MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / MATS GUSTAFSSON - "Cosmic Debris, Vol.IV"
2008 - split ART-LP (Opax Records) (art edition of 100)
OPX LP11

Fourth volume in the ongoing "Cosmic Debris" series of split ART-LP releases set up by the Opalio brothers, aka MY CAT IS AN ALIEN (MCIAA), on their own Opax Records. This time the space improv duo from Torino, Italy, shares one side of the vinyl with Swedish radical saxophonist MATS GUSTAFSSON, whose twenty-year career boasts collaborations that range widely over the contemporary improvised music world, from masters of the free jazz such as Peter Brotzmann, Derek Bailey, Joe McPhee, to famous members of the noise scene such as Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke, Yoshimi & Yamataka Eye among others. In every personal message exchange between MCIAA and Gustafsson, their own respective 'ALIEN FAITH!' & 'PEACE & FIRE!' mottos always occur, often combined by the artists themselves into new formulae & meanings: 'ALIEN FIRE!' / 'PEACE & FAITH!' / 'ALIEN PEACE!' / 'FAITH & FIRE!'. Needless to say dear gents, this is not a joke, yet each of these words' combination assumes a deep rule in describing this new exciting adventure in the 'Cosmic Debris' saga. In fact both artists' tracks represent an exemplary encounter between open-minded artists, resolute in creating something to go beyond limits and their own goals too, looking for something truly alive and free: 'Peace & Fire!' and 'Alien Faith!' indeed.

In his track 'I Have Not Set Any Time Limits For The Attempt' Mats Gustafsson plays tenor and slide sax, weevil sax, and electronics. In MCIAA's 'Everything Burns Like Cosmic Debris' the space brothers play astral and cosmic guitars, vocals, mouth harmonica, space toys and burning percussions.

The five-volumes series "Cosmic Debris" features My Cat Is An Alien alongside Text Of Light, Steve Roden, Keiji Haino, Mats Gustafsson, Loren Connors & his Haunted House band.

Each record comes with an original acrylic painting by Roberto Opalio on 30x30cm proper canvas, with a unique Polaroid instant film installed on each piece, representing 100 different perspectives of a same subject related to My Cat Is An Alien's own cosmic imaginary.

(read reviews here) last update April 20th, 2008

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN - "There's a flame___sometimes"
2008 - LP (Opax Records) (2 new Opax different editions)
OPX 029A

- special LTD. 12 copies edition: transparent blue vinyl with handwritten labels, in handmade similar-leather & ultra-heavy-cardboard jacket, handnumbered + inserts --

- regular edition: black vinyl with handwritten labels, in handmade heavy cardboard folder jackets, + inserts --

"New Opax edition of this key-work, recorded in 2004 at the glorious MCIAA's Space Room studio which was based in an abandoned factory zone in Torino, Italy, and where all the Opalio brothers' first recordings saw the light! Based on a spoken-word poem whispered by Roberto Opalio over the space brothers' subtle texture of percussions, guitars and electronics, and now newly available in two lavishly packaged vinyl editions."

PAINTING PETALS ON PLANET GHOST - "Fallen Camellias"
2008 - 5x 1-sided 10" lathe-cut Box (Opax Records) (private press art edition of 9 copies)
OPX 028A

Gorgeous private art edition limited to 9 copies; five 10" lathe-cut acetates housed in a heavy cardboard box covered with similar leather, with flower-shaped die-cut front cover, all designed & handmade by Maurizio Opalio; each of the 5x 1-sided 10" lathe-cut acetates manufactured by Peter King in New Zealand features a single track of the album playing at 45 rpm; a 12x18cm full-color picture by Ramona Ponzini on photographic paper has been installed on each disc so as to be seen through the record's trasparency. Chromatic paper insert. Each box contains a little branch of a high-altitude plant coming from the same locations of the Western Alps where the songs were recorded.

Second full-lenght album from Italy's Painting Petals On Planet Ghost, aka brothers Maurizio & Roberto Opalio (My Cat Is An Alien) and vocalist Ramona Ponzini (also involved in the duo Praxinoscope, as well as a new project with Z'ev). 'Fallen Camellias' is a tribute to one of the greatest poetess ever, Japanese Yosano Akiko, whose work in literature in the early 1900's is considered as manifesto of the Japanese Romanticism. Imagine a Vashti Bunyan or a early Marianne Faithful singing sweet melodies in Japanese language, and you can have an idea of the musical and poetical universe of Painting Petals On Planet Ghost. Here Ramona Ponzini's singing comes from the use of Akiko's selected original poems in Japanese along with Ponzini's own typical soft and enchanting wordless vocals style, a out of time muse-like chant hypnotizing the ears and the minds of the listeners. The songs of 'Fallen Camellias' are built on acoustic guitar melodies composed by Maurizio Opalio, and are made of the same pure, melancholic essentiality of the legendary Nick Drake; while, after contributing arrangements of the most ecstatic nature, the other brother Roberto Opalio has played the role of producer of the whole album, searching for not only an aesthetic, but especially an emotional ideal of perfection. In the heart of winter covered by snow, let 'Fallen Camellias' be your warm blanket, as well as the promise of a new future spring. Here's a special Painting Petals On Planet Ghost's dedication: 'For those who drink the wine of love springtime is forever'. coming from the same locations of the Western Alps where the songs were recorded.

MUSIC FOR PHANTOMS - "s/t"
2007 - CD-R + DVD-R set (Opax Records) (private edition of 99 handnumbered copies; in heavy cardboard with paisted artwork)
OPX 027/V

"New project by Italian space-brothers improv duo My Cat Is An Alien, recorded in remote Western Alps in fall 2007. Forget all the space psychedelic textures... forget all sort of space toys... this is a totally different affair: this is haunted music created with wooden primitive instruments, distant echoes from the other dimension. A pagan ceremony to welcome winter. Stunning film by Roberto Opalio to introduce you to the reign of the phantoms."

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN - "speak, alien, SPEAK!"
2007 - 3x C20 cassette set (Opax Records) (private edition of 60 handnumbered copies; in heavy cardboard with paisted artwork)
OPX 026C

"Entire session of one of the latest MCIAA's live killer performances, recorded at Feedback Festival in Dijon on September 29th, 2007. Split over 6 sides of C20 analog tape cassettes, the duo's performance couldn't but draw inspiration by the name of the event, launching a massive attack of feedbacks from the highest spheres."

ROBERTO OPALIO - "Whispers of the last Light, part I & II"
2007 - lathe cut ART-LP + DVD-R (Opax Records)
OPX 025AV

"The soundtrack features 'Part One', an expanded version of the original score released on dvd-r in 2006 OPX 020V, plus the previous unreleased 'Part Two', which was recorded in the same session on March 21, 2006, and that leads to a even further estrangement, with the use of Opalio's looped wordless vocals and electronics merging into a heavy, ecstatic stream of sounds. The 36 minutes silent film has been exclusively conceived for this lathe cut LP set."

2 different editions:

- ART ed. 21 copies: lathe cut LP + dvd-r (full-lenght 40 min totally unreleased video; 2-panel painting with crystals as double cover by Roberto on nice textured cardboard sleeve; with handwritten insert; handnumbered & signed) --

- ART GALLERY ed. 9 copies: lathe cut LP + dvd-r (as above) installed on a 3-panel drawing + crystal painting by Roberto on 31x30cm wood supports, with lathe cut in sleeve as 4th panel, all tied up together and ready to be hung on the wall (total heigh 150cm; yet the 4 panels can be folded into a regular vinyl box edition); with handwritten insert; handnumbered & signed--

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / KEIJI HAINO - "Cosmic Debris, Vol.III"
2007 - split ART-LP (Opax Records)(private edition of 100)
OPX LP10

Third installment in the "Cosmic Debris" split ART-LP series set up by Maurizio and Roberto Opalio, aka My Cat Is An Alien, on their own Opax Records. The Vol.III sees the two space brothers from Torino, Italy, alongside Japanese cult musician and dark shaman Keiji Haino. Imagine a cosmic bomb exploding in your brain, and you'll have an approximate idea of this collaborative release. So, dear new-weird-america's hippy, you'd better keep your ass away from this total blast!.. no freak-folk here. Instead, with these two long tracks recorded during live performances in their hometowns, respectively Torino and Tokyo, MCIAA and Haino conspired to offer you the two most totally-uncompromising sides of vinyl, the best way to refresh your hot summer: what do you want more?

Haino's track, entitled "Whither goes it?/ That which canst not but be described/ As my prayer,/ Nowhere held in common,/ Lunatic, unknowable..." (yes, it's a poem!), is one of the highlights of his so long career, and MCIAA's track "Everything crashes like cosmic debris" is one of the brothers' most ass-kicking for sure... Still ask for more? Ok, read the note and play this record at loudest volume, 'till your stereo calls for mercy. Are you satisfied, now? Oh yes, we think so... 'dark' + 'alien' are so cool together!

The five-volumes series "Cosmic Debris" features My Cat Is An Alien alongside Text Of Light, Steve Roden, Keiji Haino, Mats Gustafsson, Loren Connors & his Haunted House band.

Each record comes with an original acrylic painting by Roberto Opalio on 30x30cm proper canvas, with a unique Polaroid instant film installed on each piece, representing 100 different perspectives of a same subject related to My Cat Is An Alien's own cosmic imaginary.

(read reviews here) last update April 20th, 2008

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / STEVE RODEN - "Cosmic Debris, Vol.II"
2007 - split ART-LP (Opax Records)(private edition of 100)
OPX LP9

"Second installment in the "Cosmic Debris" split ART-LP series set up by Maurizio and Roberto Opalio, aka My Cat Is An Alien, on their own Opax Records. The Vol.II sees the two space brothers from Torino, Italy, alongside Californian visual and sound artist Steve Roden. What makes this collaborative release so peculiar is the natural interactive exchange occurred between the artists, and that came out from the concept behind the experience itself.

Roden's contribution thus represents the unique experience of hearing him literally 'playing' guitar chords. His first track, "E-bows and Rainbows", developes through the minimal and reiterated sound architecture of Roden's so-called 'possible landscapes', where singular source materials such as objects and field recordings are abstracted through electronic processes to generate new audio spaces, characterizing the artist's aesthetic in sound works; the following "My dog is a Yufo" is so far a pretty unheard aspect of Roden's ability to shape a fascinating intimate piece only with an old electric guitar and his own fingers, and it also demonstrates how a true artist can re-create his own personal universe, no matter what kind of source utilized.

On their side, MCIAA deliver another piece of 'cosmic debris', centered on multilayered echoes of voice, toy piano, space drones raising from a distant horizon, and their own physical gestures performed during the recording, which reproduce themselves through the air, re-play and give birth to echoes of real time that overcomes its own essence, becoming field recording itself, mirror and spectre of its immutability. Their track entitled "Everything waves like cosmic debris" also features Ramona Ponzini's Japanese bells contribution.

The five-volumes series "Cosmic Debris" features My Cat Is An Alien alongside Text Of Light, Steve Roden, Keiji Haino, Mats Gustafsson, Loren Connors & his Haunted House band.

Each record comes with an original acrylic painting by Roberto Opalio on 30x30cm proper canvas, with a unique Polaroid instant film installed on each piece, representing 100 different perspectives of a same subject related to My Cat Is An Alien's own cosmic imaginary."

(read reviews here) last update April 20th, 2008

MAURIZIO OPALIO - "Way up to Enfer"
2007 - lathe-cut LP + book (Opax Records)
(lathe-cut vinyl manufactured by Peter King in New Zealand; private press edition of 50; includes previously unreleased 8 minutes extra track not included in the original cd-r edition, charcoal drawn cover & poem book by Maurizio Opalio; individually numbered and signed)
OPX 019A

"Expanded lathe-cut vinyl re-issue of the soloist release by one-half of My Cat Is An Alien, space brother Maurizio Opalio, which came out as a limited cd-r edition on the band's own label Opax in early 2006. "Way up to Enfer" is the entire recording of an acoustic, totally improvised session performed on December 31th, 2005 at My Cat Is An Alien's new Alien Zone headquarters, located somewhere in the Italian Western Alps. Along the three tracks featured in "Way up to Enfer", Maurizio's acoustic guitar notes create subtle killer tunes woven in a richly textured harp-like fingerpicked style, like the charming sound of a lyre emerging from a spinning maelstrom in the sea. There are no space sounds here, but clearly emotional rises, an acoustic resistance to the falling darkness, or maybe just the right way up to Enfer. This vinyl re-issue includes a previously unreleased 8-minutes extra track, recorded April 3rd, 2006, and a 8-page poem book"

(read reviews here) last update August 25th 2007

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN - "Into the White Vortex"
2007 - 1-sided ART-LP (Opax Records) (private press ltd. edition of 110 copies / the entire surface of side AA features an original painting by Roberto Opalio in white translucent acrylic film etched texture; individually signed and numbered by the artist)
OPX 021A

A new special SPACE ART limited vinyl issue from Maurizio and Roberto Opalio, aka audio visual improv duo My Cat Is An Alien. A 23 minutes piece of cosmic wilderness crescendo.

"My Cat is an Alien are one of the most prolific bands on the planet. The vast spaces traversed on these recordings is mind blowing. It's like some sort of aural personification of the kinetic energy that exists between Roberto and Maurizio Opalio. For lack of a better word, it's dazzling. Everytime their stellar soundwaves emanate from my speakers, I'm like a moth to a lightbulb. I zone out and am completely entranced by this music. Hushed beeps and glacial guitar drones do me in everytime. Add in various other cosmic debris like reverb-soaked vocal howls, cymbal bursts, and various other space toys and MCIAA stretch out toward the horizon like varicose veins to the sun.
My Cat is an Alien are determined to take you on a journey through the darkest corners and deepest crevices of the galaxy. This is essential music." (Brad Rose, Editor, Foxy Digitalis)

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / TEXT OF LIGHT - "Cosmic Debris, Vol.I"
2006 - split ART-LP (Opax Records)(private edition of 100)
OPX LP8

First installment in the new "Cosmic Debris" split ART-LP series set up by Maurizio and Roberto Opalio, aka My Cat Is An Alien, on their own Opax Records. The Vol.I sees the two space brothers from Torino, Italy, alongside Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) and his all-star ensemble Text Of Light (this time featuring Alan Licht, Dj Olive, Ulrich Krieger and Tim Barnes). Their track "033103 Paris" has been recorded live at Centre Georges Pompidou in 2003 and mixed in dual mono by Ranaldo & Licht at NYC Echo Canyon studio in 2004. MCIAA's piece entitled "Everything falls like cosmic debris" is a conceptual ouverture to the whole series, performed in April 2006 at their secret recording space called Alien Zone, located up the Italian Western Alps.
The five-volumes series "Cosmic Debris" features My Cat Is An Alien alongside Text Of Light, Steve Roden, Keiji Haino, Mats Gustafsson, Loren Connors & his Haunted House band.
Each record comes with an original acrylic painting by Roberto Opalio on 30x30cm proper canvas, with a unique Polaroid instant film installed on each piece, representing 100 different perspectives of a same subject related to My Cat Is An Alien's own cosmic imaginary.

(read reviews here) last update April 20th, 2008

PAINTING PETALS ON PLANET GHOST - "Oounabara"
2006 - 1-sided 12" lathe cut + DVD-R (Opax Records)(special lathe cut vinyl edition by Peter King in New Zealand; private press edition of 50 copies, with original Ramona's copper-gold ink drawing on the flipside of the vinyl; also included a Roberto Opalio's silent short film on DVD-r inspired by music + art, playable together or separately; handnumbered)
OPX 024A

"This 15 minutes song is the key-work follow up to their acclaimed debut album on Time-Lag Records. Here Roberto and Maurizio Opalio, aka My Cat Is An Alien, act in the darkness of the outer space, while Ramona Ponzini lights up the autumnal air with her enchanting voice, along with her Japanese percussions and wind chimes; by reitering one only Japanese word (whose meaning is 'Ocean'), she creates a universe of pure magic. Radical minimalism, folk, psychedelia are the main terms that rule this mysterious chant and intimate prayer; but what you'll find here is extremely far from any unuseful relation with what you already know, representing 'Oounabara' a totally still unknown dimension of what the music of today should be: a window on Tomorrow.
"Whether electric or acoustic, the music here is deliciously paced and almost fragile, as if the whole thing were made of glass. The sounds are both somber and delirious as they gradually unwind. The sounds are made of acoustic guitar, tape loops, mystical percussion and of course, Ponzini's voice. I can just imagine these sounds wafting down off the Western Alps in Italy, where this music was recorded. Surreal fantasies begin to form as I think about it. This album deserves a full-length review's worth of appreciation for its otherworldly beauty but I am humbled by the record and can find no more words to do it justice" [Adam Richards, Indieworkshop]

(read reviews here) last update August 25th 2007

PAINTING PETALS ON PLANET GHOST - "Oounabara"
2006 - C20 cassette (Opax Records) (private press limited to 62 copies, with original Ramona's copper-gold ink drawing on Japanese paper; handnumbered)
OPX 024C

"This 15 minutes song is the key-work follow up to their acclaimed debut album on Time-Lag Records. Here Roberto and Maurizio Opalio, aka My Cat Is An Alien, act in the darkness of the outer space, while Ramona Ponzini lights up the autumnal air with her enchanting voice, along with her Japanese percussions and wind chimes; by reitering one only Japanese word (whose meaning is 'Ocean'), she creates a universe of pure magic. Radical minimalism, folk, psychedelia are the main terms that rule this mysterious chant and intimate prayer; but what you'll find here is extremely far from any unuseful relation with what you already know, representing 'Oounabara' a totally still unknown dimension of what the music of today should be: a window on Tomorrow. (The cassette version contains the same track of the lathe cut edition + an alternate shortest take of the same song).
"Whether electric or acoustic, the music here is deliciously paced and almost fragile, as if the whole thing were made of glass. The sounds are both somber and delirious as they gradually unwind. The sounds are made of acoustic guitar, tape loops, mystical percussion and of course, Ponzini's voice. I can just imagine these sounds wafting down off the Western Alps in Italy, where this music was recorded. Surreal fantasies begin to form as I think about it. This album deserves a full-length review's worth of appreciation for its otherworldly beauty but I am humbled by the record and can find no more words to do it justice" [Adam Richards, Indieworkshop]

PRAXINOSCOPE - "Epocsonixarp"
2006 - LP (Opax Records) (special private press edition of only 130, with heavy textured cardboard sleeve + paste-on art on cover, individually numbered)
OPX 023A

"'Epocsonixarp' is the second full-lenght album of the Praxinoscope duo formed by Roberto Opalio (My Cat Is An Alien) and Ramona Ponzini (Painting Petals On Planet Ghost). This work is even more lyrical and ecstatic than the debut; here Roberto's use of a mini-keyboard and astral effects collides with Ramona's hypnotic use of several handmade wood percussions and her Japanese wind chimes and bells, creating such an infinite and intimate 'space' so that you cannot but loose yourself inside. A whirlpool of Roberto's whispered wordless vocals will live till the evening dies, and the black of the night will come to surround everything. As the duo asks, 'Play it in the dark!'."
"Praxinoscope are proof that you don't need any instruments to make amazing sounds. This is wonderful, wonderful music. [Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis, editor]"

(read reviews here) last update February 1st 2007

PRAXINOSCOPE - "Epocsonixarp"
2006 - CD- R (Opax Records) (special private press edition of only 130, with heavy textured cardboard sleeve + sticker on cover, individually numbered)
OPX 023

"'Epocsonixarp' is the second full-lenght album of the Praxinoscope duo formed by Roberto Opalio (My Cat Is An Alien) and Ramona Ponzini (Painting Petals On Planet Ghost). This work is even more lyrical and ecstatic than the debut; here Roberto's use of a mini-keyboard and astral effects collides with Ramona's hypnotic use of several handmade wood percussions and her Japanese wind chimes and bells, creating such an infinite and intimate 'space' so that you cannot but loose yourself inside. A whirlpool of Roberto's whispered wordless vocals will live till the evening dies, and the black of the night will come to surround everything. As the duo asks, 'Play it in the dark!'."
"Praxinoscope are proof that you don't need any instruments to make amazing sounds. This is wonderful, wonderful music. [Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis, editor]"

(read reviews here) last update February 1st 2007

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN - "On air at Sound Projecting"
2006 - LP (Opax Records) (re-issue of the long-out-of-print cd-r, in a special private press edition of only 158, with heavy textured cardboard sleeve + full-color insert, individually numbered)
**OPX 012A

"The entire recording of the improvised live performance at Ed Pinsent's "Sound Projecting" radio show, broadcasted by London's Resonance 104.4 fm on December 10th 2004. In these sessions MCIAA don't play their usual cosmic guitars, but only a couple of space toys & toy-microphones, plus a pocket theremin & mini-casio provided by Pinsent on the occasion; also featuring Pinsent himself at turntables. A different aspect of MCIAA's experimental research, as well as a new amazing adventure through the ether. Absolutely a key-document for all the fans of the band."

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / CORSICAN PAINTBRUSH
2006 - split 10" lathe cut (Opax Records/ Foxglove) (special limited edition of 50 copies/ copper-on-black silkscreened cardboard folder jacket with artwork by Eden Hemming)
OPX 022A/foxglovexx1

"Turin and Tulsa collide in this match made for the cosmos from the silver dust that permeates the atmosphere. Both these duos have been kissed in the third eye by the astral goddess, and the sonic ruins left behind leave nothing to chance. Minimal, cathartic excursions through starfields and galaxy farms are etched in stone on each side of this acetate beauty. My Cat Is An Alien contribute a piece recorded live on the radio. It is another side to their ever-evolving musical persona. the Opalios know how to get so much out of so little, and this piece is no different. Corsican Paintbrush, the husband-wife duo of Brad Rose & Eden Hemming, pour two wounded birds out of their hat. It's a feline-themed love affair, for sure. There's magic in these walls, and each duo does its part to crack the code. With copper-on-black silkscreened covers and limited to only 50 copies, it's time to get yourself a piece of space debris."

ROBERTO OPALIO - "Whispers of the last Light"
2006 - DVD-R (Opax Records / special handmade ltd. ed. of 100, in nice-textured cardboard tri-fold sleeve, with silver ink drawing by Roberto Opalio; handnumbered)
OPX 020V

"New short film by visual artist / musician Roberto Opalio, one half of My Cat Is An Alien. Filmed on March 21st, 2006, the video represents a visionary, introspective view of the empty spaces over the city, Torino. Through a unique, hand-manipulated shot made in real-time, Roberto Opalio's poetic fragmentation and distortion of real objects recalls early film experiments by Man Ray, as well as a certain Warholian psychedelia in the use of filtered light as a main principle of creation / perception of one's own reality. The soundtrack, recorded the same day appositely, leads to a further estrangement with the use of Opalio's looped wordless vocals and electronics merging into a heavy, ecstatic stream of sounds."

CHRISTIAN MARCLAY & OKKYUNG LEE / MY CAT IS AN ALIEN - "From the earth to the Spheres" Vol.7
2006 - split ART-LP (Opax Records - special SPACE ART ltd ed of 100/ original 31x31 cm painting on wooden support by Roberto Opalio as cover)
OPX LP7

"The seventh and final volume in the Turin based Opalio brothers' split series of collaborative, handcrafted LPs proves to be their most ambitious to date. A fitting finale for a series of records that has been a thrill from the very beginning" (Edwin Pouncey, The Wire)

This last release in the "From the earth to the Spheres" split series set up by Maurizio and Roberto Opalio aka My Cat Is An Alien on their own Opax Records imprint, sees the Italian cosmic duo splitting the vinyl with well-known audio visual artist, performer and turntable-art innovator Christian Marclay together with cello improviser Okkyung Lee, ubiquitous figure of downtown NY avant-garde scene.
Their track "Rubbings" on side A is the result of a live performance recorded at Tonic NYC in December 2003. Christian Marclay's trademarked technique of mixing several ranges of Lps on his multiple turntables, manipulating, fragmenting and altering the phonograph records' sonic nature in accordance with his "theater of found sound" esthetics meets the uncompromising and passionate playing of Korean-born performer Lee, whose powerful cello's stabs interact with Marclay's waves of screaming sounds creating a unique, stunning scenario.
On B side, My Cat Is An Alien's piece "Beyond the limits of the stars/ Beyond the limits of the grooves" was recorded in 2003 at their Space Room studio in Torino, and has been kept safely in their archive 'till September 2005, when it's been completely remixed and edited appositely for this release. One of their heaviest conceptions to date, the piece is built on electric guitars' strings moaning onto walls of space drones and electronics like ectoplasmic presences emerging from the brillliance of the Void. The initial minimal and claustrophobic guitar chords become more and more an ocean of howling moduled feedbacks combined with fragmented and distorted real-time inserts of post-romantic classical music from old 78rpm shellac records, sounding like radio frequencies transmitted via ether from the furthest reaches of the Cosmos.
As the title suggests, MCIAA's need of a non-finite "space music & art" esthetics research has led them to etch a final lock-groove to un-seal the sounds from their actual support; a purpose expressed throughout the whole "From the earth to the Spheres" series' conception.
Roberto Opalio's painting on wood, mixing white acrylic paste with transparent glass fragments, recalls the shape of a 12" vinyl, yet of a cosmic whirling galaxy as well; here's the encounter between the "physical support" of art and its "ethereal form", a further reminder that the music belongs to an extra-terrestrial dimension, and one of MCIAA's purpose is to return it to the Spheres.

(read reviews here) last update August 25th 2007

MAURIZIO OPALIO - "Way up to Enfer"
2006 - CD-R (Opax Records - special handmade ltd. ed. of 100; handnumbered, look-like-vinyl black-bottom cd-r in nice-textured cardboard tri-fold sleeve, with charcoal drawing by Maurizio Opalio)
OPX 019

"First soloist release by one-half of My Cat Is An Alien, space brother Maurizio Opalio. "Way up to Enfer" is the entire recording of an acoustic, totally improvised session performed on December 31th, 2005 at My Cat Is An Alien's new Alien Zone headquarters, located somewhere in the Italian Western Alps. Along the two tracks featured in "Way up to Enfer", Maurizio's acoustic guitar notes create subtle killer tunes woven in a richly textured harp-like fingerpicked style, like the charming sound of a lyre emerging from a spinning maelstrom in the sea. There are no space sounds here, but clearly emotional rises, an acoustic resistance to the falling darkness, or maybe just the right way up to Enfer."

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN - "Folclore Alieno"
2006 - CD-R (Opax Records - special handmade ltd. ed. of 150; look-like-vinyl black-bottom cd-r in nice-textured heavy-cardboard tri-fold sleeve, handnumbered and painted by Roberto Opalio)
OPX 018

"This is the first MCIAA's completely acoustic release. Its six tracks aren't but a unique entire session which has been recorded on January the 1st, 2006, at the Opalio brothers' new mysterious "Alien Zone" headquarters, located in a remote region of the Western Alps, Piemonte, Italy. The whole recording came as a sort of propitiatory ritual to welcome the new alien year, intended as a new cycle in the duo's imagery of the cosmic universe, here approached in enchanted trance-like minimal pieces; Roberto's vocals emerge like primitive human hymns from the two brothers' acoustic guitars textures. This is entranced, mystic alien music."

ROBERTO OPALIO - "voice with no guitar/ guitar with no voice"
2005 - C20 cassette (Opax Tapes/ special handmade ltd. ed. of 69, in Japanese-paper envelope, hand-sewn with string, handnumbered and drawn by Roberto Opalio)
OPX TP01

The first analog cassette release on Opax Tapes, new division of My Cat Is An Alien's Opax Records, features a new work by brother Roberto Opalio. On side A, a 10-minutes-long solo-voice piece in Roberto's typical wordless-vocals style; on side B a 10-minutes-long solo-guitar piece of pure space drones. Recorded at home September 9th, 2005, in Torino, Italy.

NOT AVAILABLE

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN - "Plutonian flames"
2005 - 2xCD-R (special handmade ltd. ed. of 120; look-like-vinyl black-bottom cd-rs in heavy-cardboard gatefold sleeve, handnumbered and painted by Roberto Opalio)
OPX 016/017

These are four of the wildest sessions ever recorded by Italian space brothers Maurizio and Roberto Opalio at their famed Space Room in Torino, Italy. Cosmic guitar whirls and piano-toy action alongside a tribal, compulsive percussion-set which makes their space drones shake the air the way Xenakis would have made if he ever had directed a primitive tribe from another galaxy. If you never considered Pluto as one of your favourite hangouts, the 85 minutes of "Plutonian flames" will definitely break you in.

GLANDS OF EXTERNAL SECRETION/ MCIAA - “From the earth to the Spheres” vol.6
2005 - split LP (special SPACE ART ltd ed of 100/ original 31x31 cm painting on wooden support by Roberto Opalio as cover)
OPX LP6
Italian brothers Maurizio and Roberto Opalio, aka My Cat Is An Alien, split the sixth volume of their "From the earth to the Spheres" series with San Francisco's cult band Glands Of External Secretion. On this occasion the duo, formed in 1992 by Bananafish magazine founder Seymour Glass and indie-rock princess Barbara Manning, features the special collaboration of well-known guitarist improviser Nels Cline (now member of Wilco). The trio's track "Icebox" is a slow ascent from the realm of isolationism, through frozen tape manipulation and icy drones, terrific voices and subtle infernal groans which seem to come from the obscure side of the Moon, where Cline's estranged looped lap steel is ready to launch the ultimate attack to Earth. On the other side of the flip, MCIAA's "After the Meteor Shower" represents a further experiment in the use of Roberto's unearthly fragmented vocals, as a way to create heavy-emotional textures of interstellar tunes. A cosmic rain of howling guitars & electronics introduces the fall into a silent, ritualistic procession marked by the distant echo of a drum, alongside a whispered chant over real sounds emerging from the concrete surface of the Planet.
New volume in the series featuring Thurston Moore, Thuja, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Jim O’Rourke, Christina Carter & Andrew MacGregor, Christian Marclay & Okkyung Lee. Each vol comes as a special SPACE ART ltd. only-vinyl edition of 100 copies, whose “sleeves” are Roberto Opalio’s original paintings on 31x31cm wood supports.

NOT AVAILABLE

PRAXINOSCOPE - "s/t"
2005 - CD-R (Opax Records - ltd.ed. of 125 hand-numbered copies; look-like-vinyl black-bottom cd-r in special heavy paper folder sleeve)
OPX 015

Praxinoscope is a new project which sees the duo Roberto Opalio (one-half of My Cat Is An Alien) and Ramona Ponzini (close collaborator of the Italian space-brothers). While in the debut album as Painting Petals On Planet Ghost (out in early September 2005 on Time-Lag Records) Ramona will focus on her Japanese vocals alongside both brothers' acoustic tunes, here she plays little Japanese percussions and wind chimes, creating a resonant texture over Roberto's alien wordless vocals and space electronics. The material comes from a whole session recorded in a mysterious location of the Western Alps, directly transferred to cd using neither overdubs nor outtakes, practice which the Opalio bros have made us addicted to. For the entire lenght of its 40 minutes, the piece will stifle you the breath because of its so pure essence and intimate mood; a mystic, suffocated chant reminding the silence of ancient rituals, the ultimate exorcism to avert the Infinite Pain. (Opax)

ROBERTO OPALIO - "Chants from isolated ghosts"
2005 - lathe-cut LP (Opax Records - special private press lathe-cut art ed. of 50, with original silver drawing by Roberto Opalio on translucent sleeves, individually signed and numbered)
OPX 013A

"...one of the best releases from Opax stable to date, with Roberto clearing enough space to really explore his new vocal approach. The results are extraordinary, with strafing alarm tones and deep fields of hallucinogenic environmental sound eerily Illuminatedby unearthly light beaming from his lungs." David Keenan (The Wire)

"...It's an ethereal gem. As it dissolves into a clattering of chimes and archaic guitar wailing, there's a feeling that whatever spirits were trapped, have now been set free. It soars.[...]Opalio's vocal exorcisms throughout the album are like a haunted excursion through a winter forest. Everything is stripped of color and life, but the voice adds immense texture and warmth.[...]" Brad Rose (Foxi Digitalis)

"...In a very non-threatening way, this is an absolutely essential record." Tom Sekowski (Gaz-Eta)

NOT AVAILABLE

MCIAA- “Black shadows from Jupiter”
2005 – LP (Opax Records – ltd ed 120 copies private press LP with handmade jacket in similar leather)
OPX014A

Two new previously unreleased long tracks of psych-blues from the outer space, featuring Roberto’s wordless vocals; recorded in astral “Monalien Fidelity” splendour!

NOT AVAILABLE

CHSTINA CARTER & ANDREW MACGREGOR/ MCIAA - “From the earth to the Spheres” vol.5
2005 – split LP (special SPACE ART ltd ed of 100/ original 31x31 cm painting on wooden support by Roberto Opalio as cover)
OPXLP5

The fifth volume of the “From the earth to the Spheres” series, set up by Italy’s My Cat Is An Alien, sees the brothers Maurizio and Roberto Opalio split the two sides of the vinyl with the American queen of psich-free-folk music Christina Carter (Charalambides, Scorces), here at her debut as the new duo-project together with Andrew MacGregor (Gown). The title of their piece, “We know when we are thinking about each other”, gives an idea of the intimate mood which envelops their two guitars’ minimal tunes, made of reiterate single notes which recall Christina’s last masterpieces as Scorces and Charalambides; her harsh yet warm plucking at the strings and her fascinating vocals, accompanied by Andrew’s bass guitar chords and singing, sound as if the listener was called to witness the secret dialogues between two distant lovers’ hearts. On the flip side, the title of MCIAA’s track, “The circle of life & death”, fits as ever before Roberto’s cover painting, where the dark imprints left by a white leaf on the acrylic-colored wooden surface create a circle-like representation of life and death. As the violet color recalls transcendence indeed, so do the opening floating-guitar tunes and Roberto’s wordless-vocal hymn: this is probably the most melodic piece in all MCIAA’s career to date, since the musical texture represents a new starting point from which their space guitar sounds can develop. The piece moving into a sort of Wagnerian epic crescendo, a raging storm of space fragments from beyond the Solar system will imbue the Earth with a blinding light, before everything collapses into the darkness of the Cosmos.

NOT AVAILABLE

JIM O’ROURKE/ MCIAA - “From the earth to the Spheres” vol.4
2005 – split LP (special SPACE ART ltd ed of 100/ original 31x31 cm painting on wooden support by Roberto Opalio as cover)
OPX LP4

The space-brothers Maurizio and Roberto Opalio, alias My Cat Is An Alien, split the vol.4 of their ongoing art-LPs series with radical non-sleeper Jim O’Rourke. As the thin etched-and-drawn lines overpassing the minimal surface of the wooden cover-painting create a tension which leads well far beyond the limits of the 12” support, the streamline textures of the two tracks combined in this split release are spanned with pure, nervous and heartfelt strings’ edges, which will make the room hum longer after the needle has left the last groove.
Listening to “Some kind of”, every fan of O’Rourke will surely feel like Howard Carter discovering Tutankhamon’s treasure. It is a previously unreleased track indeed, a soloist piece for table top guitar recorded in Chicago in far-off 1988, a year before his early works on cassette and three years before his official debuts releases “The ground below above your head” lp and “Tamper” cd came out. In this amazing and complex piece, the guitar starts sounding similar to an ancient hurdy-gurdy, before getting overwhelmed by high-frequency scratches and caustic debris; the whole goes on fragmented and submerged by instants of silence, when obscure strokes and clangs lead to a deep emotional crescendo, revealing an entire universe hidden in a translucent sphere of glass.
Blinded by the light of O’Rourke’s side, you’ll be ready to be introduced in the mystic and desolate atmosphere of MCIAA’s “Winter will burn out yr wings”: it’s a parallel universe, where the silence is made of vibrant ghosts moving through the air like old echoes from the deepest core of the earth. Starting with a distant and sad chant as ouverture, this estranged folk-blues from the outer space flows into single notes of finger picked guitars, cymbals and xylophone, which reverberate like distilled drops of rain. And again, dark guitar gongs develop into the deflagrable end…we are travelling in the deepest darkness of the Cosmos.

NOT AVAILABLE

ROBERTO OPALIO – “Chants from isolated ghosts”
2005 - CD-R (edition of 99 copies in see-through translucent sleeve, individually numbered; the first 40 copies come with an additional silver ink drawing by Roberto Opalio, individually signed)
OPX 013

Not just a soloist side-project by one half of MCIAA, but a key-work to understand the new stylistic trajectory of the band; a total intimate and nocturnal work, focusing on estranged and completely improvised wordless vocals, with the spacey sounds of guitar as soundscapes, and additional use of real-time field recordings. In the isolation of the dark, you’ll hear the ghosts dancing all around…

NOT AVAILABLE

MCIAA – “On air at Sound Projecting”
2005 – CD-R (edition of 99 copies look-like-vinyl cd-r in similar leather & ultraheavy cardboard jacket, individually numbered)
OPX 012

The entire improv performance recorded live at Ed Pinsent’s “Sound Projecting” radio show, broadcasted on London’s Resonance 104.4 fm, December 10th 2004; in these sessions MCIAA don’t play their guitars, but only a bounce of space toys & mics, plus a pocket theremin & mini-casio, featuring Pinsent’s turntables interaction. A different aspect of MCIAA’s experimental research, as well as a new amazing adventure in the heart of the Cosmos!

NOT AVAILABLE

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER / MCIAA - "From the earth to the Spheres" vol.3
2004 - split LP (special SPACE ART ltd ed of 100 / original 31x31 cm painting on wood support by Roberto Opalio as cover)
OPX LP3

The third volume of the “From the earth to the Spheres” split LPs series on My Cat Is An Alien’s Opax Records features the two brothers Maurizio and Roberto Opalio alongside Tom Greenwood’s Jackie-O Motherfucker collective. While the Torino-based MCIAA focuse their musical research on instantaneous composition, often combined in audiovisual installations, JOMF, who formed in Portland, Oregon, exactly a decade ago, base their music on roots & American primitive blues, free jazz improv & psych folk-rock aesthetics. Releasing cd-r volumes as audio-documents, as well as setting up live improv installations through their own U-Sound Archive, JOMF created a platform of collaboration with other kindred spirits.
Their piece “Breaking” begins with a kind of old gospel fragmented by beats, which moves throughout empty areas ‘till imploding into deconstructed sounds & voices over vinyl scratches, where silence break out loud & unexpected. MCIAA’s “Blank view” is a psychic trip moving from the deep darkness towards the brightest light. This totally improvised track, made of interwoven sounds of cathartic guitar chords , percussions & xylophone, is permeated by wordless vocals, whose impressive and sad lyricism comes out from a streamline of sounds from the outer space. The whole thing sounds like an old folk-blues 78 rpm broadcasted from Jupiter directly into the listener’s brain.
The next vols of the series will feature Jim O’Rourke, Christina Carter, Double Leopards, Glands of External Secretion and Christian Marclay. Each vol comes as a special SPACE ART ltd. only-vinyl edition of 100 copies, whose “sleeves” are Roberto Opalio’s original paintings on 31x31cm. wood support

NOT AVAILABLE.

MCIAA - "floating in the Void"
2004 - CD-R (special handmade ltd ed of 99 copies in imitation leather & ultraheavy cardboard jacket!!)
OPX011

One streamline-track of estranged sorrowful alien mood, featuring Roberto's wordless vocal style. The latest Space Room session, recorded July 2004.

NOT AVAILABLE

THUJA / MCIAA - "From the earth to the Spheres" vol.2
2004 - split LP (special SPACE ART ltd ed of 100 / original 31x31 cm painting on wood support by Roberto Opalio as cover)
OPX LP2

While Thurston Moore/My Cat Is An Alien led you to the center of a radio-waves nebulae in vol.1, Thuja/MCIAA come back to the earth before leaving for the outer space again. Thuja can be considered the project which originated the San Francisco-based Jewelled Antler Music, one of the most active avant-rock improv ensembles to date, as well as a self-run label releasing several side-projects. Introducing the musical aesthetics of Thuja we could make a bookish comparison with the sublime writings by William Least Heat-Moon, and with “Prairies Erth” in particular, since they both operate a deep and detailed research into the earth; we surely could speak of minimalism about the sound textures created by Thuja, and “The magma is the brother of the stone” is one of the most adventurous and hypnotic works in their whole discography. On the other side of the vinyl My Cat Is An Alien keep their alien explorations up, starting with scanning the earth’s surface with obscure and scattered drones, while faraway heartfelt sounds toll the knell: it’s the world collapsing into silence…MCIAA’s ”When the earth whispered your name” is a new departure towards the void of the Cosmos, where the high-frequency ectoplasms sound no more like howls, but like a more and more intimate blues indeed.

NOT AVAILABLE

THURSTON MOORE / MCIAA - "From the earth to the Spheres" vol.1
2004 - split LP (special SPACE ART ltd ed of 100 / original 31x31 cm painting on wood support by Roberto Opalio as cover)
OPX LP1

When in late ’97 Maurizio and Roberto Opalio from Torino, Italy, started their musical project My Cat Is An Alien, their need for an easy and direct way of releasing stuff which could fit their creative urgency led the two brothers to set up a label on their own. So, Opax Records started up releasing the first MCIAA’s recording, a cd-r special edition of 30 copies wrapped in electric wires, which was sent to Sonic Youth in NYC and immediately thrilled the most influential avant-rock band since The Velvet Underground. During the past years SY helpfully invited MCIAA several times to perform live at their European shows; then in 2002, Thurston Moore released on his own Ecstatic Peace label the 3-sided lp “Landscapes of an electric city/Hypnotic Spaces”, MCIAA’s international debut.

Now, after 6 years of handmade cd-r editions, Opax Rec. has entered a new era with its first proper official format: a new series of split vinyl-lps entitled “From the earth to the Spheres”. So, who could have opened the series better than Thurston Moore himself? Surely, T.Moore is one of the fewest musicians in the world who needs no introduction at all… But also the most fixed fan&collector of the so many solo-records which came out massively since the mid ’90’s, this 21min. piece called “American Coffin” will save a bounce of exciting surprises; from the beginning, with Moore engaged in a free-piano action that recalls both Dave Burrel’s genius of the legendary “Echo” lp on Jazz Actuel and Stockhausen’s textures of his wildest masterpieces, the track is interpoled and fragmented by splinters of sonic feedbacks, howling guitar and every sort of musical collage inserts, all permeated by a cloud of dust and debris, because of its raw analogical recording in the act of producing lots of tape hiss, so close to Moore’s aesthetics.

On the other side of the vinyl, MCIAA will project you in the realm of the Cosmos. Their music is made of space sounds flowing freely in both inner and outer dimensions; sound sculptors and audiovisual artists MCIAA base most of their work and research on purely improvised compositions, erecting minimal textures created essentially by guitar space-drones influenced by early American minimalism and the conceptual and philosophical modus operandi of avant-pioneers such as John Cage and Sun Ra. Here, in the track entitled “Brilliance in the outer space”, MCIAA will make you lose your sense of gravitational perception completely, with a fully emotional vertical take-off that will dash you beyond the limits of hyperspace. As the cover abstract shapes of concrete acrylic painting mixed with crystals on wood suggest a free gestural approach, the music represents a real impressive intro to the spirit that moves the whole series: art as uncompromising expression of liberty.

NOT AVAILABLE

MCIAA - "The Cosmological Eye Trilogy" Part two - into the Sombrero galaxy
2004 - CD-R (special handmade ltd ed of 125 copies in painted & drawn wood + galaxy-card insert!)
OPX010

2nd stage of the travel into the groove of the Cosmos - the Sombrero is going to reveal some of its secrets:
listen to its voice and you'll taste its mysterious power!

NOT AVAILABLE