My only prior experience with Sparkle in Grey was 'Perversions of the Aging Savant,' a split album with Controlled Bleeding which I reviewed last year. According to Sparkle in Grey, the music on 'Brahim Izdag' was recorded during their sessions for 'Thursday Evening' and the aforementioned CB split album (but obviously without any Controlled Bleeding) and is the final part of the triptych. For those unfamiliar with Sparkle in Grey, they were formed in 2005 in Milan, Italy and their memebers include Matteo Uggeri, Cristiano Lupo, Alberto Carozzi and Franz Krostopovic who play violin, bass, laptop electronics, guitar, bagpipes, piano, polyrhythmic drums, melodica, field recordings, harsh noises and a bicycle. The 14 songs on this album incorporate rhythms, influences, samples, instruments, voices from other lands which include Uzbekistan, Senega, Cameroon, Brazil, Brianza, Ireland, Jamaica, Italy, UK, China, Ethiopia, Scotland, Montenegro, Ukraine, Marche, Libya, Balkans, Egypt, Bali, France and USA. A real world music potpourri if there ever was one. Not only that, but they also invited a variety of guest artists from around the world to participate- Zachcharia Diatta (a singer from Dakar), Yan Jun ('chinoiser' from Beijing), Osvaldo Arioldi Schwartz (founding member of Officine Schwartz), Bernardo Carvalho (Portuguese artist who did the album cover), Enrico Coniglio (Venetian field recordist), and Danilo Donninelli (from the Marche regional traditional band Traballo). Now about the album title and cover - Brahim Izdag - a real person, a Moroccan skier who took part in the 1992 winter Olympics. Apparently the guy fell down so many times that when he finally reached the finish line, he fell down again and didn't even bother to cross it. This ought to tell you a little something about Sparkle in Grey's sense of humor, but also a testament to those who can't find a place in their field regardless of the investiture of their efforts. And Sparkle in Grey find some kinship in that.

As for the music on 'Brahim Izdag,' it would take ten times longer than the preamble I've just covered to describe it all in any detail, so here is a condensed synopsis. An ambient turned noisy intro heralds in the opening track, "Samba Lombarda" which is a neat guitar-led improvisational rhythmic jam that could have gone on for three times as long and I wouldn't have minded. "Iurop is a Madness" (Pts 1 & 2) both feature Zachcharia Diatta rapping in his native tongue over a Jamaican dub groove that turns into quite something else in Part 2 where Diatta's vocals are more singing than rapping. "Gobbastan" is a 3-part work that begins with some gypsy violin improv over water until the encroaching distorted guitar takes over. After that it settles into a bass-fueled groove over which you can hear a foreign voice somewhat angrily ranting in the background, with sweet gypsy violin playing along. The effect is like a block party in a multi-cultured ghetto. The guitar picks up a definitive theme, then the mode of the music changes once again. Now there is some subtle psychedelic influence in a semi-quiet passage, and what sounds like a theremin or maybe bowed saw takes the lead ushering it out. For "Grey Riot" it sounds like Sparkle in Grey invited The Dubliners and The Pogues for their own version of The Clash's "White Riot". There's a voice-over I can't make out, children, and a big pub party on the chorus. "Tripoli" is a melancholic folk number amidst the weapons of war. "Song for Clair Patterson" is a combination of ambient and free jazz with sustained horn and violin notes that eventually coalesces into a sort of low-key groove. "Minka Minka" begins with a tick-tock rhythm that's embellished upon with reggae-Slavic glee, and you can just use your imagination to fathom that one. Title track "Brahim Izdag" has three parts- the first led in by a sampled Moroccan music loop, then a strong guitar lead over a jazz-rock groove; the second more intense with guitar and violin fighting for dominance over an increasingly aggressive drumkit, eventually simmering down into a sweet-sad melodic stew. I didn't hear anything at all in the last 4-second track titled "There's a Riot Goin' On" so I presume the riot was called off and everybody just went home.

This is about as diverse as an album gets- a hodge-podge of world music influences cooked up in a largely improvisational stew, spiced with a little madness. Not all of it is for everyone, but many may like a good chunk of it. For me, it's one of those things I'll trot out occasionally to listen to when I'm in the mood for something completely different, for that, it surely is.