Kaada / Patton: Romances
MIC's Listen to Norway series continues with John Erik Kaada and Mike Patton's 'Romances'
This album is the first result of the productive partnership of renowned Norwegian producer and composer John Erik Kaada and former Faith No More frontman Mike Patton. ‘Romances’ is an eerily addicting work with inspirations from Mahler, Chopin, Brahms, Liszt and Bartok and song titled influence by French song titles of the 1800s. Patton takes the rich background that partner Kaada lays out and vocally plays upon the parts provided. From the unpredictable vocal sounds to the most fluid singing to leave Patton’s throat in some time, this album showcases all of the many reasons why Patton fans are inspired by his many identities. At the centre of ‘Romances’ is a slow-moving large piece based in late romanticism which again is made up of nine smaller pieces, resembling a symphony’s compositional structure. ‘Romances’ avoids the pitfalls of similarly ambitious projects through a strong sense of aesthetics and integrity. Impressive.
Headlines:
Himmelkvad
Celebrated vocal ensemble Nordic Voices is currently out on its promo tour for their new outing ‘Himmelkvad’, a critically acclaimed album presenting Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen’s unique vocal universe. MIC Norway takes a closer look at the cutting-edge vocal ensemble and ground-breaking composer.
I was the devil in my younger years
Late Feb sees Enslaved heading out on a month-long European tour. MIC Norway hooked up with Enslaved’s Ivar Peersen to talk about musical cross pollination, inspirational sources, humour and his fascination for singer-songwriter Stein Torleif Bjella.
