It’s been a long time since these guys have made material available to the public. Not so much individually—Mike Patton’s probably released two albums in the time it’s taken you to read this page—but a long minute has passed since Norse composer John Kaada and musical polymath Patton teamed up. Back in 2004, Romances was an homage to 18th-century classical music. 2016 is a much more fi lmic experience, as the pair has created a series of mini soundtracks to movies yet to be made.
“Peste Bubonica” and “Black Albino” were likely written after a two-day Once Upon A Time In America/Man With No Name-trilogy binge—a whole lot of Morricone drives these two pieces. In other spots, there’s a creeping air of spookiness tempered by an almost cartoonish playfulness that sounds like either a masked killer or a wily coyote is sneaking up behind you. Praise be to those albums that can aurally evoke emotion and vivid imagery.
—Kevin Stewart-Panko
