My Cat is an Alien - Cosmic Light of the Third Millennium CD (Important Records)
My Cat Is An Alien - The secret of the Dancing Snow CD (Ikuisuus)

"Every sound you'll hear is intentional," claimed the Opalio brothers on the sleeves of their early My Cat Is An Alien releases, but there was always something slightly dubious about the assertion. Nevertheless, on records like 1999's Landscapes Of An Electric City, the Italian duo's ability to sculpt soundscapes from a series of apparent accidents was engaging. Their lack of technical skill was compensated for by their attentive listening and willingness to allow their improvisations to follow their own logic, producing charming, occasionally fabulous results.

The ragged strengths of their early material are thankfully still present, and longtime fans will be relieved to know that they are still pushing their "no overdubs, no outtakes" policy. But there's a newfound sense of control and power to these MCIAA releases that makes for a rewarding listening experience. They have scaled back the ugly, emaciated noise and feedback that punctuated their earlier music and are aiming for a more pastoral mood.

Roberto Opalio's falsetto space whisper has become a key element of their sound, along with Maurizio's chiming guitar loops. Another welcome development is a far more affective use of percussion [..]
Also noteworthy is the presence (on Dancing Snow) of longtime ally Ramona Ponzini, laying down a bed of percussion that alternately smoothes the edges of the music and adds an element of cosmic astringency, particularly when fed through the brothers' distorting echo loops.
(Keith Molinè, October 2006, The Wire)

My Cat is an Alien - Cosmic Light of the Third Millennium CD (Important Records)

My Cat Is An Alien are purveyors of fine space music, utilizing guitar, percussion and space toys (what ever they may be). They managed to create without a synthesizer base, something akin to a more droney early Tangerine Dream. Let's say if you enjoyed Tangerine Dream's three early albums, you’ll lap this up. This is wonderful heady, long form space music.

The albums made up of three tracks in all Cosmic light of the Third Millennium sections one to three. The first two tracks are the meat of the album weighing in at near the 20 minute length each, the last track feels more like an outro at six minutes. Section one starts with quiet guitar pickings, but as the sound grows, an eastern like droning element emerges, which sounds if it’s made by guitar harmonics. As the track develops, it’s almost like you’ve been drifting over a vast desert planet and your coming closer to the planet. Though the green cloud atmosphere, down towards the planets surface. A wonderfully sinister, alien sound pattern evolves, the planet itself is giving out pulses of strange light. Percussion elements appear, and now on the horizon you can see a sea of twisting and turning multi-limbed creatures coming towards you, as you drift lower and lower. Their body altering shape as they move through the pulses of light, they seem to be getting closer as you touch down on the planet’s surface- they throw strange tools from limb to in a most bizarre way- many eyed heads lulling on reptile shoulders, and every eye is looking at you. This is indeed a very potent sound world. As the track exits xylophone tones enter, it’s like they’ve finally got to where you stand now. Their shape shifting limbs twitching over and exploring your body.

Section two starts off slowly again with limited percussion hits and very quiet sounds - difficult to really make out what’s going on. Slowly but surely it starts to build up, with toylike tones and guitar tapings. This feels like you're now being tied to a strange stretcher, that seems to be alive. Its pulse rippling under you. As the track goes on you become dragged near and near to their settlement, as more broken guitarelements emerge and an alien drone ripple cascades. The walls of the buildings are lined with flapping tentacles, which seem to emit odd sounds. You are brought towards the town square, which seems to consist of a vast mirrored, hexagon-like shape, as the sounds get busier. You are slipped off the stretcher and on to the mirror shape. As you are dropped on to it, you sink slightly into its jellylike skin. Now your head is filled with very strange half formed images. You can hear your pulse in your ears and are aware of your twitching limbs, alive with violent pumping of blood, you seem to pass out. As you dream, you float on golden water, pretty musical tinklings surrounding you as the track exits. The air seems so fresh and tranquil and your body floats apart as the track exits in audio bliss.
Section three starts with vibrating drones of hypnotic guitar, it feels like your coming around. You're back on the planets surfaces, the creatures are twisting and turning away from you, and the track leaves you with a strange longing both beautiful and some how deeply sad, at the same time, as the guitar drones intermingle, into a mass of cold sound.
Without a doubt an audio trip worth taking, just lay back on the bed headphones in place, and My Cat Is An Alien will take you away to strange new worlds.
(Roger Batty, May 2006, Musique Machine)