Review: Massimo Falascone – Variazioni Mumacs 32 short mu-pieces about macs

Sometimes art exists for people’s enjoyment, and sometimes art exists for the sake of art. I think Variazioni Mumacs falls into the latter camp. This album is made of 32 weird sound collages that sort of fit together, but don’t really strike the listener in any compelling way. Sounds from various instruments come in and out over the hour-plus run time, while voices in various languages say cryptic things that don’t seem to have much to do with the music. This seems like something you might admire from a distance in a world music course, or if you wanted to eat some mushrooms and freak yourself out. I bet this album was fun to make, and I’d probably be into making something like it as a musician, but I can’t imagine anyone would throw this on at the end of the day when they’re trying to relax.
–Alex Gilvarry