It’s always lovely to get new Mike Patton music. This 365 Days of Mike Patton project has allowed me to experience songs that Patton recorded years ago that I never knew about, but it’s also allowed me to write about the new music that’s emerging now.
As such, Patton last week announced a new project with Jean-Claude Vannier, a French composer and musician who has a ton of credits that I know absolutely nothing about (mostly because it’s all music from France). Anyway, Patton said the two share a love of Serge Gainsbourg, a French singer, composer and songwriter who (again) I know virtually nothing about. But considering All Music called Gainsbourg “the dirty old man of popular music” who had a “scandalous, taboo-shattering output,” he certainly sounds like a guy Patton would appreciate.
“Jean-Claude and I met while working together on a Gainsbourg retrospective at the Hollywood Bowl in 2011,” Patton said in a press release.
Said Vannier: “We bonded immediately. A formidable vocalist, with a sense of humor, Mike and I created a strong, beautiful and sincere collection of music, as well as a friendship.”
So, it’s nice that Patton is still making new friends.
The album, set to be released in October, is called Corpse Flower. The song is called “On Top of the World.”
Here’s what it sounds like.
My initial reaction: It’s a little bit of gravely Patton, a little bit of 1970s disco-sounding Patton and a little bit of bodily fluid humor from Patton in the chorus. That last part is probably the reason why Vannier mentioned Patton’s sense of humor. Either way, Patton was singing these kinds of songs with Mr. Bungle in the late 1980s. It’s kind of fun he continues to do it (in a more mature way) 30 years later.
To follow along on the 365 days of Patton, click here for a list of each day’s post.
Josh Katzowitz - Sports Writer/Author/Editor 