February 2023; similar to the trajectory the [CP 277 CD] set has taken, this set covering the entirety of the Electronic & Experimental Music as originally issued in 1969 on Discos Siglo Veinte, the "Private" Imprint of Argentinian critic Jacobo Romano has been on the books for ages (a decade and a half by my count) & it was only recently (after scouring virtually every shop in said country) that copies of all three relevant titles were finally sourced: "Música Electrónica Latinoamericana" (#LP 502), "Phantasie 1967 / Antithese 1962 / Montage 1967 / Pandorasbox" (#JJ 015), & "Núcleos - 1a. Serie / Música / Metapiéce (Mimetics)" (#LP 500) - the contents of the first two appearing here en toto (in this order) followed by "Metapiéce (Mimetics)" (as a bonus cut, essentially) tidily across a single 80-minute disc.
The first project Mike Patton worked on after the April 1998 breakup of Faith No More was the all-star Fantomas. Heavy metal fans everywhere salivated at the lineup of Patton on vocals, the Melvins' Buzz Osborne on guitar, ex-Slayer Dave Lombardo on drums, and Mr. Bungle's Trevor Dunn on bass. But as longtime fans have come to learn long ago, always expect the unexpected with Patton-related projects. The band's self-titled debut (the first for Patton's record label, Ipecac) is far from your conventional rock; composed and produced entirely by the singer, the songs serve as a soundtrack to a comic book's story line.
Famous as the vocalist of Faith No More, notorious as the singer of Mr. Bungle, Mike Patton goes one step further with a debut album of experimental sounds never imagined possible from just voice and microphone. Recorded and mixed in hotel rooms using 4-track cassette deck, Adult Themes is a classic which will both surprise and delight Patton fans and newcomers alike. Compositions such as "Catheter", and "Orgy In Reverb" live up to their titles. In addition to his successful day job, Mike Patton has moonlighted with various ensembles and composers including Kronos Quartet, Bob Ostertag, Rova Saxophone Quartet, David Shea, Arto Lindsay, Bill Laswell, Boo-Yaa Tribe, Sepultura, John Zorn and Naked City (filling in for Yamatsaka Eye).
Michael Gira claims that Swans' The Seer took 30 years to make: "it's the culmination of every previous Swans album as well as any other music I've ever made, been involved in or imagined." This is not hyperbole. Two years after My Father Will Lead Me Up to a Rope to the Sky, The Seer is the most sprawling, ambitious, thoughtfully conceived and tightly performed recording in the band's catalog – also not hyperbole – over two discs, two hours, and 11 tracks. And it is not an endurance test, but an argument for compulsive listening. It's an exquisitely wrought journey through post-rock, electronic soundscapes, haunting acoustic songs, punishing noise, and (lots of) percussion.
In 1990, the Residents took their grand examination of rock & roll on the road, touring the world with the Cube E tour. The first half found the group reciting cowboy poems to a soundtrack influenced more by Copland and Orff than country & western, then followed with a group of blues, field hollers, and warped jazz that represented the African-American experience. By intermission, the two had combined into rock music, which in the second half was disseminated by an aging Elvis impersonator tearing through Presley covers (essentially a live version of their 1989 album The King and Eye). The staging, costumes, lights, and general performance were not to be missed, and earned justifiable rave reviews.
The Bunny Boy was the 2008 project from the Residents, but it's much more than just an album. The album was inspired by the Bunny Boy Internet series, which also extended into the tour. Here's the supposed story: a friend of the Residents' has had his brother go missing, apparently on the island of Patmos in Greece. This friend ("Bunny") is a (mostly) computer illiterate man who spends most of his time in his "secret room." He's got some clues: postcards from Patmos and the contents of his brother Harvey's computer. From the secret room, he posts video messages (the webisodes) on the Internets hoping that people will help him find his Armageddon-obsessed brother (who went to Patmos because that's where St. John supposedly received the Book of Revelations).