Pranzo oltranzista

by

Mike Patton

Edit

This is a soundtrack of dreams, which seems more surrealist than futurist to me, as surrealism aimed to incorporate subconscious desires into waking life. Pattonheads beware, this sounds more like a John Zorn album than Mr. Bungle, let alone FNM! The musicians are top-notch -- Zorn on sax, Marc Ribot on guitar, Erik Friedlander on cello, William Winant on percussion, and Patton on "voice, sound effects." There is not much vocalizing, let alone singing. Patton is the composer, and contributes musique concrete effects, plus some vocals on a few tracks. The resulting music is uncategorizable -- "I Rumori Nutrienti" features slow, mellow sax over the low rumble of an airplane engine, which is surprisingly relaxing, and "Latte Alla Luce Verde," with vocalizing, sounds like lovemaking.

If you like the paintings of Salvador Dali or Max Ernst, if you like John Zorn, especially his THE BIG GUNDOWN, the album of Morricone film score remakes, if you are open to the possibility of sounds that do not fit in marketing boxes, then you just might like PRANZO OLTRANZISTA!

Here's the deal: I'm not gonna tell you that this album is good or bad, or whether to buy it or not. This kind of esoteric avant garde sound gets processed differently by different people, therefore I'm not gonna tell you if this is "good" or not. I'm just gonna tell you how I felt listening to it. Basically I think all the time Patton spent hanging around with John Zorn inspired this. If you know anything about Zorn's discography, you'll know that you can get one cd that's grindcore and jazz, then another that's an hour of duck calls being played underwater. As Forest Gump would say, "John Zorn's like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get". Well, this second Patton solo album is very much like one of Zorn's "nothing" albums; An album that's similar to watching an episode of the Teletubbies, where you sit through the whole thing, then afterwards say, "that was it?" That's how I felt anyway. I've listened to it about 4 or 5 times all the way through and I'll be damned it I can sit here and remember one note from the cd. Actually, I remember some chewing noises. Now, I love whacked out avant garde as much as the next guy, but I guess I just need something a little more with my craziness. But you know, I have nothing but the highest respect for Mike Patton for doing this(and his first solo album). Obviously this album is something he felt strongly about and really wanted to do. I mean, he isn't gonna race to the top of Billboard for this. I admire the man greatly even if I don't love everything he puts out. He's one of the most innovative, creative musicians out there right now. If Zappa were alive, I'm sure they'd be buddies. But ultimately, you be the judge.