Ipecac Recordings was established in 1999 by Mike Patton (Mr Bungle/Faith No More/Fantomas/Tomahawk) and manager Greg Werckman, initially in order to release Patton’s collaboration with Japanoise maestro Masami Akita aka Merzbow (1999’s She, credited to Maldoror) and the debut album by his cinematically inclined avant rock ensemble Fantomas.

“Mike was still under contract with Warner Bros,” remembers Werckman. “So I had to fly to Los Angeles to play these tapes for the higher ups at WB to get their approval to let me shop them. It did not take long. WB wanted nothing to do with these very non-commercial projects. So I began contacting other record labels. We got a few labels interested, but they were either metal labels or punk labels and neither seemed right for these two records. Since I had experience working at both an independent label and a major label I had distribution contacts. I proposed we work with a couple distributors and put these records out ourselves. At the same time, King Buzzo was recruited to be part of the Fantomas record and he mentioned that his band The Melvins did not currently have a label home. So, with Mike’s two records and The Melvins lined up we were able to find some cool distribution people to work with around the world.”

“It was never planned out that we would form a fully functioning record label,” says Patton. “But the first releases were better received than we expected and it just kind of happened.”

In the 25 years since its foundation, the label has amassed a huge catalogue of abnormal music ranging from the sublime (Kaada, Eyvind Kang, Jean Claude Vannier) to the brilliantly ridiculous (Mr Bungle, The Golding Institute, Moistboyz). Below is a small sample of Ipecac’s weird, weird wares.

Fantomas
“Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me”
From The Director’s Cut (2001)

The second album by Fantomas – drummer Dave Lombardo, guitarist Buzz Osborne, bassist Trevor Dunn and vocalist Mike Patton – sees the group interpreting 16 film compositions including pieces by Nino Rota (“The Godfather”), Ennio Morricone (“Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion”), Bernard Herrmann (“Cape Fear”) and Angelo Badalamenti, whose theme for David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me received this alternately slinky and clamorous treatment. “Brought to life through high contrast changes of pace, precise dynamics and split-second timing, each arrangement pulsates with a dark intelligence,” wrote Ken Hollings in The Wire 210.

The Fantomas Melvins Big Band
“The Bit”
From Millennium Monsterwork 2000 (2002)

At the dawn of the 21st century all the members of Fantomas and The Melvins convened for a series of live shows where (controlled) chaos reigned. Here, the ensemble drag the already thunderous opener of The Melvins’ 1996 album Stag into even heavier, weirder territory with the aid of abrasive electronics and additional screams from Mike Patton. “One of the most challenging rock records you’re likely to hear this year,” wrote Mia Clarke in The Wire 220.

Isis
“The Beginning And The End”
From Oceanic (2002)

For their second album Boston’s Isis augmented the churning heaviosity of earlier recordings with elements of ambient music and post-rock, thereby establishing the tenets of the post-metal subgenre and influencing countless bands who sound exactly like them. Guitarist/vocalist Aaron Turner now fronts the monstrous Sumac, who have collaborated with Japanese guitarrorist Keiji Haino and are about to release their fifth album The Healer via Thrill Jockey.

Dälek
“Antichristo”
From Filthy Tongue Of Gods And Griots (2002)

Ipecac has a history of releasing fucked up hiphop (Peeping Tom, The X-Ecutioners, Nevermen), and New Jersey’s Dälek led this particular pack. Stirring noise, shoegaze, krautrock and metal into their beat driven bouillabaisse, the outfit’s virulent vision has been vindicated in recent years by the rise of noise rap assassins such as JPEGMAFIA, Death Grips, clipping. and the roster of French label Solium. “Remove any commercial marketing strategies from hiphop, add a healthy dose of punk attitude and distortion, beats that weigh a ton and an MC that sounds like a goth Paris and you’ve got the New Jersey noise making trio Dälek,” wrote Heidi Chapson in The Wire 225.

Venomous Concept
“Monkey See - Monkey Beat”
From Retroactive Abortion (2004)

The debut from supergroup Venomous Concept – bassist Shane Embury (Napalm Death/Brujeria/Dark Sky Burial), guitarist Buzz Osborne (The Melvins/Fantomas), Danny Herrera (Napalm Death) and Kevin Sharp (Brutal Truth) – demonstrates that while Ipecac excels at genre fusion and concept experimentation, they can also chuck out a fun hardcore record from time to time (see also Dead Cross). There are few surprises here – almost a surprise in itself given the label’s usual form – but more energy than a puppy on cheap speed.

The Melvins
“A History Of Bad Men”
From (A) Senile Animal (2006)

2006’s (A) Senile Animal marked a new phase for The Melvins following the departure of bassist Kevin Rutmanis. Guitarist/vocalist Buzz Osborne and drummer Dale Crover could have simply recruited a new bass player – but where’s the fun in that? Instead they gobbled up Seattle two-man band Big Business – Jared Warren on bass and Coady Willis on drums – and in the process produced one of their most accessible – and sonically impressive, largely due to the two drummer configuration – records. In The Wire 274, Nick Southgate described (A) Senile Animal as “the sound of a group – past, present and future”.

Tanya Tagaq
“Force”
From Auk/Blood (2008)

Given Mike Patton’s propensity for vocal gymnastics, it’s no surprise that his label would forge an association with formidable Inuk vocalist and composer Tanya Tagaq – similarly capable of whispers, screams, croons, growls and all points in between. Though an outstanding work of often terrifying beauty, the album wasn’t angry enough for Tagaq, who amped up the aggression on subsequent releases to spectacular effect. Those enthralled by Tagaq’s recent output – such as 2014’s Animism and 2022’s Tongues – are strongly advised to investigate this early work.

Mike Patton & Ictus Ensemble
“Part Three”
From Laborintus II (2012)

Italian composer Luciano Berio’s Laborintus II was commissioned in 1965 to mark the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s birth. Performed by the Belgian Ictus Ensemble with Mike Patton reciting the libretto by Dante scholar Edoardo Sanguineti, this version was recorded live at the 2010 edition of the Holland Festival in Amsterdam. Greeted with confusion from critics who clearly couldn’t have been paying much attention to Patton’s post-Faith No More career, Laborintus II is nevertheless a hugely rewarding and immersive experience. “It’s not surprising that Mike Patton heard a kindred spirit when he encountered the piece for the first time – its omnivorous appetite for disparate sounds echoes his own approach to music,” wrote Joseph Stannard in The Wire 343.

tētēma
“Haunted On The Uptake”
From Necroscape (2020)

Featuring Will Guthrie on drums, Anthony Pateras on electronics/synthesizers, Erkki Veltheim on violin/mandolin and Mike Patton on vocals, tētēma’s second album Necroscape is one of Ipecac’s wildest and most satisfying releases. Stretching and pulling rock to the point of unrecognisability with the aid of electronics, musique concrète and “microtonal psychoacoustics” the quartet flit from sepulchral near silence to avalanche improv to Faustian groovescape with morbid glee. “Despite what might superficially be perceived solely as radical noise-making and hi-octane performativity, tētēma present us with a great record,” wrote Philip Brophy in The Wire 434.

Mr Bungle
“Glutton For Punishment”
From The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo (2020)

The fourth Mr Bungle album – following 1991’s Mr Bungle, 1995’s Disco Volante and 1999’s California – is a re-recording of the band’s debut demo tape from 1986. Mirroring their post-2020 reunion shows, the album largely lacks the frantic Zappa-esque genre switching of their 1990s Warner Bros output, instead hitting the listener squarely in the chops with scatological fury. “It still amounts to a bit of a frippery, and one doesn’t have to look far to find a fan of the band cheesed off at Mr Bungle doing this rather than writing a follow-up to 1999’s California, but they don’t owe anyone anything. Plus they got Rhea Perlman from Cheers to contribute spoken word to a song called “Anarchy Up Your Anus” which probably wasn’t on the agenda in 1986,” wrote Noel Gardner in The Wire 442.

Dave Lombardo
“Warpath”
From Rites Of Percussion (2023)

In which the former Slayer drummer – and current Mr Bungle sticksman – finally capitulates to Mike Patton’s suggestion that he record and release a solo album, and it’s as compellingly heavy as one might expect, even in the absence of any guitars or indeed songs. Lombardo utilises a globe-spanning array of percussion instruments to generate a series of ritualistic atmospheres with a highly cinematic feel. “Somewhere within the robust grooves and ominous auras, a brilliant horror film soundtrack is twitching to escape,” wrote Dave Segal in The Wire 472.

Read Joseph Stannard’s Unlimited Editions article in full in The Wire 484. Wire subscribers can also access the article online via the digital library of back issues.