Kaada/Patton: Romances

Herald rating: * * *

It's almost pointless rating an album like this. Fans of Mike Patton - from Faith No More, Mr Bungle, Fantomas, Tomahawk - will think it's essential. Add to this those few who came across Norwegian musician John Kaada's debut album, Thank You For Giving Me Your Valuable Time in 2002, and it's more than likely they will find Romances essential, too. But other mere mortals will be left wondering what planet Kaada and Patton are on.

Romances is inspired by Patton's fetish for French songs of the 1800s and classical composers, such as Chopin, Liszt, and most importantly, Mahler.

Match this with Kaada's music, which flits from samples to actual instruments and back again without you knowing which is which, and the sound is something else. such as on the 11-minute Aubade

It's dark, scary, intriguing, yet, at times, too hard to listen to. It comes across like a soundtrack to a B-grade vampire flick. Label: Ipecac