Aisle 34 and 3/4

Aisle 34 and 3/4: Bargin Bin Music Aisle.


Mike Patton is the future, Mike Patton is the past, Mike Patton is forever!


So what am I getting on about? Mike Patton's latest incarnation Peeping Tom. For those of you not in the know, Mike Patton is the voice and mind behind several interesting groups. The most widely known is Faith No More (yeah that Faith No More, the whole Epic video with the piano and the fish at the end, yep he's still around). But other bands he's formed have been Mr. Bungle (kind of metal circus music from hell), Fantomas (insturmentals mostly, though he does do some singing from time to time, and some yelling), and Tomahawk (which I have yet to hear any of this but I'm sure it is more experimental heavy metal stuff, as it involves a guy from Jesus Lizard). Patton also appears as the male vocals on the Lovage album (soon to be albums) and on several tracks on both Handsomeboy Modeling School albums. So he covers a spectrum.

How is this album/incarnaition different from the past few? Well it's not different persay but more of a combining of styles. Mojo (which features Dan the Automator - i.e. Nathaniel Merrieweather - and Rahzel) sounds pretty much what I would imagine Faith No More would sound like if they came to be around now. Neighborhood Spaceman (with Jel & Odd Nosdam), sounds like a more dubbed up and funk-a-fided version of Mr. Bungle. Caipirihana (with Bebel Gilberto)and Kill the DJ (with Massive Attack) both sound like some of Fantomas' stuff, i.e. Caipirihana sounds like evil laid back lounge music.

There isn't really any major experimentation on the album, no real sonic shocks, nothing too alarming (though Nora Jones does say "mother fucker" on one of the tracks. YAY!!). Dan the Automator seems to have rubbed off on Patton as he's put together some nice mixes and layers to the album. Also, Kool Keith is on one of the tracks, and if you have Kool Keith you make me happy.

So this isn't the best music essay but I just spent the day writing a very long essay on blues as a form of secular religion. So don't judge me.