Monday, January 9th, 2012 at 12:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
A couple of years ago, Mike Patton provided the brilliant score for Crank 2: High Voltage, a film which, as you all know, went on to win 57 Oscars and break every box office record there is. Now he’s announced a new gig as a composer, for the film The Place Beyond the Pines, which will reunite Blue Valentine‘s writer/director, Derek Cianfrance, with its star, Ryan Gosling. IMDB describes the film as being about “A motorcycle stunt rider [who] considers committing a crime in order to provide for his wife and child, an act that puts him on a collision course with a cop-turned-politician.”
I think this is worth getting really excited about, for the following reasons:
Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 2:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
Our pals over at Metal Injection recently unearthed the below video of Fantomas playing a medley of old Slayer tunes, and, yeah, it’s pretty great. Despite the presence of Slayer drummer Dave Lomabardo, Fantomas put their own unique spin on the material, rather than just doing rote copies of the originals. Killer stuff… check it out below:
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011 at 10:00am by Axl Rosenberg
As previously announced, Faith No More performed their album King for a Day… Fool for a Lifetime in its entirety at a show in Santiago, Chile this past weekend. King/Mr. Bungle guitarist Trey Spruance and post-King guitarist Jon Hudson were both in attendance, and the show included, according to The PRP, “what is thought to be the first live performances of the album’s track ‘Star A.D.’ and its b-side, ‘Absolute Zero’,” as well as the previously unreleased track from the King sessions that the band first performed live last week. I’m obviously a huge FNM fan, but I guess not enough of a fan to know that these songs had never been played live before, so that’s exciting.
Don’t be too down if you weren’t at the show, though, ’cause nowadays we have these things called cell phones, and those cell phones and have cameras, and those cameras have video capabilities, and so now you can watch some semi-decent footage below. Enjoy!
In the absence of new Faith No More (which seemed like it might actually be a thing for a minute earlier this week), Tomahawk has always been my favorite (read: most FNM-like) of Mike Patton’s myriad side projects. If I’m being honest, the Patton-led collabo — which also includes Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison, ex-Helmet drummer John Stanier and ex-Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn — kinda lost my interest with 2007′s Anonymous, a record that lacked gusto and reminded me a very mellow, spiritual version of Bungle. 2003′s Mit Gas is the record that hooked me, but 2001′s self-titled debut is a ripper too (stream it on Spotify here).
So it’s with cautious anticipation that I report that Tomahawk are working on a new album, according to their Facebook page. Hooray! Hopefully it’s more Mit Gas / self-titled and less Anonymous. Presumably we’ll find out in the first half of 2012, and presumably it’ll be issued via Patton’s own label Ipecac.
Monday, November 7th, 2011 at 3:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
When Ben Weinman revealed in September that he was collaborating on a new project with Mike Patton, I proclaimed my love for Irony is a Dead Scene, the EP that Dillinger recorded with Patton while they were in-between former vocalist Dimitri Minakakis and current vocalist Greg Puciato. So you can imagine how jealous I am of San Francisco DEP fans, who got to see Patton actually hop up on stage with the band this past Friday night to perform a song from that release, “When Good Dogs Do Bad Things.” Luckily, in 2011 every single electronic device in the world comes equipped with a camera, so we have some fan-filmed footage of the event. Check it out below.
Say, here’s the best idea ever: how about a FNM/DEP tour? If it ever happened, I might actually drop everything and follow that shit around the country, like some stupid Dead Head or whatever.
Thursday, October 20th, 2011 at 12:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
Maybe it’s because I’m Jewish, or maybe I’m just an evil liberal participating in The War on Christmas, but few things annoy me more than holiday songs. They pretty much universally suck. Except for Dean Martin’s “Let it Snow.” I like that one. But that may just be because it was used at the end of Die Hard.
ANYWAY, now I guess there’s a second exception to the rule: Mike Patton crooning “The Christmas Song” for John Zorn’s new Happy Birthday Jesus! release, A Dreamer’s Christmas. Patton’s velvety voice is so good it makes me go all weak in the knees pretty much no matter what he’s singing.
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 at 10:30am by Anso DF
I’m not saying that MetalSucks’ boner-bursting August series 31 Days Of Faith No More featuring Anso DF set in motion events leading to an amazing first-ever Faith No More show with one-time FNM studio guitarist Trey Spruance this November, but um okay I don’t know how to end that sentence. Cuz that’s exactly what I’m implying: We made this happen. So you’re welcome. Keyboardist Roddy Bottum wrote on the internet Wednesday night:
Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 at 11:30am by Axl Rosenberg
I guess Ben Weinman likes to keep busy. He The Dillinger Escape Plan’s guitairst, primary songwriter, and manager, and he’s got this new supergroup with Mastodon’s Brent Hinds, The Mars Volta’s Thomas Pridgen, and former Jane’s Addiction bassist Eric Avery brewing, and now, according to the above video interview, he’s also working on something with Mike Patton.
That particular nugget of info comes at the 2:14 mark, but in case you’re technologically challenged and can’t figure out how to get to said 2:14 mark, here’s a transcript of what Weinman says when asked if he’ll ever work with Patton again:
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”Absolute Zero”
Written by Patton (L); Patton (M)
Released 1995
Appears on ”Digging The Grave” single; some Australia and Japan editions of King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Key lyric ”The clock is ticking/You have no authority here.”
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”The Last To Know”
Written by Patton (L); Gould, Patton, Bordin (M)
Released 1995
Appears onKing For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Key lyric ”Where it grows on trees/But never blooms/Where it hurts the least for whoever/Saw it first.”
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”Malpractice”
Written by Patton (L); Patton (M).
Released 1992
Appears onAngel Dust album
Produced by Matt Wallace
Guitars by Jim Martin
Key lyric ”The crowd roars/The pulling and the probing/The rest you know/Ten lovers violating.”
Single? No. “Malpractice” closes the whirlwind side A of Angel Dust.
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”Ugly In The Morning”
Written by Patton (L); Patton, Spruance, Gould (M)
Released 1995
Appears onKing For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”Digging The Grave”
Written by Patton (L); Patton, Spruance, Gould (M)
Released 1995
Appears onKing For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Key lyric ”I know you have a reason why/That knot is better left untied/I just went and undid mine/It takes some time.”
Single? Yes, King‘s first and a thematic continuation of “Midlife Crisis” and “A Small Victory.”
The climate Released four weeks ahead of its host album, “Digging” ended what seemed like ages of tense anticipation for FNM’s follow-up to Angel Dust. What better way to enter a new music era than with lotsa screaming, a drum solo, and no trace of FNM’s trademark keyboards?
Awesome song elevated to supra-awesomeness by chemistry shared by Mike Patton and his Mr. Bungle bandmate Trey Spruance. Where Patton shouts pitchlessly [sic], Spruance unfurls big, yawning broken chords; alternately, Patton’s measure-long tones often sit atop slamming Spruance downstrokes. Tasty.
Didja know? There’s a third harmony part down low in the second and third choruses’ ”comf-ter-bulllllllllllll”. I didn’t detect it until like 1999.
Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Song ”The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies”
Written by Patton (L); Gould, Bordin, Patton (M)
Released 1995
Appears onKing For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime album
Produced by Andy Wallace
Guitars by Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Mr. Bungle)
Key lyric ”If you don’t make a friend now/One might make you.”
Single? Planned and scrapped, according to Wikipedia. But “Enemies” went out to commercial radio. I heard it once srs!
The climate One of FNM’s hardest-rocking jamz, “Enemies” represents another FNM theme: No matter where you are, or whose company you keep, or how well you think you’ve succeeded at life, no matter what … there might be someone hating you from across the room. Worse, it’s like the someone wants to hate your guts. “Happy Birthday, fucker.”
Awesome song elevated to supra-awesomeness by cinema, for at least the second time already here on 31Do’FNM on MS.net. For example, imagine this in your brain: Right around 2:38, Patton’s vocals rest, and a new, competing guitar lick is introduced and plays against the main riff, right? So, assign each of those two guitar parts to a shot in your imaginary brain movie: the main riff (the triumphant one) is you toasting champagne with friends, laughing gaily in a turtleneck; an instant later, the descending riffs accompanies a cut-away to Mike Patton standing just beyond the head of your table, clenching his fists and staring at you. The shot goes back to you being all super-thrilled to be you (duh-duh-duh-DUHHH duh-duh-DUHHHHH); back to him, sweating and thrilled to be near the time of your punching (Dehhh-deh dee-dee doo-doo doo-doo). You: A winner. Him: On the move. The song ends just when you notice that he’s upon you, fist cocked. Smiling.
Didja know? I’ve discovered a new and horrible way to break terrorists. I got the idea when I was listening to “Enemies” on my stereo on repeat, and then the youtube above started playing exactly one beat behind the stereo. I listened to the entire song all echoing itself this way and it was insane. I learned that, truly, you don’t do heavy metal in doubly. Everybody knows that.
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 10:00am by Axl Rosenberg
According to the ol’ Wikipedia, musth is “periodic condition in bull elephants, characterized by highly aggressive behavior, accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones - testosterone levels in an elephant in musth can be as much as 60 times greater than in the same elephant at other times.” Based on that description, you’d expect a band of the same name to be super-aggressive, right?
Wrong, I guess. Reader Bjørn-Are Johansen e-mailed us this morning to insist we check out “Fish & Ships,” a video by Norway’s self-proclaimed “schizometallers,” Musth, and the band sounds more like Mr. Bungle than Cattle Decapitation. Not that that’s a bad thing… and not that Musth are as brilliant as Mr. Bungle… in fact, as much as I love Mr. Bungle, this is really just not my cup of tea. But at least I don’t feel like I’ve heard this song a thousand times before, or, for that matter, have seen a million variations on this same video.
Until last year, I had no idea what a frickin Juggalo was. And I’m still pretty goddamn perplexed by the whole scene…..whwhwhwhy???
I always knew that the Insane Clown Posse existed but (for obvious reasons) avoided their klown-a-verse like a 3-ring plague. And now that I’ve finally heard their “music” I can wholeheartedly say that they are straight-up terrible — I can only imagine how retarded the fans who are buying this po-dunk rap shtick must be. Yeah I said it, no secret how awful this ICP nonsense is…….COME ON!!!!!!
And yet I can’t help but ponder that if this world was a just place, the most appropriate soundtrack for a band with demented circus leanings should be BUNGLE.
Next year marks the 20th anniversary of that first amazing Mr. Bungle album, and it still sounds as revolutionary and fresh as ever. Required listening for Mike Patton fans.
The entire Mr. Bungle debut album after the jump. Bigtop this, bitches.
Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 5:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
I haven’t been able to shake this cold, and so I’ve actually been playing a lot of on-line Scrabble with a friend this week (because I’m just that cool). It would be really hard to play Scrabble at a metal show, though, not least of all because so many metal d00dz can’t spell.
When we weren’t beating this whole Uno debacle to death like it had just heckled us, here’s what was happening in the world of metal:
We streamed Mutiny Within’s self-titled debut album, and premiered a track by Dallas Coyle’s new project, Genetic.
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 1:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
Here’s something about you probably don’t care to know: I used to work in the non-music side of showbidness. During that time, I had a professional relationship with the New York theater actor, Jeffrey Carlson. I remember when Jeffrey got a gig on the soap opera All My Children – probably not the most artistically satisfying gig, but it sure pays better than theater work – playing a character who was, in no small part, obsessed with Mike Patton. I’m not even sure that Jeffrey knew who Mike Patton was at the time.
ANYWAY, a reader calling himself “G Hat” sent us this clip, which reminded me of the reference. Hey, if it got a few lonely housewives to buy Faith No More or Mr. Bungle albums, I’m all for it.
Friday, October 2nd, 2009 at 12:00pm by D.X. Ferris
In honor of Alaskan metalcore band 36 Crazyfists’ new DVD, Under a Northern Sky (in stores October 27), a list of 35 other famous, metal, heavy, and/or crazy fists:
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 at 1:30pm by Gary Suarez
I suspect that, save for the weirdos and closeted avant-jazz heads lurking among our readership, many of you are unaware of or oblivious to the work of Trevor Dunn. Of course, any Mr. Bungle fan will instantly recognize the name of that seminal band’s bassist. Produced by the influential and infamous John Zorn, its 1991 self-titled debut might be one of most bizarre albums in my collection of bizarre albums, blending bombastic hard rock, demented circus music, and freak jazz with thematic wit, irreverence, and depravity. In subsequent years, the Mike Patton-fronted group took a proverbial backseat to the vocalist’s work in the comparatively more successful Faith No More, leaving Dunn and his cohorts to pursue other musical ventures including Secret Chiefs 3. Though Mr. Bungle ultimately and mysteriously disbanded after the release of its third album California, Patton and Dunn would continue their musical partnership in the experimental metal supergroup Fantomas–a still technically active quartet that also includes Melvins’ esteemed axeman Buzz Osbourne and Slayer’s revered drummer Dave Lombardo–as well as the related Fantomas-Melvins Big Band and Zorn’s “Moonchild”. Separately, Dunn has spent much of this decade as a major player in New York’s avant-jazz community, featuring in countless groups and albums including his own Trio-Convulsant. MadLove, however, might be the most extraordinary (and frustrating) release of Dunn’s career given its curious straightforwardness and accessibility.
