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Peeping Tom

In 2006, after six years in the making, singer/producer Mike Patton (($Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Fantomas) added Peeping Tom to his impressive list of finished projects. Inspired by director Michael Powell's 1960 cult thriller of the same, Patton spent years sending tracks to potential collaborators as diverse as Amon Tobin, Bebel Gilberto, Norah Jones, Massive Attack and Kool Keith--the latter three all contributed--to construct a record that was completely bereft of physical intimacy. The resulting Peeping Tom, released on Patton's own Ipecac label, flirts with the esoteric while remaining surprisingly accessible, relying on a cross-section of musical styles and artists that defies the term genre.

Peeping Tom (album)

Mike Patton fans have been patiently waiting for his much-talked-about and long-in-the-making pop project, Peeping Tom, for years by now. First tipped off right about the turn of the 21st century, Peeping Tom was supposed to be an outing that saw the singer return to more easily digestible material -- the antithesis of such releases as Adult Themes for Voice and Fantômas Delirium Cordia. The reason for the album's delay was not that Patton had been working steadily on the project since its inception -- he'd gotten side-tracked by a myriad of other projects -- not to mention a time-consuming dalliance with major labels. But ultimately, Patton concluded that his own label, Ipecac, was the best home for the project, which by the time of its 2006 release, had become a bit of a star-studded affair. Such Patton pals as Dan the Automator, Kool Keith, Massive Attack, and Dub Trio all drop by, as does a surprise appearance by none other than Norah Jones. Right from the get-go, it's apparent that Peeping Tom is not an album of Patton crooning conventional pop tunes, as the album instead has a hip-hop/electronic feel to it. That said, it's quite possibly Patton's most accessible album since his Faith No More days. The album opening "Five Seconds" features a trademark Patton vocal freak-out for the chorus (which is a fine example of a singing style that countless rock vocalists have copied from him over the years), while the album-closing collaboration with Dub Trio, "We're Not Alone," is comparable to another Patton project, Tomahawk. Other highlights include the Portishead-like "Sucker" (which features Jones), as well as the leadoff single, "Mojo," which features some pretty harrowing lyrics (it appears to be from the standpoint of an addict). All in all, Peeping Tom is another fine release from Mike Patton (aka Mr. Multi Task).

FritZ haakte al na 2 nummers af. Dit is niet mijn muziek. Geen ritme, geen lijn, geen zang. Eigenlijk gewoon niets wat ik leuk vind.