| Adult Themes for Voice | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 23, 1996 | |||
| Genre | Experimental, noise | |||
| Length | 43:00 | |||
| Label | Tzadik | |||
| Producer | Mike Patton | |||
| Mike Patton chronology | ||||
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Adult Themes for Voice is a 1996 album by Mike Patton. Recorded in hotel rooms while touring as a member of Faith No More, the album is solely composed of vocal sounds arranged as noise music. Released on John Zorn's Tzadik Records label, the album has largely met with negative reviews citing its abstruse and inaccessible nature.
Adult Themes for Voice is composed entirely of sounds produced vocally by Mike Patton, featuring no other instrumentation. [1] The compositions include sounds described as "harsh scraping noises, squeaks, and underwater sounds". [2] Patton recalled similar vocal experimentation from his childhood, first having taught himself to sing by imitating non-verbal sounds, and later being gifted a record by his parents which he described as "this little flexi-disc of mouth sounds, like guys that could make odd sounds. I don't know why they gave it to me, but that was one of my favourite records". [3] The album was recorded in various hotel rooms while on tour as a member of Faith No More, [1] [4] using a TASCAM four-track Portastudio. [5]
Adult Themes for Voice was released on April 23, 1996, [2] on Tzadik Records. Tzadik is operated by John Zorn, a long-time collaborator with Patton. [6]
AllMusic's Greg Prato rated the album three stars out of five, stating "there isn't a note of music on the album; it's essentially noise". Prato noted that the music's composition meant that songs flowed into each other "as a continuous piece", and could not point out any specific highlights as a result. [2] Writing for Exclaim! , Joe Smith-Englehardt has described the album as "noise for the sake of noise", noting Patton's "incredibly unique vocals". [1] Simon Young, writing for Kerrang! , described both Adult Themes for Voice and Patton's follow-up, Pranzo Oltranzista , as "expensive lessons in buyer’s remorse". [6] Writing in the book Avant Rock: Experimental Music from the Beatles to Bjork, philosophy professor Bill Martin compared the album to Yoko Ono's 1971 release Fly , and to the vocal techniques of Cathy Berberian and Joan La Barbara. Martin described the album as "quite radical", but questioned whether it would appeal to any particular audience. [7]
All tracks are written by Mike Patton.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wuxiapian" | 2:12 |
| 2. | "I Killed Him Like a Dog... And He Still Laughed" | 0:56 |
| 3. | "Smog" | 0:45 |
| 4. | "The Man in the Lower Left Hand Corner of the Photograph" | 1:47 |
| 5. | "Robot Sex (Neon)" | 0:25 |
| 6. | "Screams of the Asteroid" | 0:55 |
| 7. | "Robot Sex" (B/W)" | 0:16 |
| 8. | "Porno Holocaust" | 1:00 |
| 9. | "Inconsolable Widows in Search of Distraction" | 3:09 |
| 10. | "Hurry Up and Kill Me... I'm Cold" | 0:06 |
| 11. | "Man Alone In Steambath" | 1:01 |
| 12. | "Guinea Pig 1" | 0:35 |
| 13. | "Guinea Pig 2" | 1:26 |
| 14. | "Guinea Pig 3" | 0:16 |
| 15. | "Guinea Pig 4" | 1:42 |
| 16. | "A Woman with the Skin of the Moon" | 0:37 |
| 17. | "A Lizard with the Skin of a Woman" | 1:38 |
| 18. | "Catheter" | 1:18 |
| 19. | "Fix It So the Bruises Don't Show" | 1:20 |
| 20. | "Robot Sex (watercolors)" | 0:24 |
| 21. | "A Ceremony of Senses, an Alibi In The Red Light District" | 0:40 |
| 22. | "Butterfly in a Glass Maze" | 2:19 |
| 23. | "Pajama Party Horror" | 0:57 |
| 24. | "A Leper with the Face of a Baby Girl" | 2:40 |
| 25. | "The One Armed vs. 9 killers" | 1:17 |
| 26. | "Pillow Biter" | 2:42 |
| 27. | "Raped on a Bed of Sand" | 1:46 |
| 28. | "Violence⁵" | 2:17 |
| 29. | "Red Mouth, Black Orgasm" | 0:26 |
| 30. | "Wuxiapian Fantastique" | 0:16 |
| 31. | "A Smile, A Slap in the Face, A Fart, A Kiss on the Mouth" | 0:26 |
| 32. | "Private Lessons on Planet Eros" | 0:36 |
| 33. | "Pneumonia with Complications" | 0:13 |
| 34. | "Orgy in Reverb (10 Kilometers of Lust)" | 4:53 |
| Total length: | 43:00 | |
John Zorn is an American composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist, and multi-instrumentalist. His music crosses genres that include jazz, rock, hardcore, classical, contemporary, surf, metal, soundtrack, ambient, and improvised music. Zorn incorporates diverse styles and compositional methods in his works, which he identifies as avant-garde or experimental. In 2013, Down Beat described Zorn as "one of our most important composers".
Michael Allan Patton is an American singer, producer, film composer, voice actor and record label owner, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techniques, wide range of projects, style-transcending influences, eccentric public image and contempt for the music industry, Patton has earned critical praise and influenced many contemporary singers. Patton is also co-founder and lead vocalist of Mr. Bungle, and has played with Tomahawk, Fantômas, Moonchild Trio, Kaada/Patton, Dead Cross, Lovage, Mondo Cane, and Peeping Tom. Consistent collaborators through his varied career include avant-garde jazz saxophonist John Zorn, hip hop producer Dan the Automator and classical violinist Eyvind Kang.
Marc Ribot is an American guitarist and composer.
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Clinton "Bär" McKinnon is an American musician, perhaps best known for being a saxophonist in San Francisco based band Mr. Bungle.
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Tzadik Records is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a not-for-profit, cooperative record label.
Mike Patton is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known for providing lead vocals for Faith No More along with Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, Peeping Tom, Tomahawk, Lovage and more. In addition to recording and working with these bands, he has also been involved in many side projects and collaborations. Patton is most frequently known as a vocalist, but has also produced, played various musical instruments, has composed soundtracks, done voice over work and has done some acting.
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