Commentary / Reviews

The beauty of having your own label lies in the fact that you can put out anything you damn well please.

Mike Patton, boss of Ipecac, is fully exploiting this luxury, having issued the debut recording by Maldoror, his collaboration with Japanese noise guru Masami "Merzbow" Akita. Named after 19th Century French novelist Conte De Lautremont's Gothic masterpiece, this project dares to act as a sonic approximation of the shock and the gore of the novel.

She, which was recorded in Tokyo in 1997, when Patton was taking time off from the Australian leg of his final tour with Faith No More, mismatches fragments of odd samples, bug-eyed cartoon music and ingeniously grating improvisations that combine Patton's psychotic vocal effects with Akita's sheets of squalling fuzz.

The record is a must-have for Patton fans.

Faith No More/Mr. Bungle singer Mike Patton and noise manipulator Masami Akita of Merzbow collaborated under the name Maldoror, blending the extreme vocals Patton displayed on his solo albums for John Zorn's Tzadik label and Akita's intense sonics. Maldoror's debut She was released in 1999 on Patton's Ipecac label. Heather Phares

All Music Guide