FLASHBACK | ANNIVERSARY | ADULT THEMES FOR VOICE & PRANZO OLTRANZISTA

Once again, the month of April has always seemed to be a prolific one for Mike Patton. This time we take a look back at his two feature solo releases, "Adult Themes For Voice" and "Pranzo Oltranzista".

The first (in order of release) was the ever provocative and intriguing April 23rd 1996 debut solo release "Adult Themes For Voice", writen and recorded for John Zorn's record label Tzadik Recordings as part of his Composer Series. The album features the various vocal techniques of Mike Patton, and nothing more. Not a single note can be heard throughout the 44 minutes and 20 seconds of the album. A masterpiece of it's own kind. As a project inspired under the guise of John Zorn, the avant vocal tracks consisting of sounds ranging from cackling, squawking, squealing and clapping, to clamoring blasts of shouting, choking and smooching kissing noises, was comprised during touring for Faith No More in the various hotel rooms in which he stayed, using primarily only his voice and a Tascam 4 track recorder.

Patton has stated that the experience of recording "Adult Themes For Voice", gave him the tools required to later produce the sounds needed for Fantômas albums and various other projects.

" I hope that record

[Adult Themes For Voice]

had that [good] impact. I know

that it also pissed a lot of

people off. But to me, that was

a learning experience. I

was literally exercising my

voice for the whole world

to hear. And here I was learning,

on the job, how to use

certain techniques that I

thought I could get better at.

In a sense, many of the records

I do are exercises like that. I’m

just trying to get better at what

I do. Sometimes the public

maybe has to suffer for it. "

-Mike Patton

" A Leper With The Face Of A Baby Girl "

“To me, Adult Themes was the fork in the road where you either stepped back and admired Patton’s more conventional rock-based stuff, or plunged balls-first into oblivion” – Decibel Magazine

Album Credits

(via Discogs.com)

Design – Kimsu Thiele

Executive-Producer – John Zorn

Executive-Producer [Associate] – David New Garden, Kazunori Sugiyama

Mastered By – Allan Tucker

Mastered By [In Matrix] – NimbusVoice

Composed By, Producer – Mike Patton

Tzadik - TZ 7015

Released on April 23rd 1996

Buy "Adult Themes For Voice" - Discogs.com

▪️

The second solo release by Mike Patton, came almost a year to the date later on April 22nd 1997 - "Pranzo Oltranzista". This release was quite different than it's predecessor, offering a more traditional take on the more avant jazz style recording. This album features collaborations with other artists such as Marc Ribot, William Winant, Eric Friedlander and John Zorn himself. "Pranzo Oltranzista" (subtitled "Musica da Ravola per Cinque", which translates to "Banquet Piece for Five Players") was inspired by the 1932 publication "La Cucina Futurista" (The Futurist Cookbook), writen by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. "Pranzo Oltranzista" was also released by John Zorn's record label Tzadik.

Track Listing:

01. Elettricita Atmosferiche Candite

02. Carne Cruda Squarciata Dal Suono Di Sassofono

03. Vivanda In Scodella

04. Guerra In Letto

05. Contorno Tattil (Per Russolo)

06. I Rumori Dal Aperitivo

07. Garofani Allo Spiedo

08. Aero Vivanda

09. Scoppioningola

10. Latte Alla Luce Verde

11. Bombe A Mano

" Bombe A Mano "

AllMusic Review by Greg Prato

"Mike Patton's second solo album, Pranzo Oltranzista: Musica da Ravola per Cinque (Banquet Piece for Five Players), has some qualities similar to its predecessor (Adult Themes for Voice), except the major difference this time is that there are instruments present. Also, it marks Patton's debut as experimental composer, taking his inspiration for the album's music from Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's Futurist Cookbook (from back in 1932). The five players who perform on this piece are well known in the John Zorn musical circle -- cellist Erik Friedlander, guitarist Marc Ribot, percussionist William Winant, and Zorn himself on alto saxophone. "Elettricita Atmospheriche Candite" kicks the album off with a mixture of violin squeaks and noises and spacy echo guitar -- when combined, they create a sound collage that would be the perfect soundtrack for a graveyard at night or a spooky haunted house. Another track, "Aerovivanda," contains free-form horn blowing and the sound of glass shattering, which builds up quite a bit of musical tension. Chalk up Pranzo Oltranzista as another challenging release from Patton."

3/5 stars