Shifty Milano & His Orchestra

There are lines that clearly define fiction from nonfiction, fantasy from reality, and one style of music from another. But what happens when those lines blur? Enter: the Shifty Milano project.


By combining original music with fictional literature inspired by crime noir movies and dime-store pulp novels along with photography, performance art, and graphic design, the lines between each are blurred. Thus, an undertaking that is free of categories is born. Rules might apply, but don’t necessarily have to; genres might fit, but probably shouldn’t.


This publication is designed to be a digital version of the booklets which used to often accompany CDs, providing the music lover with band information, production details, photos, and liner notes that would take the listener to a place where the art form was valued for what it was. The music was not a commodity; it wasn’t disposable.


The songs from this collection are available for free listening on YouTube, but hopefully the pieces will find themselves streaming to far-away seedy back alleys, sleazy gin joints, and houses of ill-repute near you. If you’re lucky, you might even get some static with it.


Sit back, sip your highball, and go ahead—light up that fourth Chesterfield.