Mike Patton – Mondo Cane
The Return of the King of Weird
Mike Patton is less a musician and more a multi-instrumentalist crackpot of an institution. His signature style is an outlandish, ever odd take on popular music that has utilized outlets such as film soundtracks, video game voice-overs, and countless band projects. He is consistently extravagant and attracts a fan base through sheer eccentricity and a genial lack of control. Even his unfinished musical ventures and half-musings form interesting conceptual works. Mondo Cane has developed a veil of mysterious romance with fans of Patton, following a handful of live performances and countless delays. The premise of the album is to interpret Italian pop songs of the ‘50s and ‘60s with a 30-piece orchestra and choir. It may sound like overkill, but Patton unleashes a rarely seen lightness of touch to his Italian-language vocals that grounds any pretension that could have gone too far.
Of course, Mondo Cane isn’t for everyone. Unleashing his trademark vocal style on pop music, Patton clashes savagely with today’s popular music as it does on these weathered Italian compositions. Still, the concept has created a very interesting experiment and one that, to Patton’s standards, is hugely tame. He is held in such awe by the shadowy corners of the music industry that he can get away with such bizarre antics as trying to redefine vintage Italian pop.
How Patton has developed the compositions will most probably be missed by his audience; it is likely that most have never heard the originals. The project seems to exist only to answer questions asked by the man’s eccentric musings and doesn’t seem to have any place in music today, contemporary or otherwise. No single track stands out as a masterpiece; they are all an amalgam of the fascinating but flawed genius that is Patton, tainted with the same quirks that smother most of his work.
There is no tunnel into the psyche of Patton in this release, nor is there any clue as to what he intended when he thought up the project. Mondo Cane is not a work of modern genius, but at least it’s proof that Patton hasn’t lost that weird edge that makes him an institution.
Posted in Reviews
Get a $10 Music Credit Towards this Album with a Free Trial at eMusic
Related Mike Patton Content:
News
Mike Patton to Release Music From The Film and Inspired By The Book The Solitude of Prime Numbers November 1
Mike Patton Says Faith No More Don’t Want to Overdo Their Reunion
WATCH: Mike Patton’s Mondo Cane Full Concert Performance From Santiago, Chile
Faith No More – Coachella Stage
Fantômas Still on Hiatus, Have Not Recorded Together Since 2003 Says King Buzzo
More Details on Mondo Cane Album
Listen: Stream Secret Chiefs 3 and Mike Patton’s Collaboration “La Chanson De Jacky”
Tomahawk Performs New Songs at Nashville Show Including “Oddfellows,” “Baby Let’s Play,” “White Hats” and More
The Place Beyond the Pines Announce Film Giveaway Contest
Faith No More To Play Chile’s Maquinaria Festival
Secret Chiefs 3: Traditionalists Collaborates with Mike Patton For Vinyl Single
Listen: Stream Tomahawk’s New Song “Stone Letter”
Mike Patton’s The Place Beyond the Pines Film Score To Be Released on Vinyl
Soulsavers Enlist Mike Patton and Jason Pierce for New Album
Fantomas Reveals Plans for Live Album/DVD Set for The Director’s Cut
Mike Patton to Score Upcoming Ryan Gosling Film The Place Beyond The Pines + New Tomahawk Album With Trevor Dunn on Bass Planned for Summer 2012 Release
A Look Back: Watch Mr. Bungle Cover “Existential Blues/Pencil Neck Geek” Live in LA in 1991
Mondo Cane to Make live US Debut
Mike Patton Working on No Fewer Than 6 Albums For Future Release
Watch: Mike Patton Perform “When Good Dogs Do Bad Things” Live With The Dillinger Escape Plan
No New Fantomas, Tomahawk or Lovage Albums in 2011
Watch: Mike Patton Performs “Roots Bloody Roots” with Sepultura Live at Rock in Rio
Tomahawk Announce Fall 2012 Tour Dates + 7 Inch Waratorium
Kid Koala and Dynomite D Return to Studio with a “Slew” of Heavy Hitters
Watch: Faith No More Cover Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Niggas in Paris”
Trevor Dunn Says Mr. Bungle Will Not Be Reuniting
Reviews
It’s It – Faith No More Live at the Palladium
Mike Patton – Luciano Berio Laborintus II
Fantomas – Delirium Cordia
Mike Patton – The Place Beyond the Pines (Original Soundtrack)
Fantomas – Suspended Animation
A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi – Beck, Mike Patton, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sean Lennon, Charlotte Kemp-Muhl, Ed Droste, Zola Jesus and More Pay Tribute to Serge Gainsbourg at the Hollywood Bowl
General Patton Vs. The X-Ecutioners – General Patton Vs. The X-Ecutioners
Kaada / Patton – Romances
Guano Padano – 2
Peeping Tom – Peeping Tom
Ghost Dance – Tomahawk and Retox Live at the Mayan Theatre Los Angeles (Review, Photos, Set List, More)
Mike Patton – Mondo Cane
Top Story
Faith No More Adds Final Reunion Tour Dates in Chile and Los Angeles
Faith No More to Play Classic King For a Day Album with Trey Spruance in Santiago, Chile