There are few artists from the last few years that I have enjoyed more than John Erik Kaada. Woefully under-informed was I of his band Cloroform that had apparently been rocking the shit out of Norway and other more fortunate countries than ours for years. It was not until the release of his first solo album, Thank You for Giving Me Your Valuable Time, that I first heard the brilliance - not a word I throw around lightly - of the man and his music.
I think it was just the otherworldly quality of his music that appealed to me so much. You listen to songs like "Care" and "No You Don't" and it's like being in a David Lynch film or Frank Miller graphic novel. The follow-up album, MECD, is just as great, but holy Lord is it hard to find. Your best bet remains to get it straight from his website.
With Music for Moviebikers, the third solo album from Mr. Kaada, he has created a lush, stark (yes, it can be both) masterpiece - another word I don't throw around lightly or often - that makes me thank the heavens once again for Ipecac Recordings for releasing one of the best albums of the year. While usually relying solely on his own programming skills, Music for Moviebikers has an entire orchestra to bring the compositions to life and the end result is beautiful.
Anyone can call himself or herself a "composer," but it's really a title that needs to be earned. One listen to this album and any shred of doubt as to Kaada's qualifications should be eradicated. At times reminiscent of Les Baxter and others, like the lonely "Mainstreaming" conjuring aural images of Morricone. But at no time is the impression given that their influence is anything more than that, leaving Kaada's compositions very much his own. Now, if we can just find a domestic distributor for the Cloroform catalogue.
