Mitcz.com : Official blog of Rev. Mitcz, the demented devilish comedian from Hollywood, CA.

Back by apparently very popular request, I’m actually doing TWO Songs of the Week here. These are more to introduce to another wonderful musician more than it is to say "this song is just amazing!". They’re both very good songs, but it’s more about the artist behind them.

The first song is called "Lifeboat" by a group called "Lovage". Now, Lovage isn’t really an official group, more of a quick side project by Dan the Automator and the always-intriguing Mike Patton.

The other song is also a Patton piece, from his band "Mr. Bungle", and is called "Retrovertigo", from their album "California".

If you have no idea who Mike Patton is, you might wanna visit that link, but here’s my very very quick, impromptu bio.

Mike Patton started a band in the early-mid 80’s in San Francisco called "Mr. Bungle". Their debut album, and their local shows, were a source of inspiration for many other artists at the time, as Bungle regularly smashed the verse-chorus-verse methodology of song-writing. Too melodic and catchy to be sheer "noise-rock", it was also too schizophrenic and cut-up to be considered in any way "mainstream".

Faith No More, another influencial act from the mid-80’s SF "rock" scene had just fired their drugged-up lead singer Chuck Mosley. Being fans of Mr. Bungle, they asked Mike Patton to join them, and FNM immediately rocketed to the top of the charts w/their first single "Epic", taken from their album "The Real Thing" which was Patton’s first release with them. Not bowing to the mainstream, they went through a tough and turmoiled experience putting together the follow-up album "Angel Dust" which was a vast departure from the catchy, radio-friendly "The Real Thing". They managed to score a few singles off the album, but it wasn’t very well-received. Personally, I consider Angel Dust to be the greatest album ever made. Hands-down, the best. I’ve listened to that album more times than anything else in my life and I’ve actually re-purchased old copies of it on tape and CD throughout the years (including 2 very rare, limited edition copies featuring a bonus CD of live tracks and extra tracks on the original disc – both the same, but one got too scratched to listen to anymore). All things said, I’ve easily spent $200 on that album throughout the years. I simply feel naked and empty without a working copy in my collection at all times.

Patton continued to make albums with Mr. Bungle, as well as doing his own side projects under his name "Mike Patton". He’s been featured on more albums than I can name here, and since FNM’s breakup sometime around 1997-98 he has formed and made albums with all of the following bands:

Fantomas : Featuring members of the Melvins, Slayer and Mr. Bungle. They’ve just finished recording their 4th album, to be released on April 5, 2005.
Tomahawk : Featuring members of Jesus Lizard, Melvins, and Helmet. They’ve released two albums and are apparently preparing a third (rumor has it). I saw their very first show ever, at the Glass House in Pomona, CA.
Faith No More : You know who they are, c’mon.
Mr. Bungle : His first band, now defunct. Their final release, 1999’s "California", was an amazing album and I consider it to be their most accomplished and thorough work to date. That this album isn’t at the top of the charts and not even ONE single was made out of it will boggle my mind for the rest of my life.
Lovage : A one-off project with Dan the Automator (posing as "Nathaniel Meriweather") and some other chick who’s name escapes me :)
Kaada/Patton : A so-far one-album collaboration with the Swedish ambient musician "Kaada", they have recently released an album named "Romances" that sounds like the soundtrack to a drugged-out horror movie from the 1940’s. I dig it.

There’s actually more than that, and there’s a few projects he’s done that have unreleased demo works but have yet to see the light of day (like his very promising attempt at mainstream music, "Peeping Tom" whose unmastered demos that I’ve heard are more accomplished, heartfelt, and catchy than 95% of the music out there today).

Okay, so onto the songs, yes?

First ..

Lovage- Lifeboat.

Lyrics can be found here.
Song can be grabbed here.
(lyric note : the line "but to admit that to have loved, would be blasphemy" is wrong. It should be "but to admit that to the world, would be blasphemy").

Now..

Mr. Bungle – Retrovertigo.

This song has been considered Patton’s take on the current state of the music industry, or how it was when the song was released. Wherein electronic artists were just remixing old tracks and polishing it up as new in an attempt to be hip through retro musical arrangements. It sounds a lot more trite in description than it is in reality.

Lyrics can be found here.
Song can be grabbed here.

Enjoy :)

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