Peeping Tom

Mike Patton is the Shit. Over nearly 20 years, it is arguable that no other artist (with the possible exception of Bjork, who has guested with Patton before) has so consistently pushed musical boundaries and genres while still selling a heap of records, as he has. It really is unarguable that he is certainly the most prolific. Bungle, Faith no More, Fantomas, Tomahawk, and now this, the solo project, Peeping Tom. And this is no exception to his record of sheer quality and uniqueness. Collaborating with an astonishing variety of artists, from Dan the Automator to Norah Jones (who is dazzlingly, awesomely, potty-mouthed on Sucker), this record traverses some familiar terrain, the schitzophrenic, pseudo hip-hop insanity of opener 5 seconds, to the much more different (for Patton) in the oh-so-nearly-regulation pop of lead single Mojo. While it is almost a straight-up pop track, it is so, so, so much better than anything you'll hear this year by anyone we might categorise as a pop artist, that it may as well be a new artistic medium, let alone a separate genre. For the perfect balance between the conventional and the madcap, bizarre, and the otherworldly, look no further than this record.
Also, credit must go to the cover artists, who have come up with, by far, the best CD sleeve in many, many years.
Madness rarely sounds this good.