Monofonic Orchestra - Carnival (The Roger Stanza Sessions) (2022)

Some bonds last over time. This could be the synthesis of this album. Many years ago, in the infamous 80s of Milan, when Maurizio Marsico was the most irregular producer on the scene, in an adventurous balance between avant-garde and dance, and Mauro Tondini, half Tipinifini, surfed the waves of the Italian-disco scene, Roger Stanza, who was a fan of their music, was like a sort of Mr Wolf for the two reckless friends. Not that he lived far from trouble, but compared to M&M he could appear fairly sober and he could solve problems. Let's just say he managed to unlock some pretty complicated situations. Since then, the three have never lost sight of each other, even if life - yes, I'm getting to it - has its paths that tend to take peculiar, albeit somewhat parallel directions. So Maurizio and Mauro, after years of proximity and always being active in Milan, met again and decided to collaborate for the first time, starting to work on an unusual project.
One album: “Carnival”.

"Carnival like that of Rio or Schumann, the animals of Saint-Saens’ Carnival and the one in Bourbon Street, the Carnival of Festivals and armchairs, the Carnival of politics and geopolitics, the social Carnival that sterilises any reality and the infodemic that amplifies and confuses every emergency. In short, the tragicomic Carnival of life, which as soon as you start having fun, it is already Lent".

These were fruitful sessions, but at a certain point, the two believed they needed a third intervention, or rather a third-party intervention, i.e. someone who solved problems from the outside. And that's when Roger Stanza got back in the game. Italo-American, Roger left Milan in the late 1980s, moving to Brighton, where he first followed the acid-house lighthouse, DJ with the name of *+§ ’ìf7 allo Zap and was the animator of many legendary secret parties, and where he continues to live today directing, outside the musical context, the offices of Geography Enterprises, in the wake of his specialisations in comparative geography, a field where he is a worldwide luminary. Maurizio and Mauro remembered the strange productions that Roger had played for them, and they managed to convince him to get on board by sending him the recorded material – where, in the meantime, collaborations such as those of Stefano Di Trapani and ODRZ had been added - and asking him a specific question: "What record are we trying to make?". "You are trying to make a psychedelic record, I have no doubt", the answer. To which the two countered: "Do you want to get your hands on it? You have carte blanche". "Okay Roger," Roger replied from the control tower, where he had closed himself in for an entire weekend. He came out with smoking coils in his hand, which Maurizio and Mauro enthusiastically welcomed, mistaking them for whimsical pizzas. "There it is! This is the album!".

What emerged was a really multi-flavoured disc where there is tomato and mozzarella but then many other strange creatures, from a Satellite Of Love that seems to be made by a zombie jam between Lou Reed, Phil Spector and Lee "Scratch" Perry, a disturbing telephone message to the Kraftwerk of Trans Europa Express, mutant squares of piano solos, noise plates, Moroder on opiates, a version of Hoola Hoola, the hit bubblegum by Can, which seems to come out of the afro-cosmic mythology of Daniele Baldelli, mechanical orange monkeys, coyote howls and funk jingles. The soundtrack to a cartoon? The disgruntled sympathy of a bad trip? A freak carnival? The first album of the Monofonic Orchestra with an extended line-up? Definitely, and much, much more!