John Erik Kaada (born 28 July 1975), also known by the mononym Kaada, is a Norwegian singer-songwriter, producer, film score composer and multi-instrumentalist. Kaada's career spans a string of solo albums, motion picture soundtracks, high-profile collaborations with key players such as Mike Patton, as well as numerous live appearances at home and abroad.

Discography

Kaada Recordings is a Norwegian label dedicated to releasing or licensing out the music of composer John Erik Kaada.

Solo albums

• Thank You for Giving Me Your Valuable Time (2001 – re-released in 2003)

• MECD (2004)

• Music for Moviebikers (2006)

• Junkyard Nostalgias (2009)

• Kaada & The Late Bloomers in Concert (2012)

• Closing Statements (2018)

• Misinterpretations (2021)

• And if in a thousand years (2023)

Kaada's debut album, Thank You for Giving Me Your Valuable Time (2001), blends doo-wop, show tunes, and jungle rhythms with live instrumentation and electronic elements. Billboard named it one of the ten most important releases of the year.

Music for Moviebikers (2006, Ipecac Recordings) is a collection of orchestral arrangements conceived as soundtracks for imaginary films. The 22-piece ensemble includes strings, vocals, electric guitars, homemade instruments, and European folk musicians. The strings were recorded in the Vigeland mausoleum in Oslo.

Junkyard Nostalgias (2009) was conceived as a homage to Polish migrant workers in Norway. Kaada played all instruments on the album, which he has said he made "to justify buying hundreds of instruments on eBay."

Kaada/Patton albums

• Romances (2004)

• Bacteria Cult (2016)

In 2004, Kaada released Romances with Faith No More and Tomahawk vocalist Mike Patton. The album takes its titles from the Romantic period, with influences including Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler, Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Béla Bartók. The album's nine tracks are structured as a single symphonic work.

The Kaada/Patton Live DVD (Ipecac Recordings, 2007) captures a seven-piece ensemble performing material from Romances at the 2005 Roskilde Festival.

Kaada and Patton released a second album, Bacteria Cult, in 2016.

Cloroform albums

• Deconstruction (Kaada Records, 1998)

• All-Scars (Kaada Records, 1998)

• Do the Crawl (Kaada Records, 2000)

• Scrawl (album) (Kaada Records, 2001)

• Hey You Let's Kiss (Kaada Records, 2003)

• Cracked Wide Open (Kaada Records, 2005)

• Clean (Kaada Records, 2007)

• Grrr (Cloroform album) (Kaada Records, 2016)

Kaada is a member of the exploratory trio Cloroform, which was most active from 1998 to 2006 and toured extensively in Europe. The group uses double bass, drums, keyboards, and distorted vocals.

DVD releases

• 2007 – Kaada/Patton Live – Live performance DVD Kaada/Patton Live is a DVD of the collaboration between Mike Patton and John Kaada that was released on 20 November 2007. The DVD features a live performance of the music from the album Romances from Roskilde Festival 2005. The entire concert is in black & white.

• 2008 – O' Horten DVD – interview together with director Bent Hamer

• 2012 – Kaada and the Late Bloomers in Concert – live DVD

Film music

Kaada began composing for film with Mongoland (2000). In 2002, he received the Golden Clapboard Prize at the Amanda Award, becoming the youngest recipient at the time. He has since composed scores for Norwegian and international productions, including O' Horten (2008), 1001 Grams (2014), and the French film La liste de mes envies (2014). His documentary work includes Sunshine Superman (2015) and Cold Case Hammarskjöld (2019).

Selected film scores

Soundtrack releases

• Music from the Motion Picture Natural Born Star (2007)

• Music from the Motion Picture O'Horten (2008)

• La liste de mes envies (2014)

• Diving into the Unknown (2016)

• Zombielars (2019)

See also

• Mike Patton

• Ipecac Recordings

• Cloroform

• Kaada/Patton

References

External links

• Cloroform – Kaadas rockband

• Kaada at Ipecac Recordings

• Soundcloud.com/kaada