Travelogue Thursday: Norway

There's actually a very excellent (if a bit long winded) rationale to my international selection today. See, once a month my dad had meetings up in Lansing, and likes to drop by beforehand with coffee for me, and we sit in the dorm lounge area and talk about life. This morning was one such morning, but as opposed to the usual small/medium coffee from the local coffee empire he usually brings, I was presented with a massive cup from Starbucks- a "venti", if you must use such terms. Anyhow, despite really only drinking coffee when i really need it so as not to become dependent, I deemed it necessary to drink the entire cup over the course of our conversation and into my 8am class. Three hours later, I found myself sitting at my desk twitching uncontrollably and wondering when my head would stop spinning... fun times.

But enough personal minutiae... the point is I needed some mellow music today big time to even things out, and you really can't get much mellower than Kings of Convenience. Somewhat unfairly branded as the Norwegian Simon and Garfunkel (but only somewhat), the duo of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe have produced two albums of not only some of the most soft and soothing music I've come across, but some of the most stimulating as well- lyrically articulate songs of love and loss delivered with gorgeous harmonies and intricate guitar lines, as equally suited for a lazy summer afternoon as for a cold winter night.

Sit back and relax:

Kings of Convenience- Singing Softly To Me

As a bonus, I'm putting up the video for arguably their most upbeat song, "I'd Rather Dance With You," as it's easily one of my favorite videos of all time and never fails to amuse me: