There are so many things you cannot experience with
My Cat Is an Alien's live recordings: Maurizio Opalio's dead-serious stance as he maims his electric guitar;
Roberto Opalio's tongue-in-cheek attitude as he points his toy space guns at the audience, thrashes about on his cymbal and floor tom, or completely stops making music to take Polaroids of the stage and audience, taping the photos to the tables where the brothers' implements are laid out or throwing them to audience members. Then again, there is still a lot to enjoy on this concert from the 2006 FIMAV festival -- the sound quality, for starters. Fans of
MCIAA are used to rather crude recordings. Il Suono Venuto Dallo Spazio features the typical recording mastery you can expect from the FIMAV festival and its associated label, Disques Victo. The album also enjoys better distribution (at least in North America) and, unlike most
MCIAA releases, will remain in print. If only for those reasons, Il Suono Venuto Dallo Spazio is the best place to start for newcomers, and performance-wise, you certainly could do worse. The
Opalio brothers are in fine shape here. The album offers two excerpts from their uninterrupted performance. The set is a few notches noisier than the duo's average, with a lot of overlapping guitars, toys, and alien electronics going on simultaneously, producing a thick and eventful sound texture. If you are looking for contemplative space improv, look elsewhere (
The Cosmological Eye Trilogy, for instance). ~ François Couture