A PERFECT PLACE (OST)

Mike Patton fans and those simply curious will want to consider picking this one up. This movie soundtrack is quite different from his work on the Tzadik label (Adult Themes for Voice and Pranzo Oltranzista) and also more tempered and accessible.

A Perfect Place is packaged with both a short film and it's music together on two separate discs. Neither film or music is a total masterpiece, but each has moments of brilliance and intrigue to keep the eyes and ears attuned. What is great about Mike Patton as a film composer is that he doesn't simply rely on a string section alone like many film scores do. Like his friend and mentor John Zorn, Patton is unafraid to pull from Rock, Avant, Big Band, and general noise-making (two tracks are of a radio dial being tuned) to suit the right mood for each piece.

All that said however I don't really think as a album it holds up as strong as it could. The CD is only a scant 35 minutes, mostly consisting of instrumentals, but there are a few moments where Patton gets to flex his vocals a bit in the way he did in his Mr. Bungle days. I don't play this CD much, but when I do I come away feeling it was a good purchase.