Listen up, world. It’s official: Mike Patton’s latest album, Mondo Cane, is due for release from Ipecac Records on May 4, and it has the cover art to prove it.
What do you talk about when you talk about Mike Patton? There are the bands (Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, Peeping Tom, Tomahawk, Fantômas); there’s the esoteric nerd work (vocal contributions to such video games as Left 4 Dead, The Darkness, and Bionic Commando — not to mention the voices of the infected something-or-others in I Am Legend). There’s the general management of Ipecac, the soundtrack work — if the list rhymed, it would be “Oh! the Places You’ll Go!” and recited at graduations. But more than anything, you most likely just end up having the popular discussion of what a weirdo he is. Still, Mondo Cane — aside from being in the making for a while — somehow doesn’t come as a strange surprise.
The Mondo Cane project is a covers album of Italian “oldies” from the 50s and 60s, each track a live recording from a few 2007 gigs in Europe. Not only does Mike Patton shine here like a perverse Italiano Tom Jones (all songs are sung in the language of giallo), but he adds sparkle to the mix by equipping himself with a 40-piece orchestra (there is some question as to whether it is a 30- or 40-piece ensemble).
In Patton’s own words: “My purpose in revisiting these pieces is not to relive the past, not for nostalgia, but more to illustrate through modern and adventurous interpretation exactly how vital and important this music still is.” The compilation, named after the eponymous 1962 Italian “shockumentary,” includes a cover of Ennio Morricone’s “Deep Down” (composed for Mario Bava’s 1968 film Danger: Diabolik; see Patton perform it here) and 10 more Italo pop classics you may or may not have ever heard before.
Here is the track listing for Mondo Cane:
01. Il Cielo In Una Stanza
02. Che Notte!
03. Ore D’Amore
04. Deep Down
05. Quello Che Conta
06. Urlo Negro
07. Scalinatella
08. L’Uomo Che Non Sapeva Amare
09. 20 KM Al Giorno
10. Ti Offro Da Bere
11. Senza Fine
• Mike Patton: http://myspace.com/mikepattonofficial
• Ipecac: http://www.ipecac.com
