Biography

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN (MCIAA) is the duo of radical instantaneous composition and audiovisual art formed by brothers Maurizio and Roberto Opalio in late 1997. They started their activity in Torino, Italy, before moving in a remote region of the Western Alps. Multi-instrumentalists, they primarily play electric and acoustic guitars, self-made string instruments, various toy instruments (so-called 'space toys'), modified electronics ('alientronics') and a wide set of percussion. Roberto Opalio's personal use of wordless vocalizations adds human voice as a further instrument in the list.

MCIAA's work range over many artistic activities: musical performance, films and videos, audiovisual installations, photography, poetry, drawings and paintings.

The visual aspect in MCIAA's esthetics is of primary importance; all record artworks are curated by Roberto Opalio whose distinctive artistic stamp gives a strong style to all their works.

MCIAA have set up multimedia collaborations with vanguards such as Sonic Youth, Christian Marclay, Thurston Moore, Keiji Haino, Lee Ranaldo, Jim O'Rourke, Michael Morley (Dead C), Loren Connors, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Nels Cline, Text of Light, Steve Roden, Mats Gustafsson and many more.

MCIAA have licensed more than 100 records to prestigious international labels such as Thurston Moore's (Sonic Youth) Ecstatic Peace!, as well as to Atavistic Worldwide (USA), Important Records (USA), Les Disques VICTO (CAN), Very Friendly/ Cargo (UK), PSF (Japan), Staalplaat/ Mort Aux Vaches (NL), Eclipse Records (USA), Starlight Furniture Co./ Revolver (USA), Last Visible Dog (USA), Time-Lag Records (USA), PseudoArcana (NZ), Sloow Tapes (B), Ikuisuus (FIN), Digitalis (USA), Elliptical Noise (CAN) among others.
Since the beginning the duo also dedicated to several private and ultra-limited art editions.

Since MCIAA formed, they toured several times in Europe with Sonic Youth, and have performed at many events and international festivals of experimental music and multimedia arts: ATP Nightmare Before Christmas 2006 curated by Thurston Moore, UK / State-X festival, Den Haag /
K-raa-k Festival, Hasselt / Music Lovers' Field Companion festival c/o The Sage Gateshead, Newcastle / Instants Chavirés, Paris / Cafe Oto, London / La Batie festival - Victoria Hall, Geneve / CCA Center of Contemporary Arts, Glasgow / Feedback Festival, Dijon / Theater Coliseum, Porto / Razzmatazz, Barcelona / Ancien Belgique, Brussel / 013, Tilburg / Stimul Festival, Prague / Fondazione Mazzotta, Milano / Kulturbunker Mulheim, Cologne / VPRO radio tv session, Amsterdam / ZDB, Lisbon / Netmage Festival, Bologna / Extra Festival, Torino / Festival Sotto Le Stelle, Ferrara / La Casa Encendida, Madrid / Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, Canada.

In 2005 Roberto Opalio has been commissioned to design a t-shirt for The Wire magazine.

'Different Shades Of Blue' has been awarded album of 2005 in the Top chart "THE BEST OF AMBIENT WORKS 1969-2009" by Studio Voice magazine and book publications in Japan.

Roberto Opalio and My Cat Is An Alien has taken part to "Sonic Youth etc.: Sensational Fix" touring exhibition, scheduled in big European museums of contemporary arts between 2008 and 2010. At the opening at LiFE museum (F) in June 2008, MCIAA set up a live performance collaboration with Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) and Micheal Morley (Dead C), published by Starlight Furniture Co. USA in September 2009.
A new album of this collaborative project with Lee Ranaldo was published in November 2010 by Atavistic.

Other than the official exhibition catalog published by Walter Koenig (which was awarded in 2008 by L'Arbre à Lettres, Paris), curator Roland Groenenboom presented a spin-off limited zine at Malmo Konsthall, featuring exclusive artworks by Roberto Opalio and MCIAA.

MCIAA's articles, interviews and extended reviews are featured on the most important international music magazines like The Wire (UK), The Sound Projector (UK), Dream Magazine (USA), Arthur Magazine (USA), The Ptolemaic Terrascope (UK), Brokenface (SWE), Dusted Magazine (USA), Foxy Digitalis (USA), Stylus Magazine (USA), Noiseweek (USA), Brainwashed (USA), Kwadratuur (BE), Blow Up (ITA), Gaz-Eta (PL), His Voice (CZ), and many more.

In 2011, Elliptical Noise records (CAN) published 'ALIENOLOGY: Selected Works 1998-2008', a ten disc box retrospective of MCIAA's first thirteen years of activity.

In September 2011, My Cat Is An Alien are the cover stars of The Wire magazine.

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DISCOGRAPHIES

MY CAT IS AN ALIEN

- s/t cd-r (1998/ Opax Records)
- Hypnotic Spaces ep cd-r (1998/private press Opax Records)
- “Alien cats’ attack!” on “Tracce” Comp cd (1999/ Wallace Rec)
- “World War” (The Cure) on “La Cattedrale vs the 80’s” Comp cd (1999/ White&Black)
- Landscapes of an electric city cd-r (1999/ Opax Records/ ZZZ Prod.)
- Alien dissolving ep cd-r (1999/ Opax Records/ ZZZ Prod.)
- “I sold an alien to the F.B.I.” on “Related ProZZZect” Comp cd + cd-r (1999/ ZZZ Prod.)
- Production and appereance on Viggiu Vortex Orchestra debut cd-r (2000/ Capanno Rec)
- The alien cd-r attack series! Vol. I - Alien Holland Invasion - cd-r (2000/ Opax Records)
- The alien cd-r attack series! Vol. II - Infinite lights above us - cd-r (2001/ Opax Records)
- The alien cd-r attack series! Vol. III - “...Ascends The Sky" - cd-r (2001/ Opax Records)
- Landscapes of an electric city/ Hypnotic Spaces 3-sided LP (2002/ Ecstatic Peace!)
- Out of the Blue___Into the White 3x cd-r set (2003/ Opax Records)
- The Cosmological Eye Trilogy pt.1 - Into the Sleeping Beauty galaxy - cd-r (2003/ Opax Rec)
- Il Segno LP (2003/ Starlight Furniture Co.)
- The rest is silence 2xLP (2004/ Eclipse Records)
- The first flame of tomorrow cd-r (2004/ Opax Records)
- The Cosmological Eye Trilogy pt.2 - Into the Sombrero galaxy - cd-r (2004/ Opax Rec)
- “Brilliance in the outer space” on From the earth to the Spheres vol.1 (Thurston Moore/ My Cat Is An Alien) split LP (2004/ Opax Records)
- “When the earth whispered your name” on From the earth to the Spheres vol.2 (Thuja/ My Cat Is An Alien) split LP (2004/ Opax Records)
- floating in the Void – cd-r (2004/ Opax Records)
- “Blank view” on From the earth to the Spheres vol.3 (Jackie-O Motherfucker/ My Cat Is An Alien) split LP (2004/ Opax Records)
- “Brilliance in the outer space“ on From the earth to the Spheres vol.1 (Thurston Moore/ My Cat Is An Alien) CD (2004/ Very Friendly/Cargo records)
- “When the earth whispered your name“ on From the earth to the Spheres vol.2 (Thuja/ My Cat Is An Alien) CD (2004/ Very Friendly/Cargo records)
- On air at Sound Projecting cd-r (2005/ Opax Records)
- “Winter will burn out yr wings” on From the earth to the Spheres vol.4 (Jim O’Rourke/ My Cat Is An Alien) split LP (2005/ Opax Records)
- Through the reflex of the rain CD (2005/ Free Porcupine Society)
- Everything is here lathe-cut 7" (2005/ Gold Soundz)
- When the windmill's whirl dies LP (2005/ Eclipse Records)
- Different shades of blue/ U-Sound Archive Vol.19 cd-r (2005/ U-Sound Archive)
- "Hear the voice of the Cosmos" on "The Tone of the Universe (= The Tone of the Earth)" Comp 2xCD (2005/ Pseudoarcana)
- "Alien substratum 1.0/1.2" on "Time and Relative Dimensions in Space: Long Form Works" Comp CD (2005/ Rebis)
- “Blank view” on From the earth to the Spheres vol.3 (Jackie-O Motherfucker/ My Cat Is An Alien) CD (2005/ Very Friendly/Cargo records)
- "The circle of life & death" on From the earth to the Spheres vol.5 (Christina Carter&Andrew MacGregor/MCIAA) split LP (2005/ Opax Records)
- Black shadows from Jupiter LP (2005/ Opax Records)
- Alien Minds C60 cassette (2005/ Sloow Tapes)
- "Elegy for all the extinct alien species" on "The Invisible Pyramid: Elegy box" Comp 6xCD set (2005/ Last Visible Dog)
- "After the Meteor Shower" on From the earth to the Spheres vol.6 (Glands of External Secretion/MCIAA) split LP (2005/ Opax Records)
- Plutonian flames 2xCD-R (2005/ Opax Records)
- "The circle of life & death" on From the earth to the Spheres vol.4 (Christina Carter & Andrew MacGregor/ MCIAA) CD (2005/ Very Friendly/Cargo records)
- The Cosmological Eye Trilogy 3xCD set (2005/ Last Visible Dog)
- Astral Key CD-R (2005/ Esquilo)
- Folclore Alieno CD-R (2006/ Opax Records)
- Different shades of Blue LP+7" (2006/ A Silent Place)
- There's a flame___sometimes LP (2006/ Rococo Records)
- "After the Meteor Shower" on From the earth to the Spheres vol.5 (Glands of External Secretion/MCIAA) split CD (2006/ Very Friendly/Cargo Records)
- Listen before Black falls LP (2006/ Root Strata)
- "Beyond the limits of the stars/ Beyond the limits of the grooves" on From the earth to the Spheres vol.7 (Christian Marclay & Okkyung Lee/MCIAA) split LP (2006/ Opax Records)
- Introducing the Cosmic Blues 7 inch (2006/ Important Records)
- Cosmic Light of the Third Millennium CD (2006/ Important Records)
- "Space Fluxus" on My Cat Is An Alien/ Tony Herrington "Joint Multiples 04" Box/CD-R/Painting/Polaroid/Painted Photograph (2006/ no label)
- "Astral Enlightenment" on Dream Magazine #6 Comp CD (2006/ Dream Magazine)
- "Cosmic Distance"on Yellow Gold Comp C20 Cassette (2006/ Gold Soundz)
- The secret of the Dancing Snow CD (2006/ Ikuisuus)
- "...Ascends the sky" CD (2006/ Rebis/Whitened Sepulchre)
- "Transmission from planet KFJC" on My Cat Is An Alien/ Corsican Paintbrush split 10" lathe cut (2006/ Opax Records/ Foxglove)
- "Everything falls like cosmic debris" on From the earth to the Spheres, Vol.6 (Christian Marclay & Okkyung Lee / MCIAA) split CD (2006 / A Silent Place)
- "Heart of the eartH" on For Alan Lomax (Fabio Orsi / MCIAA) split CD (2006 / A Silent Place)
- Greetings from the Great Void 2xLP (2006/ Eclipse Records)
- On air at Sound Projecting LP (Opax Records/ 2006)
- Everything falls like cosmic debris on MCIAA/ TEXT OF LIGHT "Cosmic Debris, Vol.I" split art-LP (2006/ Opax Records)
- Aliens in the Crowd on V/A "Random Sounds Vol.2" CD-R Comp (2006 / Indie Workshop)
- Leave me in the Black No-Thing CD (2007 / Important Records)
- Into the White Vortex 1-sided ART-LP (2007 / Opax Records)
- "Extraterrestrial Call" on MCIAA/FAMILY UNDERGROUND split LP (2007 / Reverse)
- "Everything falls like cosmic debris" on MCIAA/ TEXT OF LIGHT "Cosmic Debris, Vol.I" split CD (2007 / A Silent Place)
- "Everything waves like cosmic debris" on MCIAA/ STEVE RODEN "Cosmic Debris, Vol.II" split art-LP (2007 / Opax Records)
- Different Shades of Tape Box set (2007 / A Silent Place)
- "Everything crashes like cosmic debris" on MCIAA/ KEIJI HAINO "Cosmic Debris, Vol.III" split art-LP (2007 / Opax Records)
- Il Segno CD (2007 / Starlight Furniture Co. - Revolver USA)
- "Speak, alien, SPEAK!" 3xC20 cassette set (2007 / Opax Records)
- "Everything waves like cosmic debris" on MCIAA / STEVE RODEN "Cosmic Debris, Vol.II" split CD (2007 / A Silent Place)
- "Everything crashes like cosmic debris" on MCIAA / KEIJI HAINO "Cosmic Debris, Vol.III" split CD (2007 / A Silent Place)
- "Blue Beings" on MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / VALERIO COSI "Stories From The Vacuum" split 7" (2008/ Black Horizon)
- Sotto le Stelle etched LP (2008/ Lost Treasures of the Underworld)
- There's a flame___sometimes LP (2008/ Opax Records
- "Everything burns like cosmic debris" on MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / MATS GUSTAFSSON "Cosmic Debris, Vol.IV" split ART-LP (2008/ Opax Records)
- "Everything tears like cosmic debris" on MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / LOREN CONNORS and his Haunted House band "Cosmic Debris, Vol.V" split ART-LP (2008/ Opax Records)
- Alien Blood LP (2008/ Opax Records)
- 8inch triangular lathe cut record (2008/ Pseudoarcana)
- For the tears of the Land_Prayers from the outer space 2xLP split MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / PRAXINOSCOPE (2009 / Important Records)
- "Everything burns like cosmic debris" on MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / MATS GUSTAFSSON "Cosmic Debris, Vol.IV" split CD (2009 / A Silent Place)
- “Solar Anarchy” on MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / PESTREPELLER split picture disc LP (2009 / A Silent Place)
- Through The Magnifying Glass Of Tomorrow (MY CAT IS AN ALIEN & ENORE ZAFFIRI) CD+DVD (2009 / Atavistic)
- Mort Aux Vaches CD (2009 / Stallplaat, Mort Aux Vaches series)
- Live @ Sensational Fix (M.MORLEY, MCIAA, R.PONZINI, L.RANALDO) LP (2009 / Starlight Furniture Co.)
- "Diatomic Molecules" on MOONMILK / MY CAT IS AN ALIEN "Paseridae I" split 7" (2009 / Sound&Fury)
- For the tears of the Land_Prayers from the outer space - Vol.1 CD (2009 / Elliptical Noise)
- Black Shadows from Jupiter, Vol. I & II 2CD (2010 / Elliptical Noise)
- Photoelectric Season 2CD (2010 / Elliptical Noise)
- My Cat Is An Alien & Bjerga/Iversen LP (2010 / Ikuisuus / Gold Soundz)
- Fragments Suspended In Time LP + CD + DVD (2010 / Opax Records)
- All Is Lost In Translation (MY CAT IS AN ALIEN w/ RAMONA PONZINI & LEE RANALDO) CD (2010 / Atavistic)
- GRAMOFONU = Voice Of The Universe (MCIAA & BBNU) LP (2011 / Opax Records / Love Nest)
- "The Antigravotational Sense Of Nothingness" on WIRE TAPPER #20 CD Compilation (2011 / The Wire Magazine)
- What Space Is Made For 3 CD Box Set (2011 / Elliptical Noise)
- For the tears of the Land_Prayers from the outer space 2 CD split MY CAT IS AN ALIEN / PRAXINOSCOPE (2011 / Elliptical Noise)
- ALIENOLOGY: Selected Works 1998-2008 10 CD Box Set (2011 / Elliptical Noise)
- My Cat Is An Alien & The Analog Statement 5xLP Box (2011 / Opax Records)
- Living On The Invisible Line LP (2011 / Divorce Records)
- Alienacustica (as BROTHER FROM ANOTHER SPACE) 3 CD Box Set (2012 / Elliptical Noise)



ROBERTO OPALIO

- Chants from isolated ghosts cd-r (2005/ Opax Records)
- Chants from isolated ghosts lathe-cut LP (2005/ Opax Records)
- voice with no guitar/ guitar with no voice C20 cassette (2005/ Opax Tapes)
- The last night of the Angel of Glass DVD-R + CD-R set (2006/ Foxglove)
- "Transparent moods" on Orange Gold Comp C20 Cassette (2006/ Gold Soundz)
- Whispers of the last Light DVD-R (2006/ Opax Records)
- The last night of the Angel of Glass, Vol.I & II 2xCD (2007 / A Silent Place)
- Chants from isolated ghosts CD (2007 / Important Records)
- Whispers of the last Light, part I & II lathe cut LP + DVD-R (2007 / Opax Records)
- "In the Middle of the Air" on ROBERTO OPALIO / MAURIZIO OPALIO split LP (2009 / Important Records)
- My Alien Notes (Escaping the Void?) art book + CD (2009 / Opax Press)
- The last night of the Angel of Glass 2x lathe cut LP + DVD (2009 / Opax Records)
- "Blue Ether" on M.MORLEY, MCIAA, R.PONZINI, L.RANALDO Live @ Sensational Fix LP (2009 / Starlight Furniture Co.)
- Liquid Spring (with MAURIZIO OPALIO) CD (2009 / Elliptical Noise)
- The Hexagram on Grace CD (2010 / Elliptical Noise)

MAURIZIO OPALIO

- Way up to Enfer CD-R (2006/ Opax Records)
- Way up to Enfer lathe-cut LP + book (2007 / Opax Records)
- "Glacier Sommeiller" on ROBERTO OPALIO / MAURIZIO OPALIO split LP (2009 / Important Records)
- ''Passo Galambra" on M.MORLEY, MCIAA, R.PONZINI, L.RANALDO Live @ Sensational Fix LP (2009 / Starlight Furniture Co.)
- Liquid Spring (with ROBERTO OPALIO) CD (2009 / Elliptical Noise)

PAINTING PETALS ON PLANET GHOST (Ramona Ponzini, Maurizio Opalio, Roberto Opalio)

- s/t LP (2005/ Time-Lag Records)
- "Oceano" on Red Gold Comp C20 Cassette (2006/ Gold Soundz)
- Oounabara 1-sided 12" lathe cut + DVD-R (Opax Records/ 2006)
- Oounabara C20 cassette (Opax Records/ 2006)
- s/t CD (2007 / Time-Lag Records)
- Fallen Camellias 1-sided 5x10" lathe cut Box (2008/ Opax Records)
- Fallen Camellias CD (2008/ A Silent Place)
- "I lose consciousness" on PAINTING PETALS ON PLANET GHOST / MYKEL BOYD split 7" (2008 / Somnimage)
- "Haru no kuni" on Dream Magazine #9 CD comp (2009 / Dream Magazine)
- Haru no omoi CD (2009 / PSF)
- Transparent Winter LP (2011 / Blackest Rainbow)
- Transparent Winter CD (expanded) (2012 / Silentes / Seven Solar Metals)