GREY SWANS OF EXTREMISTAN

In 2010 Lorenzo Monni released his third album, 'Grey Swans Of Extremistan', on the independent label Lizard Records. It was recorded with the help of Luca Visentin (drums, production, mixing, mastering) and Luca Ricci (drums) and, according to the liner notes, it's a kind of concept album inspired by The Black Swan, a book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a Lebanese American essayist whose work focuses on issues such as randomness and probability. The overall sound is guitar driven and recalls post-rock or math rock atmospheres without being derivative. This time Lorenzo Monni avoided 'the cascades of synths' that you can find on his previous work but the final result is quite good anyway.

The album is completely instrumental and is divided in two acts. The first act is titled 'The Landscape of Extremistan' and features three tracks linked together. The suggestive opener 'Cascade' begins softly and sets a mysterious atmosphere with Middle-Eastern flavours, then a steady marching beat starts pulsing... 'Contrary Winds' and 'Doggered Of The Deep' follow mixing experimental passages and interesting melodic lines with interesting results.

The second act is titled 'Grey Swans' and features six tracks. It begins with the dynamic, cheerful 'The Mysterious Cyclist Of Cyclette', then comes the dreamy, ethereal 'Amarcord' followed by 'The Act Of Being Amazed' where you can find some nice, particular Latin American touches. The short 'Mosquitos Will Defeat F.B.I' and the experimental 'Zeitgeber' (where Lorenzo Monni 'plays' also an hairdryer) in my opinion are not completely convincing but the conclusive 'Once Upon A Time In Extremistan' is an excellent track full of energy. On the whole a good album but probably the nice art work by Bridget Farmer describes this album better than my words...