The Eyes of the Cat

CADABR-90 2022
LP
Though both men have been working in psychotronic cinema and the arts for well over five decades each, it's only now that multi-hyphenate Alejandro Jodorowsky and composer Fabio Frizzi have been paired together on a project. Appropriately enough for two artists known for challenging perceptions of what they're known for, this album is not the score to a film, but for a comic book, and one published nearly 45 years ago, at that. Jodorowsky's Eyes of the Cat also marked his first collaboration with the legendary French artist Jean “Moebius” Giraud, making this a coming-together of not just two, but three titans of genre entertainment, what Frizzi himself calls in the liner notes, “an ambitious luminaria.”
To appropriately capture the sounds he wanted, Frizzi reached back to utilize some of the very equipment he was using at the time of Eyes of the Cat's original release, meaning that many of the synthesizers on which this score was recorded were also those which soundtracked the films on which he worked with director Lucio Fulci. The end result are compositions which have a familiar tone, but with 40 years' worth of skill behind them. The opening tones of "The Cat," paired as they are with acoustic guitar and that instantly-recognizable electric bass, will no doubt remind the listener of The Beyond, but the insistent drums behind it all and its sudden rise mid-song will rapidly debase any notion that this music is treading famililar ground.
"Meduz and the Crime" pairs metal guitar, violin, and a subtly percolating synth sting into something absolutely sinister. Coming at the album's midpoint, Frizzi utilizes these three very different sounds to create a piece which evokes deep sadness, as well, tugging at the listener's heartstrings while all the while hinting at what's taking place.
Frizzi, here, has crafted the perfect audio interpretation for Eyes of the Cat. Much as Jodorowsky and Moebius allowed the artwork to tell the story, here one can follow the tale, simply by listening. Aptly, the album comes in at just around 25 minutes, meaning one can read the comic while listening, and really immerse themselves in the experience, allowing the story, images, and music to unfold and take hold. As Aaron Lupton writes in the liner notes, “This is stuff old dreams were made of, so put the needle on the record and let them soar once more.”
Credits:
Composed, liner notes by Fabio Frizzzi
Artwork by Moebius
Liner notes by Aaron Lupton
A1		The City
A2		The Cat
A3		Meduz And The Crime
B1		The Macabre Flight
B2		The Child
Limited pressing on 150 gram vinyl
Printed on a deluxe heavy weight gatefold tip-on jacket
Includes insert with liner notes
Includes a 24" x 36" promotional poster
Variants:
Transparent Yellow (Meduz and the Hunt)
Red Mix (Eye of the Cat)
Transparent Teal Blue (Mondo exclusive, 100 copies)
Gold (subscriber variant)
Hand poured yellow black splatter (xx copies)
Wax mage (25 numbered copies)
Test pressing (25 numbered copies)