I cannot claim to have tried terribly hard, but it seems nearly impossible to keep up with all of the different projects that Mike Patton is or has been involved with over the years. The guy is, if nothing else, keeping himself busy. The ones I know of are Faith No More (obviously), Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, and now Tomahawk. I am also pretty sure that there are a couple of more. Besides keeping busy on all of these different projects, whichever ones find their way to my ears are always fascinating. They are not all great works of art, but there is always something that makes them stand out from a crowd, and Anonymous is no different. It is the third release from this trio, but the first I have heard, and it is a themed album that had so much potentially to go flying horribly off the tracks. Fortunately, it did not, and the result is a magical album that brings two worlds together in something that is wholly unique in my experience.
The project was born out of research being done by guitarist Duane Denison. During this period of research, he discovered books of transcribed Native American music. Denison, along with Patton, and drummer John Stanier took this music and interpreted it with a much more modern mindset, while respecting the origins of the music. Now, this is no New Agey Native American music, you know, the kinds of albums you find strewn throughout the New Age section that have about as much to do with Native American music and culture as Quentin Tarantino does with family movies. Rather, they took the darker compositions and worked them into a hard rock format while retaining all of which makes it Native American. This is not to be confused with a literal note for note, beat for beat replica of the music, it is truly interpreted and filtered through an imaginative and respectful, but distinctly off-kilter mind.
The Anonymous title comes as a show of respect to the original composers of the music, whose names are not known, lost to time. They may be making interpretations of the music, but they are not claiming ownership or creative credit for their origins.
The music is utterly immersive, and completely addictive. A collaborative effort, everything falls into place in a manner that I found it impossible to stop listening after just one time through. Duane Denison's guitar work is incredible, delivering heavily distorted sounds as well as clean vocal line doubles, and giving a wonderful atmosphere to the work. Likewise, John Stanier captures the drumming of a culture while also bringing in new textures to the mix. Then there is Mike Patton, love him or hate him, puts his fingerprints on the whole.
Article comments
1 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
I really liked the first 2 CDs because,as always, Mr. Patton & Co. come up with creative & interesting ideas that just plain out rock.You should pick them up. This third album really pushes the formula and shows that they can break boundaries. As with any of Mike's projects, it is definitley not stale and I will probably need a few listens to wrap my head around it. Though, I wish they would go back to that pounding rock they were doing before.(*Not a knock on their current material*).
2 - Tom Johnson
I agree - the first two are essential, Chris, but VERY different than this album. Think "Faith Lizard" and you'll get a good idea of what they sound like - the Jesus Lizard and late-period FNM are the most prominent elements of the sound (not to dismiss John Stanier's additions to the band, I just don't instantly think "Helmet" when I hear him in this band.) But, yeah, as great as this album is, I have to admit to kind of hoping they leave the conceptual material to Fantomas and continue putting out more hard material in the future. I'd love to see a DVD of this tour - I can't imagine how this material will go over with some of the weirdos in the Patton crowd. It should make for some interesting concerts.