From ROCKTROPOLIS
by Carrie Borzillo


Mike Patton -- of Faith No More fame -- is apparently going for the 
Hardest Working Man In Rock trophy, as the singer has added yet another 
band to his growing list of credits (Maldoror) and a record label as 
well (Ipacec Records). 

Maldoror -- which joins Mr. Bungle and Fantomas on the Patton credits 
page -- is a studio collaboration with an avant-noise Japanese artist 
named Merzbow, described as "hyper-noise, kind of jazzy, comparable to 
John Zorn's Naked City" by Greg Werckman of Pick-A-Winner Management, 
who manages Mr. Bungle and Fantomas and is co-owner of the newly- formed 
Ipacec Records with Patton.

The Maldoror album is in the can, and Werckman says it will be released 
as soon as they can squeeze it in between the three Melvins albums (see 
story, this page) they're putting out and the self-titled Fantomas debut, 
which will be Ipacec's inaugural release in April. (Ipecac, by the way, 
is named after the shrub used medicinally to induce vomiting -- yet 
another example of Patton's twisted, self- deprecating sense of humor.)
Fantomas, for those losing track, includes Patton on vocals, 
Mr. Bungle's Trevor Dunn on bass, the Melvins' Buzz Osborne on guitar, 
and ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. After that release, Ipacec will 
issue the first of the three Melvins albums, Maggot, in May. 
Meanwhile, Mr. Bungle will have their third album for Warner Bros. 
released tentatively on June 8. The self-produced album is not yet 
titled, and is the follow-up to 1995's Disco Volante. 

"The label is going to be very artist- friendly," says Werckman 
of the Caroline- distributed label. "We'll pay a higher royalty 
rate, and Mike and I have been part of the music industry from all 
forms -- I ran Alternative Tentacles for awhile, he's been on major 
labels and indie labels.  "We know what is good and what isn't," 
he continues, "and we want to offer artists a chance to do more 
experimental things. We're not 
concerned about charts. We don't think we'll even be servicing radio. 
It's also a good time to be an indie label because people are slashing 
and cutting at major labels now. The focus is back to music and 
developing artists -- no one-hit wonders. We're looking for no-hit 
wonders."