Mondo Cane (album)

Mondo Cane consists of Mike Patton's arrangements and performances of 1950s and 1960s Italian pop songs.[1] Patton had heard these songs while living in Bologna; the singer had adopted the city as a second home[2] after marrying Italian artist Titi Zuccatosta, and had become a fluent speaker of Italian.[3] Patton began exploring Italian popular music; although initially wishing to listen to contemporary music, he found nothing that interested him.[4] However, he became drawn to pop music from the 1950s and 1960s, intrigued by singers using orchestras for backing rather than pop bands.[1] Having considered making an album covering these songs for some time, Patton initially believed he would approach the project with a small band, but was offered the chance to compose music for an orchestra. Patton then opted to use this opportunity to record Mondo Cane instead.[4]

Patton had also been inspired by the music of Italian composer Ennio Morricone. Patton's record label Ipecac Recordings had previously released Crime and Dissonance, a two-disc retrospective of Morricone's work.[2][5] The singer has described his admiration for Morricone's writing, feeling that the composer turned "what could be banal, surface-style pop into really deep, orchestrated, tense and compelling music".[4] Several of the album's songs had been written by Morricone, including "Deep Down", written for the 1968 Mario Bava film Danger: Diabolik.[6] Patton had been aware of the song for some time, having been a fan of the film and Morricone's score;[4] however, the two musicians have not actually met or worked together before.[7]

Mondo Cane was recorded with the backing of a forty-strong orchestra, a fifteen-piece band, and a choir.[2] Recordings were made on a live tour, with the album's tracks assembled as composites from the first three dates of the Italian leg of the tour. Each song contains elements taken from different recordings, with Patton describing the process as "a giant Rubiks Cube [sic]", noting that individual bars of one instrument's music might be lifted from one concert and layered with bars of another instrument's parts from another concert.[4]

Stylistically, the album has been described by Allrovi's Jason Lymangrover as ranging "from Frank Sinatra pop to psychedelic garage rock";[2] while The Boston Globe's James Reed has noted the "spare" sound of "Scalinatella" and the "furious and rocking" pace of "Urlo Negro".[8] Although wanting to remain faithful to the original versions of the songs covered, Patton wished to avoid simply mimicking the original recordings, stating "this is a record of covers, and I believe firmly that you have to make them your own. There is a very fine line to tread. You have to treat a song with respect, yet twist it up, fuck it up and somehow make it a part of your own voice".[4] When assembling the cut for "Deep Down", Patton was able to get in touch with the original vocalist, a woman named Christy, though mutual friend Daniele Luppi. However, she declined to take part in the project.[7]

One song on the record, "Scalinatella", is sung in Neapolitan, rather than Italian, which required Patton to re-learn the correct inflections and pronunciations in that language. However, the conductor of the orchestra Patton used on tour was a native of Naples and would frequently correct the singer during rehearsal until he was able to perform it correctly. Describing this collaboration, Patton noted "I had a lot of great people around me. I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this shit without them".[7]