Another few months, another new Mike Patton CD! This time, "General" Patton has teamed up with "The X-Ecutioners," a strictly DJ-only group outta New York City. So, what do you get when you cross experimental masters of turntables with an experimental master of vocal chords? Hmmm... A lot of fun hip-hoppin' scratchin' and crooning... but also a bit too much noise.
Mike Patton has to be one of the most brilliant artists in modern music--but he's also one of the most frustrating. I did enjoy his most recent ultra-experimental Delirium Cordia with Fantomas and his Romances with Kaada (see review on this site)... BUT I still find myself longing for some more basic music from Patton. I am not saying that I want Faith No More to rejoin (that project was ready to end), but I do need something from Patton to bring it all back to Earth.
As an album, General Patton vs. The X-ecutioners may be considered a war-time concept album, as it feels like the theme of fighting, 'xplosions, and sonic warfare pop up throughout the album. Like a war movie, the dark, dirty fields are contrasted with heroic--almost beautiful--moments of brilliance.
Now, when GPvsTX are at their best, it is brilliant stuff. The DJ's put together some really interesting beats and samples while Patton swoons his patented crooning/screaming/growling over the mix. When Patton isn't singing, you'll find him in the back of the mix creating some of the coolest noises you'll hear a human voice make. In fact, it is sometimes a struggle to pick out what is Patton and what is a turntable. Songs like, "!Get Up Punk!" and "Loser on Line" make the CD worth the $14... but they are also so worthwhile that they make the rest of the CD a bit frustrating.
When GPvsTX are at their worst, you'll hear them experiment with an arsenal of improvisational noise, movie samples, and changes in beat, tempo, and theme that are so rapid-fire, you just can't "get into it." While Patton is known to challenge the listener's mind and patience with his music, I just don't know if it works with the genre of Hip-Hop, as "getting into" the beat is what it's all about. Don't get me wrong, 100% of this CD is interesting, but it can get old. While Kaada and Fantomas tried my patience, I never thought it as random. When you apply Patton's A.D.D. music theory to DJ's instead of musicians, it seems that it's merely button-pushing instead of performing (I know, I know... DJ's don't merely push buttons--and they could be considered performers... but I still get that feeling).
When I read about this project with The X-ecutioners, I did expect the experimental sound that is found on many of the tracks (23 tracks on this CD, but only a handful of full-fledged "songs"). The spaces in between "songs" are interesting, indeed--full of fun samples of obscure Kung-Fu movies, Latin Jazz, Funk, and even Star Wars blaster fire. Problem is, the actual pieces that could be considered true "songs" are SO EFFING GOOD that they might make listeners wish that all the tracks were this way. It's funny that they sample many Kung-Fu scenes in this disk, as listening to the disk is kind of like watching a Kung-Fu movie--you daze through the dialog while thinking, "Why don't they just fight already?!" General Patton vs. The X-ecutioners follow suit: they work the noise so long you find yourself thinking, "KICK IN A COOL SONG ALREADY!" But, to keep the analogy going, their 'fighting' is so cool, you never take the CD out of the player during the slow parts just in case there's another 'battle' in 'em.
So I rate this CD the same I rate the best Jackie Chan movie--Boy the fight scenes are awesome... but the dialog can be a drag. But... those fight scenes! You GOTTA see 'em!
Also funny to note, there should be a new CD from Patton's Fantomas around April. The guy makes me feel like such a slacker.
Rating ***** outta 8.
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