Gatto Ciliegia Contro Il Grande Freddo
Disconoir

Despite being dated (2008 as the year of release), "Disconoir" is the latest work by the very Italian (from Turin) and historic (active since 1999) Gatto Ciliegia Contro Il Grande Freddo.

Perhaps one of the most well-known among the enthusiasts of local post-rock sounds, Gatto Ciliegia is defined by many as one of the first Italian "instrumental post-rock" bands. Without dwelling too much on these encyclopedic details, let's examine this latest (currently) musical offering from the Turin group.

To appreciate the album, one must primarily focus on the title: "Disconoir".

For a band like Gatto Ciliegia, often used for composing soundtracks of Italian film productions (one of the most famous being the soundtrack of Cosmonauta, by Susanna Nicchiarelli - 2009), it would seem obvious to think, from the title, that the album presents itself as a typical instrumental soundtrack for a phantom noir film. But that is not the case.

According to Wikipedia's definition, "noir is considered different from traditional detective stories, because the book's aim is not only to narrate and solve a crime. By the end of the novel, the reader must reflect, concerning what has been read, on the reality surrounding them, they must analyze the world around them based on the information they can gather from the story. The solution to the crime becomes almost secondary."

Thus, "Disconoir", thanks to this interpretative reading, becomes a noir product itself. This album is a novel, where each song performs a function of narrative continuity in a story that must be freely interpreted during the listening of this album, which, musically, is complete with various sounds (uncommon melodies, engaging rhythms, electronic insertions with a proper use of synthesizers that do not serve just a melodic filling purpose, combined with blues tones) that sometimes recall the Emilians "Offlaga Disco Pax".

Thus, you might find yourself in the darkness of a cryptic metropolitan suburb, where the cellar of "Doctor Killdare" is located; or you might be catapulted into a public garden, where two lovers meeting in "Come Una Milonga", relive the memory of a previous fluctuating sentimental period in "Niente Baci Alla Francese".

An album that therefore engages both during and after listening.

There are no typical explosions of any Post-rock group with "blaring" delays and increasingly marked distortions. The sobriety (seen as a virtue and not a flaw) reigns in the sound of Gatto Ciliegia, who nonetheless manage to melodically develop (with variations in tones or modulations of various riffs) the songs, which do not lead to boredom, but, like a good book, encourage you to listen to them one after the other, chapter by chapter.

Also remarkable, in my opinion, are the "Bonus Tracks" (no longer instrumental) undertaken in collaboration with various Italian artists. Particularly the proposed dualism between "Stella che non dimentica" and "Stella che non ricorda niente," the one with Moltheni, the other with Velvet. The songs aren’t connected to each other (except conceptually) but are both characterized by a sound suitable for the guest artists, and the lyrics are no less.

A wholly Italian product, therefore, that absolutely deserves a listen and will not disappoint fans of instrumental post-rock. A beautiful album that deserves a high rating.