''In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be a Monster'' is an album by the Norwegian band Shining. It was released in 2005 by

Rune Grammofon Rune Grammofon is a Norwegian record label founded in 1998 by Rune Kristoffersen. Rune Grammofon's reputation for lovingly issued experimental electronic music, jazz, and improvised music by Norwegian artists has grown over the years with its art ...

. The title is taken from a line in

Milan Kundera Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himself ...

's novel ''

The Unbearable Lightness of Being ''The Unbearable Lightness of Being'' ( cs, Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí) is a 1984 novel by Milan Kundera, about two women, two men, a dog and their lives in the 1968 Prague Spring period of Czechoslovak history. Although written in 1982, the no ...

''. It is the last album with the band's original lineup, as keyboardist

Morten Qvenild Morten Qvenild (born 31 August 1978) is a Norwegian jazz pianist, band leader, and producer. Career Qvenild started his jazz career in the big band Ung Musikk in 1995, followed by studies on the Jazz program at the Norges Musikkhøgskole. He u ...

would leave before the release, and bassist

Aslak Hartberg Aslak Rakli Hartberg alias Alis (born 1 May 1975 in Oslo, Norway), is a Norwegian rapper and bass player, and was the leading figure in the Norwegian hip hop band Klovner i Kamp. He is the brother of cartoonist Flu Hartberg. Education Hartbe ...

shortly after.

Production

There are many cultural references in the track titles as well. "Goretex Weather Report" probably refers to the band

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and voca ...

, "REDRUM" is a repeated line in '' The Shining'', a part in "Romani" is very inspired by a part in Gustav Mahler's 6th symphony, "Perdurabo" was

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

's magical pseudonym in the

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ( la, Ordo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th ...

, "Aleister Explains Everything" refers Crowley as well, the numbers in the title of track six (31=300=20) is a

Gematria Gematria (; he, גמטריא or gimatria , plural or , ''gimatriot'') is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word or phrase according to an alphanumerical cipher. A single word can yield several values depending on the cipher ...

reference (

Shin Shin may refer to: Biology * The front part of the human leg below the knee * Shinbone, the tibia, the larger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates Names * Shin (given name) (Katakana: シン, Hiragana: しん), a Japanese ...

), "It is by Will Alone I Set My Mind in Motion" is a line (more exactly a Mentat Mantra) from the movie Dune, "Where Death Comes to Cry" is a phrase in

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

's song "I'm Your Man" and "The Smoking Dog" is a poem by

from The Book of Lies. "Magazine RWRK" simply means that the track is a rework of the Jaga Jazzist album ''Magazine'' from 2004. The final track, "You Can Try the Best You Can", may be a reference to Radiohead, the title in fact being a lyric from the song "Optimistic", found on the album

Kid A ''Kid A'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 2 October 2000 by Parlophone. It was recorded with their producer, Nigel Godrich, in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and their hometown of Oxford. After th ...

Track listing

#"Goretex Weather Report" – 5:01 #"REDRUM" – 1:37 #"Romani" – 3:19 #"Perdurabo" – 3:02 #"Aleister Explains Everything" – 3:24 #"31=300=20 (It is by Will Alone I Set My Mind in Motion)" – 4:25 #"Where Death Comes to Cry" – 2:23 #"The Smoking Dog" – 3:57 #"Magazine RWRK" – 6:32 #"You Can Try the Best You Can" – 5:21

Personnel

Jørgen Munkeby Jørgen Munkeby (born 3 September 1980 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz and heavy metal musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, known as the frontman in the band Shining and former member of Jaga Jazzist. Career Munkeby formed ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, flutes, clarinet, Akai EWI,

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

and acoustic guitars, bass,

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

, synthesizers,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, accordion, Mellotron,

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

church organ Carol Williams performing at the United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.">West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. ...

, celesta,

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, string and

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These ...

- acoustic and electric bass, drum machine,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, handclaps *

- Rhodes, synthesizers, Clavinet, piano, celesta *

Torstein Lofthus Torstein Lofthus (born 10 March 1977) is a Norwegian drummer and composer who has been a member of the bands Shining, Elephant9, the Mathias Eick Band, D'Sound, and Ebersson/Zanussi/Lofthus. He is married to Hege Lofthus. Career Lofthus has ...

- drums, percussion

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:In The Kingdom Of Kitsch You Will Be A Monster Shining (Norwegian band) albums 2005 albums