Goodbye Monsters / Roberto Musci

"Goodbye Monsters" LP (2025) by Roberto Musci.

Roberto Musci was born in Milan in 1956 and studied guitar, music and electronic instruments. Between 1974 and 1985 he travelled the world, making field recordings and collecting ethnic instruments while studying African, Indian, Arabic and Oriental music.

About the latest album

The film's core themes are travel, ethnicity and polytheistic mysticism.

• "The Principle Of Things" was inspired by his time spent in Hindu ashrams, listening to mantras and studying Buddhist philosophy.

• "Derviches On Mars" imagines that as humans emigrate to the Moon or Mars, Sufism (Islamic mysticism) will accompany them in their exploration of new worlds.

• "Goodbye Monsters" is a song that calls for harmony and peace.

• "Memories Of A Piano Player" is a homage to pianist Keith Tippett (King Crimson, Centipede, Mujician), with whom Mussi has performed.

• "Quantum State" explores the theme of how the concept of quantum mechanics has revolutionised how we perceive reality, with an infinite number of parallel worlds existing.

• "Panthalassa" is named after the ocean that surrounded the ancient supercontinent Pangaea and combines South American marimba music with traditional Chinese music.

• "Burn The Shadows" is inspired by Indonesian Wayang Kulit (shadow puppetry) and symbolizes burning away shadowy memories and moving forward.

• "Torajan Funeral Chant" explores the dead worship of the Toraja people of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their funerals are celebrations lasting several days, and the body is protected by a small doll called a "tau-tau", which is sometimes taken out of the grave to spend some time with the family.

• "AI In Confusion" is a musical expression of an AI that combines conflicting inputs to create a new perspective despite its confusion.

• "Pangea" depicts the ideal of a time when the continent was united, imagines a world without divisions such as borders, religions or ethnicities, and is a tribute to the master of minimal music, Steve Reich.

• "Prophecies" reconstructs American evangelical religious songs and Bible readings with South Indian percussion music and granular synthesis.

As the notes for each track say, this is a fairly conceptual album that freely crosses over ethnic, electronic and experimental music, removing musical boundaries. Listening to it, it takes you to a world that is an extension of reality, yet somehow different (Ammel).