away from the microphone, singing his favorite songs over the entirely different original tracks.
Øye is a consummate entertainer and thanks to his suave vocals, the strange approach works surprisingly well, even if I would prefer hearing some of the tracks without the constant distraction. Someone has a large ego here, but having played his album "Unrest" a couple of hundred times, I'm quite willing to let him get away with it.
The tracks include some of Øye's own material, lots of stuff from the German dance scene (Øye is a Berlin resident) and oddities like the sex educational "2D2F" by New York booty punks Avenue D. On top we get pop classics in acapella renditions by Mr. Øye.
This would have been a very nice club night. As an album, it has limited staying power.

MATTIAS HUSS