General Patton vs. the X-Ecutioners

• Artist: General Patton/X-Ecutioners
• Rating:
• Release Date: February 08, 2005
• Genre: Rap

Review

The methodology went like this: former Faith No More/Mr. Bungle/Tomahawk frontman Mike Patton sends hip-hopping turntable masters the X-Ecutioners a bunch of oddball records, then the X-Ecutioners create "sound blocks" out of the albums and send them back to Patton for final tweaking and song-building. Two years in the making, the collaboration feels more like a Patton project than an equal-footing outing, but that doesn't narrow the sound down much, does it? On one hand, there's Patton's penchant for the aggressively avant-garde. On the other, there's his not-as-wild-as-you'd-think appearance on Handsome Boy Modeling School's White People. Ridiculously long and cryptic song titles might point to a crazed, "out there" experience, but General Patton vs. the X-Ecutioners is surprisingly crisp and funky over half of the time, and it's a good guess the X-Ecutioners were the ones to bring the noise. Crazed turntable workouts that recall the crew's greatest underground DJ battle tapes appear throughout the album. They sound untouched for the most part, leading the listener to believe it was Patton's choice to make the overall experience smoother. It takes eight tracks to get to anything approaching John Zorn territory, but this hip-hop noir that Patton's pushing is surprisingly fun and filling. Dirty Harry quotes, kung fu sound effects, and that "this is a journey into sound" sample are some of the clichés that appear and make this album more Gorillaz than Boredoms. While the Gorillaz can brush against smugness and cleverness, Patton's passion for this project comes through loud and approachable. Free jazz, glitch, and whooshes of studio trickery are drama-building devices, each leading to the next hook or the next solid beat. There's an antiwar motif that pays off in the end along with a couple drop-dead hilarious moments, one involving some furious scratching and a porno movie. Not the most essential release from either of the parties involved, but these "sending tapes back and forth through the mail"-type projects rarely result in albums that are much more than "interesting." General Patton vs. the X-Ecutioners has enough passion and inspiration behind it to make it an easy recommendation. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
X-Men Doctrine and Declaration: Target=40:40:11N 73:56:38W		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(1:30)
General P. Counterintelligence: Target=37:47:38N 122:33:17W		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(0:40)
¡Get Up, Punk! 0200 Hrs. (Joint Special Operations Task Force)		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(3:38)
Roc Raida: Riot Control Agent/Combat Stress Control		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(2:05)
Improvised Explosive Device 0300 Hrs.		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(0:36)
¡Vaqueros y Indios! (Joint Special Operations Task Force)		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(1:52)
Precision Guided Needle-Dropping and Larynx Munitions (PGNDLM)		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(1:55)
Duelling Banjo Marching Drill		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(1:54)
Battle Hymn of the Technics Republic		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(1:11)
¡Fire in the Hole! 0400 Hrs. (Joint Special Operations Task Force)		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(2:14)
Convulsive Antidote for Nerve Agent Autoinjector (CANAA)		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(0:43)
Modified Combined Obstacle Overlay (MCOO) ...or... "How I Learned ..."		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(2:41)
Surprise Swing Insurgency/Tabla and Tongue Twist Counterattack/"Dragon		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(3:41)
¡Kamizake! 0500 Hrs. ("Take a Piece of Me")		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(2:16)
We'll Paint This Town -- Throat and Phonograph Fire Support ...		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(1:40)
Imitative Electromagnetic Deception (IED)/Digital Nonsecure Voice ...		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(0:21)
A.W.O.L. Block Party Brawl 0600 Hrs.		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(1:50)
Eastside Multichannel Tactical Scratch Communications (EMTSC)		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(1:41)
Pimps Up, Aces High! 0700 Hrs. (Westside Swashbuckling Parade)		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(1:28)
Warcry/Infrared R'n'B Hallucination/Jungle Operations Exfiltration ...		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(3:02)
L.O.L. - ¡Loser on Line! (Hate the Player, Hate the Game)		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(3:34)
Low Altitude Vocal Parachute Extraction System (LAVPES)		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(1:04)
Battle Damage Assessment and Repair/White Flag Surrender/"Wake Me ..."		The X-ecutioners, General Patton	(4:52)

Credits

Mike Patton (Bass), Mike Patton (Guitar), Mike Patton (Percussion), Mike Patton (Arranger), Mike Patton (Keyboards), Mike Patton (Programming), Mike Patton (Lyricist), Mike Patton (Producer), Mike Patton (Artwork), Mike Patton (Editing), Mike Patton (Mixing), Roc Raida (Group Member), Rob Swift (Turntables), Rob Swift (Group Member), Gene Grimaldi (Mastering), Total Eclipse (Scratching), Total Eclipse (Group Member), Martin Kvamme (Artwork), General Patton (Main Performer)