ow, I’m not entirely familiar with the musical climate in Scandinavia, but for Kaada to be such a popular star there, to even be nominated for the Norwegian Spellemannsprisen (tantamount to a Grammy) for Best Rock Album, they must be quite an open minded bunch.


Though not quite as “weird” as many critics have made it out to be, Thank You for Giving Me Your Valuable Time is a tad confounding. In a similar vein as The Avalanches' Since I Left You, hip-hop production, and other cut and paste affairs, Thank You for Giving Me Your Valuable Time has them all beat with its sheer creepiness. Beneath all the old 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s vocal samples, the listener is given the impression that there is a sordid tale hidden underneath; a perverse double entendre lurking below the smiling facade: like the mysterious Camilla Rhodes singing Linda Scott’s "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.


The beauty of Thank You for Giving Me Your Valuable Time is that the listener has no clue as to which Kaada produced sounds are sampled and which are new. The one element that is less ambiguous is the drums, which are indefinitely live. They are always forward in the mix, and given a crisp sound; without them the album would crumble upon its sample heavy weight. On “Mainframe,” they lend a thumping tribal beat to accompany the rockabilly guitar riff, harmonica, chanting, and repeated refrain of “She is my mainframe”: one of which is an “element” from “My Mamma Got the Beat,” by the 70s pop group Climax. Another notable sample is the female vocal on “Care” courtesy of soul singer Juanita Rogers’ “I’m So Glad You Love Me” (which was curiously produced by Sun Ra) which is then juxtaposed with Kaada collaborator Alan Steed’s similarly soulful singing: “My darling / You’re my inspiration / That’s why I put you / In almost all my conversation.” The result is an infectious period-spanning duet between the two.


The liner notes to Thank You for Giving Me Your Valuable Time list some of the samples and borrowed elements used in the album, but it seems unduly abridged. For example: there is no listing as to where the “I am a good person” sample that is repeated over and again in “Honk” is taken from. Same with the scatting (“ziggy do ba do ba ba ba bam boom”) on “Black California.” I expect the real litany is too lengthy for print. One sample that is listed is that of an obscure Czech jazz album which is reworked into a bluesy love ballad which invokes images of a dingy, derelict-ridden bar with a Dennis Hopper looking character in the back sobbing as he fingers a piece of blue velvet cloth. And I guess that’s Kaada’s intent -- to transport the listener to his noirish fantasy. An obvious nostalgia buff by his own admission: “[This] album is inspired by an illusion of a previous era. It is praise to a time that has been,” Kaada echoes this sympathy in the liner notes, which are replete with 1920s aeroplanes, Rosie the Riveter look-alikes, stretching wheat fields, and two lovers kissing under the starlight -- all in an eerie dark-red hue: Kaada’s previous era may be better than the real thing.