Disco Volante (Mr. Bungle album)

Disco Volante is the second studio album by American experimental rock band Mr. Bungle. It was released on October 10, 1995, through Warner Bros, and is considered to be the most experimental of all their albums, mixing elements from such varied styles as death metal, jazz, Arabic music, musique concrète, easy listening and even tango. Many of the songs are instrumental or feature wordless vocals.

Background
The album's title refers to the name of the yacht of the same name featured in the James Bond film Thunderball, literally meaning "Flying Saucer" in Italian. Mr. Bungle had previously done a cover version of the film's theme song. This was featured on the demo Warner Bros. Mr Bungle Demo Rough Mixes.

Disco Volante would be founding member Theo Lengyel's final album with the band, leaving shortly after the tour due to "artistic differences". Band member Danny Heifetz would later comment, "I miss him. He added a huge chemical imbalance that helped us on the road. He hates us and rightfully so. The music changed, plain and simple. Very little call for saxes, trombone or flute. He was an original member. I'm not. Makes me feel a bit like a union-buster."

Regarding the writing process of the album, bassist Trevor Dunn wrote on his website: "Trey was listening to his own collection of weird stuff as well---exotica, electro-acoustic, noise, middle eastern, techno. I remember him going to raves a lot back then. Mike was really into Joe Meek, the Peter Thomas soundtrack to Raumpatrouille, Kagel and the tangos of Troilo. He would show up between tours to work with us and add his beautifully low-fi input (i.e The Bends). With all this weirdness I realized it was time to revamp Platypus. Danny, Trey and I spent hours deconstructing and literally imploding the original arrangement to the point of superimposing the "verse" with the "chorus". I think that's still my proudest lyrical input. And Bär (!) finally stopped referring to Bungle as "you guys" and started writing for the band."

Release
Disco Volante spawned a number of officially unreleased demos (circulated on internet peer-to-peer sharing networks): "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz", "Coldsore" and "Spy". "Coldsore" featured portions later used in "Love on the Event Horizon". "Spy" didn't feature on the release at all. The vocal effect in this song (at 4:48) is taken from Jean-Luc Godard's sci-fi film noir Alphaville, using a mechanical voice box to create the effect.

Critical reception
Disco Volante has been well received by critics. In their highly favorable review of the album, AllMusic wrote, "Mr. Bungle is the musical equivalent of a David Lynch movie", calling the music a "totally original and new musical style, and an album that sounds like nothing that currently exists." They referred to the track "Desert Search for Techno Allah" as "a middle eastern techno number that has to be heard to be believed." Stylus Magazine, in their 2005 review, wrote, "A decade later, Disco Volante still sounds daring."

Track listing

 * Note: The untitled track after "Sleep (Part II): Carry Stress in the Jaw" is often titled "The Secret Song" (the working title of the song) or "Spy" (the title that appears on various concert setlists). It was originally recorded without bassist Trevor Dunn's input or knowledge; although, shortly before its release, Dunn managed to find it and added a vocal track. Though never explicitly stated, it is believed (by Dunn) that the drums were played by McKinnon, and the bass guitar by Patton. The untitled improvised section after "Merry Go Bye Bye" is listed as "Nothing" on the album sleeve, but is not actually its title, as it is listed on the vinyl and cassette releases without the track being present; it is credited to Theo Lengyel and Danny Heifetz as a sly reference to the fact that neither of them wrote any songs on the album.

Mr. Bungle

 * I Quit – "a woodblock", production and sleeve art layout and design
 * Trevor Dunn – bass guitar, "vile" (violin), production and sleeve art layout and design
 * Uncooked Meat Prior to State Vector Collapse – pípá, keyboards, organ, guitar, electronics, production and sleeve art layout and design
 * Clinton McKinnon – tenor saxophone, clarinet, keyboards on "After School Special", drums on "Violenza Domestica", production and sleeve art layout and design
 * Patton – vocals, microcassette, organs on "The Bends" and "Backstrokin'", ocarina on "Sleep (Part II): Carry Stress in the Jaw", production and sleeve art layout and design
 * Theo – "E♭ reeds piped in from Ithaca", production and sleeve art layout and design

Additional personnel

 * Billy Anderson – engineering, mixing and pre-mastering
 * Mike Johnson – engineering and pre-mastering
 * Kevin Donlon – engineering
 * Chris Roberts – engineering
 * Mike Bogus – engineering
 * David Ogilvy – engineering
 * Adam Munoz – engineering
 * Trevor Ward – engineering
 * Bernie Grundman – mastering
 * Athur Hertz – album front cover photography
 * Joseph A. Thompson – album outer tray photography
 * Davis Meltzer – album booklet backpage photography
 * Margaret Murray – sleeve art layout and design
 * Gregg Turkington – sleeve art layout and design
 * William Winant – cymbals on "Chemical Marriage", bongos on "Sleep (Part II): Carry Stress in the Jaw", tabla, kanjira and sistrums on "Desert Search for Techno Allah", jaw harp and percussion on "Violenzia Domestica" and bongos, xylophone and glockenspiel on "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz"
 * Graham Connah – piano on "Violenzia Domestica", "The Bends" and "Platypus"
 * Lisandro Adrover – bandoneón on "Violenzia Domestica"