By David Puente on May 07 | http://www.clubbingspain.com/sonorama.php?lng=es&id=957

Lino Monaco y Nicola Buono son dos productores de la escena de Nápoles que esquivaron el mismo hardtechno que ya no quieren ni ver en pintura los abanderados de este movimiento italiano y se han tirado al rollo más sofisticado con un álbum más que destacable en Hefty Records. Y eso que durante algún tiempo estuvieron trabajando en el proyecto Qmen con Rino Cerrone, uno de esos paladines del techno mono-loop más duro, pero ellos ya hace un tiempo han querido ir un paso adelante como Retina.IT labrándose primero una carrera en Hefty y después consiguiendo remixes para gente tan lustrosa como Ryuichi Sakamoto, Slicker o Geoff White. A muy poco están de dar con su sonido si nos atenemos a este Semeion que parece bastante trabajado y los sitúa definitivamente en el espectro más arty de la electrónica italiana más moderna que podría sonar a minimal malucho pero no. Armados únicamente con un DAT como instrumento analógico han sabido darle empaque y buen cuerpo a este disco con la técnica del cut-and-paste. El resultado es un conjunto de temas a medio camino entre el ambient burbujeante y el techno que nos devuelve la vista a ese país tan cercano a nosotros culturalmente pero tan desconocido como es Italia. Además, Hefty se ha decidido a servir en formato Podtcast el directo que realizaon la pasada edición del Sónar en la que participaron como uno de los platos fuertes del showcase del veterano sello alemán. Mira Napoli.

2008 | http://gummigumi.blogspot.com/2007/08/retinait.html

Avec Retina.It c’est le leasy lag d’une electronica pour salle d’attente transposée dans une clairière, les clips claps inspirées de Bola, les rythmiques hip-hop de Funkstorüng, les symboles électro de la firme Skam. A la force d'une programmation aux vapeurs dub et aux contours ambient, entre deep'dark et beat crunky du goût des nostalgiques des premières années Warp, Retina.it propose un album découpé dans des photos noires et blanches. Plutôt une invitation à se laisser happer peu à peu dans un lit de mousse fripé …

By Briec 08 | http://www.electrone.net/aff_chronique.php?id=312

Retina.IT est aux antipodes de la variétoche italienne hyper sucrée qu’on nous sert depuis que le monde est monde, et tout aussi loin du revival Italo-disco certes parfois assez excitant. Non, Retina.IT c’est le minimalisme pur et dur, une hygiène de vie.

Plus accessible qu’un album de Pan Sonic, groupe réputé sans concession, « Semeion » peut toutefois laisser ahuri le dernier des fans d’Eros Ramazzoti. Il est pourtant une très bonne porte d’entrée pour ceux qui souhaitent comprendre l’attraction mystérieuse qu’exerce sur certains l’electronica minimaliste, et en surprendra plus d’un par le groove latent de ses superpositions rythmiques. C’est le cas notamment dans le morceau Pick, sorte de funk bancal d’avant garde. Obsédant.

La rythmique à base de sonorités industrielles et métalliques est justement époustouflante, les chevauchements de percussions digitales sur un tempo saccadé et déstructuré relèvent de la maestria et feraient pâlir d’envie des artistes comme Akufen et autres Autechre. « Semeion », troisième album du duo italien, n’est qu’une stratification de battements électroniques, aussi bien dans les samples que dans les fondations même du disque, autrement dit les basses et le beat. Il y a même des moments de grâce sublimes comme les nappes salvatrices de T-UFO ou Apeiron ou l’indéfinissable et évanescent Zucchine Alla Scapece, titre d’obédience dub.

Le label de Chicago Hefty records enrichit son catalogue d’un ovni de plus et affine sa vocation de tête chercheuse d’electronica lumineuse et exigeante. Après avoir signé les ineffables Telefon Tel Aviv et leur soul futuriste, l’audacieux label confirme son érudition.

By by Mike Diver 08 | http://discover.drownedinsound.com/articles/2790564

Who: Italian pair Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono formed, alongside third member Rino Cerrone, as The Qmen back in the ‘90s, but soon began working exclusively as a duo as Retina.IT, releasing a series of minimalist electro EPs and their debut long-player proper, Volcano Waves 1-8, in 2001.
What: Semeion is a collection of tracks dating back to the time of their debut album, and serves as something of an introductory package for newcomers yet to delve into the pair’s oddly compelling sonic collages. Ranging from trance-like passages to glitch-fuelled numbers suggesting inspiration comes nowadays from acts such as Chris Clark and Squarepusher rather than any Goa-orbiting pill-brains, the compilation’s sleekly impressive, if a little cold and sterile of soul.
And: If you’ve been listening to Burial and Apparat this past year, you could do worse than swing at least fleeting attentions the way of these Italians; grimy their work isn’t, and nor does it possess the celebratory overtones of Apparat’s best tracks, but its core repetitiveness is certainly comparable to the twitch-along centres of Untrue and Walls. 7/10

By Gianni Avella on July 07 | http://www.sentireascoltare.com/CriticaMusicale/Monografie/Retinait.htm

Dopo due ottimi lavori, rispettivamente per Hefty (il debutto Volcano Wave del 2001) e la personale Mousike Lab (l’omonimo del 2004), i Retina.It di Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono raccolgono buona parte della loro produzione inedita o di difficile reperibilità in un indovinato album griffato ancora Hefty. L’arco di tempo in esame va dal 2001 al 2006 e la scaletta si inaugura con Tetsub, ovvero come far confluire l’animo funk dei Nostri (molto più presente di quanto sembri) su di un canovaccio a là Basic Channel.

La traccia appartiene all’extended play Ia-Tunes #002 e la sua bellezza fa il paio con l’eleganza di Apeiron, minimal techno dal 12”Nulla con tanto di archi che oggi diremmo alla Murcof, ma l’anagrafe – 2001 – smentisce ogni dubbio. Anche Civiltà Meccanica - sempre 2001, dall’EP Manifesto – combina glitches e contemporanea, ma questi sono dettagli che ad un gruppo come i Retina.It, oggi, di certo non occorrono. Occorre, semmai, consigliare Semeion al neofita di turno; tutti gli altri, che sono molti, già sanno cosa fare. (7.0/10)

By Gianni Avella on July 07 | http://pigmag.com

October 07 | http://www.mtv.de/artists/artists.php?char=r&artist=retina_it

Retina IT sind die beiden Neapolitaner Nicola Buono und Lino Monaco. Als Bestandteil der sehr aktiven Technoszene der süditalienischen Stadt setzen sie experimentellere Akzente als beispielsweise Marco Carola, Danilo Vigorito oder Rino Cerrone.
Mit letztgenannten sind Buono und Monaco Ende der 90er Jahre beim Technoprojekt Qman involviert. Dem Zeitgeist entsprechend servieren sie harten Techno und veröffentlichen unter anderem auf dem britischen Label Primate Recordings.

Während Rino Cerrone in der Zeit nach der Qman-Auflösung als einer der key player in der neapolitanischen Szene den internationalen Durchbruch schafft, gründen Buono und Monaco das Projekt Retina IT. Das Tempo wird zurückgenommen, der Bezug zum Dancefloor gerne einmal durchbrochen.

Nach vier Jahren des Experimentierens veröffentlichen sie 2001 schließlich ihre ersten Maxis und wenig später mit "Volcano Waves 1-8" ihr Debütalbum. Vorsichtig ausgewählte, minimalistisch experimentelle Sounds in der Tradition von Autechre machen Retina IT aus.

Daneben sorgen sie mit ihren Live-Performances für Aufsehen. Viel ist dabei handgemacht, der Improvisation wird Raum gegeben. 2005 treten sie in ihrer Heimatstadt im Vorprogramm von Kraftwerk auf, ein Jahr später auf dem Sonar Festival in Barcelona. 2007 erscheint mit "Semeion" eine Compilation mit Tracks aus den Jahren 2001 bis 2006, die zuvor entweder unveröffentlicht oder exklusiv auf Vinyl erhältlich waren.

By Laurent Diouf on July 07 | http://www.wtm-paris.com/kroniks/kro_retina.html

Retina.It est un duo italien formé par Lino Monaco et Nicola Buono. Peu connus, ils opèrent pourtant depuis des années dans le circuit électro et ont déjà une discographie conséquente, essentiellement sur Hefty. Ils ont commencé comme DJs avant de s'orienter vers des choses plus cérébrales. Cet album permet de mesurer leur talent au travers d'une sélection d'archives et de raretés : ils excellent pour ciseler de petites sculptures sonores assez baroques. Electronica mélodieuse, labyrinthique et downtempo. Complexe mais pas abstraite : "Zucchine", "Uriano", "Apeiron", "Vyolinth", "T-UFO", "Zilencer", "Oiu"… Tout un univers, intrigant et séduisant. Un des meilleurs disques de l'année 2007.

By Simone Caronno on 05/10/07 | http://www.rockit.it/pub/r.php?x=00007593

Questa compilation di tracce precedentemente già rilasciate in tiratura limitata offre una visione d'insieme del lavoro proposto dai Retina.it durante il periodo 2001 – 2006. Il flashback viene inaugurato da "Tetsub", traccia d'apertura che si presenta più black di quanto ci si aspetterebbe da un gruppo che ha fatto del minimal il proprio campo da gioco: una base basso e suoni percussivi funk stralunata, fondamenta per architetture costruite da microsamples vocali, droni discreti e suoni tipo microfono panoramico in una voliera.
L'abstract hip hop viene messo da parte in "Comunicazione postmoderna", traccia minimal house ritmicamente decontestualizzata data la cassa sul battere dei quarti che per lo meno serve a ricordare che il duo ha anche passato gli anni '90, IDM compresa.
La prima pausa dal beat compare brevemente con la quarta traccia "Uranio", la cui introduzione lascia pensare ad un'incursione ambient nei suoni riverberati: impressione che viene smentita poco in là da una ritmica terrena e salda, filo conduttore di tutto il lavoro e completamente assente solo nelle atmosfere algide di "Oiu".
E' difficile recensire un album come questo senza citare i soliti grandi nomi della IDM, quei progetti che hanno fatto del suono di sintesi il proprio campo di ricerca. Evito però, per non fare paragoni inutili che sminuirebbero la serietà di uno dei gruppi più interessanti del panorama elettronico italiano.
In sintesi, un ottimo lavoro saldamente ancorato all'etica isolazionista precedente ai più recenti lavori IDM virati popular come "Radical Connector" dei Mouse on Mars o "Multiply" di Jamie Lidell per intenderci. Quell'etica che non riesce a concedersi neppure a mezza frase cantata o ad una linea melodica fischiettabile. Ma del resto è il bello della IDM, no?

By Paul Schlagk on September 07 | http://www.mkzwo.de/home/review.php?sid=1993

Lino Monaco und Nicola Buono, die zusammen unter dem Namen Retina.it auftreten, waren schon Anfang der 90er Teil der italienischen Elektro-Szene. Nach zahlreichen Shows, u.a. als Supportact für Kraftwerk auf dem Neapolis Festival 2005, einer LP und einigen 12“ und Compilation-Beiträgen kommt nun eine Scheibe mit 13 raren, zum teil unveröffentlichten Songs auf den Markt.

Bei den ersten Takten denkt man zwar, der CD-Player hat Leseschwierigkeiten, aber die abgehackte Schnipselei ist Absicht. Nach ein, zwei Minuten setzt dann zumeist eine Klangfläche ein, die dem Ganzen den nötigen Halt gibt. Vorangetrieben werden die Stücke von mechanischen Beats, die teilweise eine gewisse Nähe zum HipHop aufweisen, was das Kopfnicken erleichtert. Das funktioniert mal gut, wie etwa bei „Tetsub“ oder bei „T-UFO“, läuft aber auch öfters mal ins Leere. Sich beim Anhören einer Minimal-Music-CD über die Monotonie zu beschweren wirkt ähnlich bescheuert wie das Ablehnen von verzerrten Gitarren im Death Metal. Dennoch muss ich anmerken, dass mir bei den meisten Tracks einfach zuwenig passiert. Etwas mehr kompositorische, äh, ich meine programmierte Bewegung hätte der Musik gut getan.

By Oscar Brox on September 07 | http://www.supernovapop.com/disco/1378/Semeion-RetinaIt.html

Aunque menos relevante en la escena electrónica internacional, Italia es uno de esos países que cuenta con artistas de calidad contrastada que llevan operando desde mediados de los 90, aunque sus éxitos hayan sido minimizados por la coyuntura histórica que ha rodeado a sellos discográficos de la categoría de Warp o Tresor. Siguiendo la trayectoria de otros artistas ya consolidados como Marco Passarani o D´Arcangelo -estos últimos operando desde Alemania- los ex Qmen, Lino Monaco y Nicola Buono arremeten con su último proyecto, Retina.It contra una escena electrónica que apuesta cada vez más por la integración de la diversidad geográfica en su estructura musical.

Construido en forma de recopilación de trabajos compuestos en un arco temporal que abarca del 2001 al 2006, el disco de Retina.It remite, casi de forma inmediata, a las formas de Autechre, en el sentido de proponer una música intensa, repetitiva, que asfixia y agota en su armazón sonoro a cada escucha que pasa, porque además de progresar, machaca y enfatiza el patrón rítmico de un corte a otro -un poco, en la línea de los alemanes Funkstörung-. A partir de esta base, su obra se desliza a través de diferentes estilos que oscilan entre la IDM, el techno más afilado y ocasionales accesos de hip hop en estado bruto. En este sentido, el disco continúa desarrollando las ideas generadas durante la época de Qmen, que apostaban por una música que consiguiera retener la energía que define a la IDM y al techno, pero acierta al evolucionar el sonido tan rústico y, tal vez, poco refinado de épocas anteriores, gracias a la hábil variación de ritmos -y a la decisiva introducción de breaks, clicks y cuts- que confiere un diseño más versátil y atractivo a una obra en continuo desarrollo. Así, el hype musical que produce la apertura de disco con "Tetsub", se prolonga en el espacio y el tiempo con una cerebral y oscuramente atmosférica "Zucchine Alla Scapece", para concretar la escapada techno en un tercer corte más propio de club como es Pick, que cierra un primer cuarto de disco intenso y energético.

Tal y como está dispuesto el panorama electrónico, no es nada descabellado encontrar aires de familia en los últimos trabajos musicales; y más si tenemos en cuenta lo fuertemente codificados que están géneros como la IDM. Que Retina.It comparta puntos con Autechre e intente integrar un discurso musical de riqueza similar a la que posee la obra de Ricardo Villalobos, con mil y un matices sonoros que, como una superposición constante de capas musicales, dotan de mayor entidad la propuesta; no tiene por qué ser un elemento negativo. Al contrario, se trata de tener en cuenta que la línea fuerte de la electrónica más vanguardista pasa por gente como Villalobos, Kalabrese, Matthew Dear o artistas que hibridan géneros desde una vertiente absolutamente electrónica -Prefuse 73, por ejemplo-; o contaminada por géneros más populares como el pop y el hip hop -como sucede con las últimas y extraordinarias producciones de Timbaland para Björk o Justin Timberlake-. En síntesis, en la mezcla rica en matices está el buen camino. Retina.It, con Semeion apunta en esa dirección.

By Aurelio Cianciotta on September 07 | http://www.neural.it/sound/2007/09/retinait_semeion.phtml (EN) | http://www.neural.it/sound_it/2007/09/retinait_semeion.phtml (IT)

Cuts and frequencies by Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono, also known as Retina.it, a combo with original technoid roots (in the notorious Neapolitan scenes and, for some time, together with Rino Cerrone) which then evolved towards more experimental and glitchy combinations, always with rhythmical &structures not free of future-funky antibodies, marking those genre boundaries that now, with so many electronica productions, try to find a way out of minimalism. In Semeion, they functionally succeed, even though the raw materials aren't very new, skillfully mixing analog and digital fascinating sounds which partly reflect the extreme tensions of their motherland, mysterious and subdued, but also full of energy, romance and passion. It's a collection of atmospheric and hypnotic tracks that confirms the talent of these two artists, whose qualities are maybe underestimated in their home country, but fully recognized abroad.

ITALIANO

Tagli e frequenze quelle di Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono, meglio noti come Retina.it, combo dalle seminali radici tecnoidi (nella famigerata scena napoletana e per qualche tempo a braccetto insieme a Rino Cerrone) poi evolute verso combinazioni maggiormente sperimentali e glicciate, sempre ritmiche nelle strutture, non immuni da anticorpi future-funky, marcando quei confini di genere che adesso nel sovrapporsi di tante produzioni elettroniche, cercano la giusta strada fuori dagli accatastamenti prodotti dal minimal. Ci riescono funzionalmente, in Semeion, se pur rimaneggiando materiale non del tutto recente, abili nella mescola di maniere analogiche e digitali, con suoni di gran fascino, riflettendo in parte delle estreme tensioni della loro terra d'origine, misteriosa e sommessa, ma anche energetica, struggente e passionale. Una raccolta di brani atmosferici, ipnotici, che conferma il talento di questi due produttori, forse sottovalutati in patria ma all'estero riconosciuti nella pienezza delle qualità fino in fondo espresse.

September 07 | http://www.electronicbeats.net/music/cd_reviews/retina_it_semeion_hefty_records

In 2001 I bought their outstanding ‘Volcano Waves 1-8’ album, but somehow lost track of this intriguing electronica act from Italy. ‘Semeion’ now offers a fine collection of rare, previously released original works, as well as exclusive, unreleased tracks. The ‘Volcano Waves 1-8’ LP is compared to this collection sort of darker and more stripped-down Techno. This music is Electronica in the truest sense of the word: covering a wide range of electronic music, from Electro over even Dub-Step-alike rhythms to their stripped-down Techno-approach. My impression is the following: The ludicrous Glitch-Electro-Funk of ‘Tetsup’ with twittering sounds and background crowing carried on a low-key string-alike melody is somewhat deviant. Because after that opener it immerses you in an industrial world – to me reminiscent of Metropolis where exhausted workmen do dehumanising and painful work. But even in such a mechanical and unspiritual cosmos one of the most archaic emotions is given due to human existence: the longing for affection. They keep in their music an extraordinary balance between human being and machine. As much as the machine gives the rhythm, the human element creates warm and deep atmospheres. Rhythmically rather linear and sound-wise multilayered, virtually undetermined like a human mind – partly odd, partly profound. The result is Industrial-Electronica with soul!

By on Agust 07 | http://www.ilmucchio.it/

By Sascha on August 07 | http://www.triggerfish.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9427&Itemid=24

Meister der Reduktion

Den Blick für das Wesentliche nicht zu verlieren ist eine Kunst, die in der Musik nur eine Minderheit beherrscht. Zu den Glücklichen, die zu dieser gehören, können sich Lino Monaco und Nicola Buono aka RETINA.IT zählen.

Auf dieser Werkschau gibt es einen Einblick in das bisherige Schaffen des Duos in Form von raren Tracks und älteren, jedoch bis dato unveröffentlichten Material. RETINA.IT reduzieren elektronische Musik auf drei grundlegende Merkmale: Warme Flächen, minimaler Beat und nicht minder zurückhaltende Melodien.

Klingt erst mal für alle, die sich mit elektronischer Musik jenseits von Blümchen und Co auseinandersetzen, nicht sonderlich aufregend, da durchaus gängig. Die beiden Italiener schaffen es jedoch diese drei Elemente derartig gekonnt zueinander in Beziehung zu setzen, dass man sich nach vergleichbaren Acts durchaus ein wenig umschauen muss. Die frühen Autechre schimmern mehr als einmal durch, hier und da ist eine Prise Coil auszumachen und an manchen Tracks scheint die Unerbittlichkeit des Plastikman´s Pate gestanden zu haben.

Damit jedoch keine Missverständnisse entstehen – RETINA.IT´s Tracks besitzen ihre ganz eigene individuelle Handschrift, die zwar Vergleiche zulässt, jedoch stets unverkennbar ist: Minimal, funky, experimentierwütig.

By Stephanie Kale on Septmber 07 | http://www.exclaim.ca/musicreviews/generalreview.aspx?csid1=114&csid2=848&fid1=27085

Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono are Italian duo Retina.IT, who have been making spacious, stripped down techno for almost a decade. Their recorded songs are not made for the dance floor, although there are flavours of Plastikman’s driving, psychedelic minimalism, instead the morphing, murky, rhythmic textures induce more of a state of abstract armchair contemplation. Semeion is a collection of rare, previously released works, as well as exclusive unreleased tracks. Some are from the Hefty label’s infamous compilation series Immediate Action, while others are singles off of their earlier EPs, giving the listener a feel for the full range of their output. “Tetsub,” an example of some of their recent work, begins the album with snippets of hip-hop-infused vocal samples spilling through the deep, gurgling sub bass and dry, slicing percussion. “Uranio” is a highlight, with its creepy ambience of blistery, gusting wind and chirpy percussion, and a chopped up, funky, slapping bass line breakdown. “Tren Ri Cosi,” a soundtrack for a video done by Claudio Sinatti in 2005, gives way to somewhat sterile psychedelia but quickly warms with a layer of synth-y ambience. Composed uniquely using a variety of analog drum machines and synths, improvising a performance that’s digitally recorded then transferred to the computer for tweeking and final editing, Retina.IT’s work is chock full of groovy beats that linger and develop into steady, poignant rhythms.

ByJuly 07 | http://distorsom.no.sapo.pt/webzine1/webzine07b.html

Retina.It é um duo napolitano composto por Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono – originalmente denominado apenas Retina, mas obrigado a mudar de nome por razões legais – que, desde 2001, se encontra ligado à editora Hefty, de Chicago. Semeion é uma compilação de temas retirados a EPs já esgotados, complementado por material raro ou inédito, dando origem a uma colecção de electrónica peculiar, que nunca recebeu a atenção que merecia. Os treze temas, datados de 2001 a 2006, mostram um som coerente que é um híbrido perfeito de techno austero e IDM com sugestões hip-hop, envolto numa produção esmerada, abstracto mas com o sentido da melodia clássica, apelativo na estrutura e nos samples. Semeion representa agora uma nova oportunidade de contacto com este material que resistiu incólume à passagem dos anos – seis anos, na electrónica, é muito tempo – sendo, simultaneamente, um excelente ponto de partida para a captação de novos ouvintes.

on August 07 | http://www.barcodezine.com/revretinaitsemeion140807.htm

Italian DJ pairing Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono continue to evolve having made their mark on the southern Italian club scene with a string of experimental electronic 12” releases. Italy does not have solid foundations throughout electronic music, let alone within the glitch-based leftfield techno offered on Retina.It’s Semeion. But this album could open a few doors for the band and the Italian scene, if not a smidgen of respect at the very least.

Retina.It produce a gritty, anxious slew of tracks here, sifting through the remnants of minimalist techno and patching it with fragments of melodic electronica. Doffing their cap to Detroit’s techno masters, and in particular leaning on Hawtin’s Plastikmann project for support – Semeion retains a sense of freshness and maybe even relevance in the face of a fairly redundant scene in terms of consumer popularity. This lengthy, angular album, with its crisp digital rhythms and tender melodic shards often makes for compulsive listening, especially as it evades the repetitive brusque that dissolved the genre through over-saturation alone. There’s plenty of vigour and atmosphere here, and a flash of elegance too.

Maybe Semeion works because Retina.It are Italian and their culture naturally throws a new ideology on minimal techno, or maybe because that music reached a peak, nose-dived and now sounds appealing again. If it’s nostalgia you’re after then followers of Detroit Techno’s second wave might regard this as the fourth coming.

on August 07 | http://www.cuemix-magazine.com/cuemix/inhalt.php?image=509

Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono are pioneers of the South Italian electronic scene. They first met as DJ’s in a club in Naples in the beginning of the Nineties and found out that their view on music is nearly the same…. After releasing a few 12” on various Italian and foreign labels as the Qmen they changed their name into Retina.it about 1997. With changing their name their music changed, they felt more attracted by experimental music, but never forgot where they came from. Their music became a hybrid of Electronica, a sort of Hip Hop, based on the rules of Techno and a big portion of funky sounds touched by some soulful hooks. In 2001 they get signed to the Hefty label! Volcano Waves 1-8 was their first long player, which can be named a milestone… a mixture of sounds and styles not heard before. Numerous releases and live gigs followed.
Now with “Semeion”, which can be translated as sign or signum, you receive rare material in your hands, a soundtrack for a Video from Claudio Sinatti, an unreleased track called “Uranio”, and material from EP’s and 12” all recorded from 2001 until 2006.
So how do we call this child? Compilation, …best of… , rare material?
To be honest: I don’t care. This album is bewitching like an album; it captured the essential sound and feelings of Lino and Nicola. You can feel the way they work, every track is a new birth, and a new road they took but never leaving their way. An awesome collection, which could only be done by men with a clear vision. Maybe the secret of Retina.it bewitching music is the fact that they life near one of the most active volcanoes in Europe. I think people in Naples can’t rely that the things you own, created or love. Each morning when they wake up everything can be covered under ashes. And that’s the secret they have to have a plan a vision without leaving their paths. But every day could be a new start…
“Semeion” is a 100% approvable record, not just for fans or collectors also for those who care…

By Andrew Dolton on July 07 | http://www.new-noise.net/album-reviews/retinait/semeion/retinait---semeion_2405.html

"The album exists as a collection of their rare original works and some new material, but whether you come to it fresh or as an expert there is something here that requires an educated listen rather than an open-minded one."

Everybody has different tastes. The world would be a very dull place if everybody liked the same things. For every person that enjoys cauliflower there are plenty of people who think it is the devil’s vegetable. For every person who enjoys the output of daytime Radio 1 there are plenty of others who would rather have root canal surgery all day than listen to a single second of Jo Whiley and musical taste is a great leveller in conversation. You’ll be hard pressed to find an album that is loved by everybody, but there will plenty of albums that can be filed under the acquired taste category.

One such album is 'Semeion' by Retina.It. The album exists as a collection of their rare original works and some new material, but whether you come to it fresh or as an expert there is something here that requires an educated listen rather than an open-minded one. Some could listen to this all day and never understand the point of what they are listening to whereas others will nod appreciatively and almost certainly stroke their chins.

This is dance music you can’t dance to. In fact, it'd be an effort to tap your foot. Here is stripped-back techno til its almost naked, modern electronica as it whooshs and whoops across the soundscape and hip hop in its purest beat form alongside classic melodies and song structures. To the uniniated, it will all sound the same but there is plenty difference to hear here as thought and idea come together for an inspiring listen.

Hefty was the only place this record could have really been released as it fits perfectly into their roster and the label ethos. Anyone who likes the work off Prefuse 73, early Autechre and Plastikman will find things they like here as it stands through influence and new ideas. Enjoy and revel in the fact that you get it and the others don’t.

By August 07 | http://www.djmag.com

August 07 | http://www.oneweektolive.com

By Holly Barnes on August 07 | http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article_album.php?id=5638

Twitchy, minimalist electro rarities from Italian experts Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono, a.k.a RETINA.IT

Newcomers to RETINA.IT (like myself) won’t notice it, but Semeion is a collection of rarities- either brand new or previously released by these two Italian musician producers. That the thirteen tracks that comprise the collection hang together so well is testament to the consistence in quality here and the instinct for set compilation and mood creation that time spent as DJs has given the pair. Particularly in opener Tetsub, the more you listen, the more the sounds begin, for just a moment, to resemble everyday noises morphed into intertwined threads: detuned radios, whistling kettles, bird twitters, the strange knocks and echoes that houses seem to make. The next moment, the more tangible and familiar are gone again and RETINA.IT are back into the abstract. Underneath it all lies a bed of hypnotic (and sometimes almost imperceptible) hip hop heart-beats and electronic twitches.
As with most minimalist electro, the name of the game is repetition and this may grate on some listeners, but most of the tracks here have their own individual mood and characteristics that ensure variety as well as coherence. Zilencer is, as the name might suggest, barely-there whispers and warps, contrasting with the layered, delicate rhythms of Pick. And where Tren ri Cosei and Uranio are fairly paranoid, comprising tripped-out pursuits, closer Civilta Meccanica has a warmer, denser sound, fading into nothingness to finish. The making of this music must have been as much about relying on instinct as on technical knowledge for RETINA.IT, and it is an instinctual response that will govern how you feel about Semeion. Turn it up, listen again and again: does it make you move, or rather- does it move you? My answer would be ‘yes’, but I’m afraid I can’t speak for everyone.

 

By Mike Barnard, 2007-08-02 | http://www.zapbangmagazine.com/music/record_reviews/330/

Italians Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono had a long history of combining heavy rhythms to minimal electronica, with RETINA.IT their most successful project. It has brought their efforts to fine-tune their sound with soft vibrations, warm production and a keen sense of classic melodies, hooks, structures and samples. Semeion is a collection of the rare original works and unreleased tracks designed to introduce them to new ears or polish off fans’ collections. Fans will have no complaints, but, beyond those ready for their stripped down approach to electronic music, it is not the most welcoming of albums.

One for RETINA.IT completists.

Glitchy minimal techno and electronica is an alien music form to most — it’s barely recognisable changes in tone and layering make for a tough ride without the more obvious hooks found in other genres. RETINA.IT don’t like to give many moments of accessibility either: beyond the scattergun beats and vocals of “Tetsub”, the extremely deep and complex “Uranio” and the faster pace “Comunicazione Postmoderna” too many of their tracks fall into ambient meandering. Their dreamy sounds are smoothly produced to a high standard yet become almost indistinguishable at times.

RETINA.IT have been compared to artists such as early Autechre, Plastikman/Richie Hawtin and Prefuse 73, which is high praise indeed. Their live shows have seen them perform entirely improvised sets including Neapolis Festival in 2005 where they opened for Kraftwerk, and Barcelona’s Sonar Festival in 2006 where they were part of a Hefty showcase. But on CD the potential excitement of what they could do live is lost somewhat in a sound that feels far too mild and glossy to ever get a grip. The majority of Semeion feels far too planned and contrived to really become enveloped in Monaco and Buono’s musically intellectual pondering. One for RETINA.IT completists.

 

By Parker Knoll on August 07 | http://www.music-dash.co.uk/releases/release.asp?item=4569

RETINA.IT aka Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono are Italian electro pioneers and “Semeion” is a collection of rare releases and exclusive, unreleased material. Largely spanning their most recent work post-2001, the duo think pretty much outside of the electro box. The cut and paste rhythms are made up of ambient but quite industrial sounding samples. Whilst these jagged snippets create metallic clockwork beats, the synthesisers and other foundation laying sounds are routinely applied with a creative subtly and smoothness. “Apeiron” and album opener “Tetsub” are the tracks that resemble anything remotely near a dance structure, although the exercise here is not aimed at clubs, but rather the construction of emotionally spiked soundtracks. For the better part it works too.

MMM ½

By Jean Jves Leloup on July 07 |

By Laurent Guèrel on July 07 |

By Andrea Benedetti on July/August 07 |

By Rene Passet on July 07 |

By Pawel Gzyl on July 07 | http://www.gaz-eta.vivo.pl/gaz-eta/recenzje/gazeta.php?nr=56&id=21

Lino Monaco i Nicola Buono mieszkaja w Pompejach - niemal u stóp niewygaslego Wezuwiusza. Jak sami twierdza - fakt ten wytwarza niezwykla energie, z której oni dwaj korzystaja przy tworzeniu muzyki. Zaczynali od didzejowania w klubach pobliskiego Neapolu, by potem wraz z Rino Cerrone stworzyc formacje Qmen, wykonujaca minimal techno. Kiedy formula ta znudzila im sie, postanowili juz we dwójke poeksperymentowac z innymi elektronicznymi brzmieniami. Powolali wtedy do zycia duet Retina.It, który zainteresowal swymi dokonaniami amerykanska wytwórnie Hafty. To jej nakladem ukazal sie w 2001 roku debiutancki album formacji - "Volcano.Waves 1-8", a obecnie - kompilacja niepublikowanych nagran z winylowych wydawnictw - "Semeion".
Album rozpoczyna sie od rytmicznych nagran o funkowym groovie - polamane bity maja jednak masywne i metaliczne brzmienie, przypominajac bardziej estetyke IDM niz czarna muzyke taneczna. Wlosi ozdabiaja te breakbeatowe struktury cwierkajacymi syntezatorami ("Tetsub"), glebokimi basami ("Zucchine Alla Scapece"), kasajacymi akordami klawiszy ("Pick") i strumieniami onirycznych dzwieków ("Apeiron"). Dalsza czesc plyty przynosi bardziej eksperymentalne nagrania. Rytmy nie maja juz oczywistego charakteru, czesto sa zredukowane do metalicznych stuków ("T-UFO"), miesistych chrzestów i chrobotów ("Tren Ri Cosei") czy zbasowanego dudnienia ("Oiu"). Zmienia sie równiez brzmienie syntezatorów - staje sie bardziej mroczne, przypominajac analogowe dzwieki charakterystyczne dla wczesnego industrialu spod znaku Throbbing Gristle ("Zilencer") czy Cabaret Voltaire ("Civitas Meccanica").
Wszystko to tworzy mroczna i futurystyczna atmosfere balansujaca miedzy toksyczna psychodelia póznego Coila a matematycznymi strukturami rytmicznymi Autechre.

July 07 | http://www.bofal.nl/weblog/pivot/archive.php?c=CD_aanraders

Bij Hefty Records kwam ik deze heerlijke nieuwe relase tegen. Retina.It is een duo (Lino Monaco en Nicola Buono) dat warme minimalistische klik muziek maakt in hun studio net achter de oude stad van Pompeii. Semeion is een verzameling 12"-es die eindelijk op cd zijn uitgebracht. Hefty Records weet nog te vermelden dat al hun ideetjes en inspiatie eerst op ouderwetse DAT wordt opgenomen en later wordt verwerkt op de computers. De voorproefjes klinken in ieder geval erg fijn. Hebbehebbehebbe dus...

By cj •••• on July 07| http://www.de-bug.de/reviews/31740.html

In einem neapolitanischen Club trafen sich Lino Monaco und Nicola Bruno einst. Daraus entwickelte sich nicht nur ihr Projekt Retina.it, sondern praktisch eine ganze Szene in Süditalien, die um minimale Electronica kreist. Flaggschiff bleiben Retina.it, auch, weil sie so unspektakulär HipHop, Experiment, Electronica und auch Techno vermengen. Und so herrlich hinter den Tracks verschwinden. Das ist nicht wenig in Zeiten der Postpostmoderne und des Pop-Neokonservatismus. Das Duo versammelt hier Tracks aus 2001 bis 2006. Diese CD ist also nicht neu und doch auch. Denn vieles ist rar oder unveröffentlicht. Viel wichtiger, es ist funky kopflastig (oder umgekehrt).

By hardmate on July 07| http://www.scenite.de/blog/?p=376

Einst waren die zwei Jungs, die hinter Retina.it stecken mit Rino Cerrone als “Qmen” unterwegs und hatten damals eher heftige Rhythmen für die Tanzflure im Gepäck. Mittlerweile sind sie mit ihrem Retina.it Projekt auf experimentelleren Faden unterwegs - und das erfolgreich. Auf „Semeion“ findet sich eine kleine Zusammenstellung veröffentlichter und bisher unveröffentlichter Tracks, die alle eins gemeinsam haben – sie haben den Funk. Die trocken staksenden Beats und das was drum herum passiert wirkt beim ersten Hören recht leer, aber je weiter die CD fortschreitet, desto mehr finden Ohr und Beine Gefallen an dieser Musik und desto mehr passiert innen drin. Mit der Trackreihenfolge ist auch ein toller Spannungsbogen garantiert. Kein Wunder dass z.B. auch Richie und Ricardo aber auch Autechre bekennende Fans sind und Retina.it sogar schon vor Kraftwerk auftraten. Ein großes Werk. (BSCH)

July 07|

July 07| http://londonmilk.blogspot.com/

Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono first met in the mid nineties while they were both DJs in a club in Naples, Italy. They began making music as the Qmen, before turning to more experimental musical forms as Retina.IT. This resulted in a first series of EPs and an album, Volcano Waves 1-8, for Chicago imprint Hefty, all published in 2001. Since, there have been sporadic releases, including a few compilation appearances, a handful of remixes, an album released under the Resina moniker, and a second, self-titled album, released in 2003 and 2004 respectively, on their own Mousike Lab imprint.

Semeion is not a totally new body of work as most of the thirteen tracks collected here have previously been published on various EPs released between 2001 and 2006. Only two tracks have never been released before, and a third one was commissioned for the soundtrack for a video by Claudio Sinatti, which was presented at the 2005 edition of the Videominuto festival.

Monaco and Buono create elegant minimal electronic formations over typically linear beats, with occasional found sounds softening the overall angular approach. Retina.IT often build their compositions around very few elements at a time, focussing primarily on the impact of each sound on the mood of a piece and how each new component affects its balance. Yet, with so little to play with, Monaco and Buono manage to craft rather funky and hypnotic little numbers with irresistible grooves tucked away in every corner. Tracks such as Pick, Uranio or Violynth force their way through futuristic dance floors with rather sharp electronics and angular rhythmic sequences, while elsewhere, the pulsating beats and bass found on Zilencer, Per Assurdo or Civilta Meccanica, combined with sparse noises evoke experimental early sixties TV sci-fi.

At times, the pair take stock, step back and invest their energy into slightly denser compositions. On Apeiron or T-UFO for instance, they carves complex rhythmic formations deep into beautiful haunting soundscapes, revealing a more meditative and atmospheric side of their music, while On Zucchine Alla Scapece, these hypnotic washes are applied in more subtle fashion as the pair work a lone drone against which they hang delicate processed vocal samples to emphasise the melancholic tone of the piece.

Semeion presents an interesting cross section of the work produced by Retina.IT in the last six years. While the band has remained rather the shadow of bigger electronic acts, Semeion demonstrates the consistency of the music produced over the years and how the pair have developed and strengthened their sound.

text Luca Galli - July 07|

By Brendax on July 07 | http://www.basebog.it/albumreview.asp?IDRecord=545&IDUtente=13

Terza uscita per Retina.it sempre sotto l'ala bella e rassicurante di Hefty Records della ventosa Chicago. Si tratta qui di una raccolta di 12'', inediti, singoli lasciati da parte, pezzi messi insieme tra il 2001 e il 2006 che vivono da soli ma che accorpati in un disco segnano la prosecuzione di un lavoro iniziato con 'Vulcano Waves'.
In alcuni casi si tratta di materiale sviluppato interamente in digitale, ma più spesso le tracce nascono dalla commistione di registrazioni archiviate nel tempo, suoni che spesso risuonano lontani. Sotto l'ombra lunga del vulcano (lo studio di produzione è sempre a Pompei) risuona ancora più marcata la stilistica che li ha fatti conoscere oltre confine: un'elettronica che trae ispirazione dalla ritmica pulita del suono teutonico ma che sulla batteria sa costruire e svolazzare con atteggiamento sbarazzino. A chi ha un orecchio fino risuonerà deliziosa la vena funcky di pezzi forse usciti fuori per caso come il primo 'Tetsub' o l'incastro elegante di campioni in 'Uranio' (una traccia con un significato oltre la musica). Si tratta come sempre di un'arte nella costruzione e il sacrificio quasi totale della vena melodica viene ripagato da un minimalismo sfogato all'estremo nell'articolazione delle batterie e dell'ambientazione sonora che le circonda (anche se, a ben vedere, in 'T-UFO' e 'Apeiron' si consumano diverse eccezioni alla regola). Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono non hanno pubblicato con 'Semeion' un contributo rivoluzionario per la scena elettronica, ma è come dire che le t-shirt stanno andando fuori moda. La loro, è una maglietta da tenere sempre nei primi cassetti.

By Patrick Sisson on June 19, 2007 | http://www.urb.com/reviews/cd/feature.php?ReviewId=424

Grinding out tracks in a studio in the shadows of Mt. Vesuvius, Italian producers Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono know a bit about preservation and grim beauty. This singles compilation unearths older examples of the duo’s simmering mid-tempo techno, accented with a darker, ADULT.-like vibe and gentle scrapes and clicks.

July 07| http://www.suburban-lab.com/

Lino Monaco y Nicola Buono son uno de los dúos más respetados de la electrónica y, en buena parte, catalizadores de la escena italiana desde que empezaron a pinchar a primeros de los 90 en Nápoles y sobre todo desde que establecieron su sello Mousikelab. A su primera aparición en el recopilatorio "Immediate Action" siguió la edición en el sello de Chicago Hefty de su primer disco "Volcano Waves 1-8" en el que daban rienda suelta a su concepción de la música electrónica, construyendo melodías minimalistas sobre ritmos rotos y samples en una producción cálida y vibrante, con toques de hip hop pero también de funky profundo, cambiando continuamente los ángulos desde los que podía analizarse su música. Ahora, desde su estudio en Pompeya, la ciudad a los pies del Vesuvio, y ocupando todo el tiempo libre que reclaman sus negocios familiares (sin segundas intenciones), han volcado en su nuevo disco una gran energía y armados con un dat como único instrumento analógico, han sabido darle empaque y buen cuerpo a este disco con la técnica del cut-and-paste.

http://www.aidabet.com/issues/286/286reviews.html#RETINA

A collection of odds and ends from this Italian outfit. Most of the tracks here appeared on earlier EPs or digital-only albums, so this is their first "wide" availability. The sound is strikingly minimalist electronic fare, with an emphasis on playful rhythms. Austere, to be sure, but somehow still warm to the ear. If there's a way for this kinda stuff to sound jaunty, this does. If you're still trying to place the sound, think somewhere between 70s krautronica (Like that? I'm not sure I do) and late 80s techno. Never overbearing...hell, this stuff is so unassuming that it could serve as background music. Of course, if you didn't actually listen to it, you'd be missing everything.And there is a lot to hear. Given the genesis of the tracks, this isn't really a particularly cohesive album. But the songs within are as intriguing as anything you'll hear this year.

By Matthieu on 23/06/2007 | http://www.bokson.net/electro/chronique/2552.html

C'est quand ils officiaient tous les deux à Naples, en tant que Dj dans les boîtes de la ville au milieu des années 90, que Lino Monaco et Nicola Buono se sont découverts beaucoup de points communs et ont décidé de se lancer ensemble dans l'aventure Retina.It. Désormais résidents de Pompéi, les deux compères semblent totalement à l'image d'une ville touchée par une véritable énergie naturelle dont le volcan n'est que le meilleur exemple, à la différence qu'ils parviennent à l'utiliser de manière concrète, ce que peu d'habitants parviennent à faire à cause d'une situation économique désastreuse. Ce qui nous amène à "Semeion", ce troisième album zigzaguant entre techno, electronica, quelques touches hip hop, ambiances profondes et subtilement funky, dont le tracklisting est composé d'extraits de maxis, de réalisations uniquement destinées au digital à l’origine, et d'autres sauvés de longues sessions d'enregistrement un temps oubliées. Car Retina.It compose, improvise, enregistre le tout sur DAT avant de le transférer sur un ordinateur et retravailler le tout, pour arriver à cette patte somme toute personnelle, riche en rythmique, en production chaleureuse et en mélodies lointaines et immergées mais clairement indispensables. S'ils sont à rapprocher de Ricardo Villalobos, Richie Hawtin, Autechre ou Prefuse 73 pour n'en citer que quelques-uns, les deux Italiens ne parviennent encore pas à les égaler. Ce qui ne veut pas dire pour autant que "Semeion" ne mérite pas votre attention...

July07 | http://www.fusion3.com/works/HEFTY063CD/

LINO MONACO and NICOLA BUONO helped trail-blaze a budding electronic scene in southern Italy during the first part of the 1990’s. They first met as respective DJs at a Neapolitan club and after finding that they had similar tastes and aspirations, promptly began collaborating. Performing as the Qmen, along with a third member, Rino Cerrone, their early music was defined by heavy rhythms and minimal electronica elements. After a string of 12-inches released with various Italian and foreign labels, Lino and Nicola became interested in making more experimental recordings. They changed their name to RETINA (more recently revised to “RETINA.IT”) and for the next four years, they devoted themselves to the research and development of uncharted sound solutions while seeking to retain the energy and essence of their previous work.

In 2001, the fruits of their labour surfaced on wax as the fourth installment in HEFTY RECORDS’ now legendary Immediate Action 12-inch vinyl series and their premiere LP, entitled “Volcano Waves 1-8” soon followed. It is on this release that RETINA.IT fine-tuned their rhythmic vibrations, warm / full production and keen sense of classic melodies, hooks, structures, and samples. Their sound is a perfect hybrid of stripped techno, modern electronica with hints of hip-hop shining through, yet never forgetting to remain funky and deep.

RETINA.IT continues to explore the boundaries of digital music and propose alternative perspectives in sound. They strive to change the angles from which it becomes possible to examine electronic matter. Their unique analog/digital process consists of performing and improvising all of their material to DAT, which is later transferred to the computer and re-edited. Their live sets, often entirely improvised, are not to be missed. The duo has performed at numerous festivals, including 2001’s Sintesi Festival (from the cathedral of St. Severo al Pendino), the Neapolis Festival in 2005, where they opened for Kraftwerk, and most recently, in Barcelona as part of the Hefty Records showcase at Sonar, 2006.

RETINA.IT's studio exists beside the ancient city of Pompeii, the city that was buried under the ash of the Vesuvio volcano 2000 years ago. Both men work daily in family shops where Mt. Vesuvius and the intense energy that resonates within the people living in the shadows of the legendary volcano consistently inspires them. Lino explains that the people there have great energy, but because of the poor economic situation and cultural struggles, they can't turn it into positive activity. He elaborates that he has a great fascination with the historic region, which is a big influence on RETINA.IT’s abstract, yet engaging, sound.

July07 | http://www.dgr.se/Product.php?id=7483

LINO MONACO and NICOLA BUONO helped trail-blaze a budding electronic scene in southern Italy during the first part of the 1990’s. They first met as respective DJs at a Neapolitan club and after finding that they had similar tastes and aspirations, promptly began collaborating. Performing as the Qmen, along with a third member, Rino Cerrone, their early music was defined by heavy rhythms and minimal electronica elements. After a string of 12-inches released with various Italian and foreign labels, Lino and Nicola became interested in making more experimental recordings. They changed their name to RETINA (more recently revised to “RETINA.IT”) and for the next four years, they devoted themselves to the research and development of uncharted sound solutions while seeking to retain the energy and essence of their previous work.

In 2001, the fruits of their labour surfaced on wax as the fourth installment in HEFTY RECORDS’ now legendary Immediate Action 12-inch vinyl series and their premiere LP, entitled “Volcano Waves 1-8” soon followed. It is on this release that RETINA.IT fine-tuned their rhythmic vibrations, warm / full production and keen sense of classic melodies, hooks, structures, and samples. Their sound is a perfect hybrid of stripped techno, modern electronica with hints of hip-hop shining through, yet never forgetting to remain funky and deep.

RETINA.IT continues to explore the boundaries of digital music and propose alternative perspectives in sound. They strive to change the angles from which it becomes possible to examine electronic matter. Their unique analog/digital process consists of performing and improvising all of their material to DAT, which is later transferred to the computer and re-edited. Their live sets, often entirely improvised, are not to be missed. The duo has performed at numerous festivals, including 2001’s Sintesi Festival (from the cathedral of St. Severo al Pendino), the Neapolis Festival in 2005, where they opened for Kraftwerk, and most recently, in Barcelona as part of the Hefty Records showcase at Sonar, 2006.

RETINA.IT's studio exists beside the ancient city of Pompeii, the city that was buried under the ash of the Vesuvio volcano 2000 years ago. Both men work daily in family shops where Mt.Vesuvius and the intense energy that resonates within the people living in the shadows of the legendary volcano consistently inspires them. Lino explains that the people there have great energy, but because of the poor economic situation and cultural struggles, they can't turn it into positive activity. He elaborates that he has a great fascination with the historic region, which is a big influence on RETINA.IT’s abstract, yet engaging, sound.

Semeion is a collection of rare, previously released original works, as well as exclusive, unreleased works. It’s a wonderful, cohesive listen for longtime fans and a great starting point for newcomers alike. Recommended to fans of RICARDO VILLALOBOS, PLASTIKMAN / RICHIE HAWTIN, COIL, early AUTECHRE, PACO OSUNA, PREFUSE 73, FUNCKARMA, etc.

By Dan Hájek on 21.06.2007 | http://musicserver.cz/clanek.php?id=19046

Postmoderní pohled zpoza Vesuvu
Z kraje devadesátých let se Lino Monaco a Nicola Buono vypracovali na vyhledávané dýdžeje neapolské scény. Prvním projektem se stal Qmen, ve kterém spolecne s Rino Cerrone vydali nekolik dvanáctipalcu na ruzných, nejenom italských labelech. Po této zkušenosti se Lino a Nicola vydali smerem k zevrubnejší alchymii a zacala je zajímat abstrakce zvuku; svuj sound postupne vystaveli na hybridu techna a electra. Jejich hudební obzor se rozširoval hloubkovými ponory do neprobádaných kraju a fanouškovské rady se zacaly rozširovat. Coby Retina.it (myspace.com) predložili svetu skrze Hefty! Records sérii vinylu "Immediate Action", z nichž je vetšina ve stavu sold-out. Debutová deska "Volcano.Waves 1-8" z roku 2001 znamenala malou revoluci ve svém oboru. Oba dodnes žijí pod Vesuvem, venují se muzice a letošek si vyhranili pro pohled zpátky.
Základ "Semeion" je postaven na dnes již nesehnatelných épéckách vydaných na klasických cerných deskách. Všechny tracky prošly ocistným procesem a je to témer dokonalá badatelská výprava. Více jak hodina experimentálních rovin zvuku a samplu vás provede skrze "Manifesto EP", "Nulla EP", "Immediate Action #002" a "Immediate Action # 009". K dobru jsou dríve nevydané kompozice "Uranio" (2006), "T-UFO" (2001) nebo krátká soundtracková záležitost k videu Claudia Sinattiho "Tren Ri Cosei" (2005).

Pokud ujíždíte na ranních Autechre, Plastikmanovi, Richardu Villalobosovi nebo projektu Funckarma, budete pri poslechu "Semeion" chrochtat blahem. Partáci Nicola a Lino jsou sehraní a jejich minimalistická instrumentace, niterní sampling a italský duvtip vedle sebe fungují jak presne serízené hodinky. "Zucchine Alla Scapece" pulsuje v temnejším odéru a prvne publikovaná "T-UFO" vás vtáhne do rytmu; podobných vychytávek tu je ale vícero. Toto cédécko však nefunguje jako best of album, spíše je to na jednom míste seskupená prezentace vecí vydaných hlavne v roce 2001, kdy tato dvojka chrlila jeden release za druhým.

A pak že jsou špagetáci jen nudnými a ucaprtanými popari! Retina.it je mrštnou a predsudky vyvracející odpovedí, možná i dokladem, že italská klubová scéna má taktéž své vyslance. "Semeion" zároven poteší fandy, kterí marne shánejí zrušené tituly; zde je dostanou na jednom disku pekne vedle sebe.

By Maxence on 04.07.07 | http://musique.fluctuat.net/blog/18056-metamatics-norken-et-retina-it-let-it-bleep.html

Metamatics, Norken et Retina.it : Let it Bleep

Les amateurs d'un certain son electronica intemporel, celui des 90's, peuvent se réjouir, deux best of de ce que je nommerais "classic electronica", sortent quasi simultanément ces jours-ci : My Favourite Kind of Irrelevance, réunissant le meilleur de Metamatics et Norken et Semeion des Italiens de Retina.it. Nous avons déjà tout dit, ou presque, de Lee Norris de Metamatics (et Norken) à Fluctuat. Un "best of" d'un artiste aussi productif semble pourtant étrange et aura de quoi étonner les plus "aware" d'entre vous, mais le travail de l'Anglais étant pléthorique, il est vrai que My Favourite Kind of Irrelevance peut se présenter comme une parfaite introduction. Celui dont les médias disent qu'il incarne "le meilleur d'Aphex Twin quand celui-ci décide de composer des mélodies", est l'auteur de pas moins d'une douzaine d'albums sous différents pseudonymes et le bonhomme n'est pas réputé pour ces "tubes". Ce n'est pas le genre. Difficile donc, de choisir dans cette production ce qui s'imposera comme des morceaux emblématiques aux yeux (aux oreilles ?) de ses auditeurs. Reste que Lee Norris, reste l'un des derniers fers de lance de cette electronica rêveuse et racée que nous encensions au milieu des années 90, à l'époque glorieuse des Plaid, LFO, Bola et autres Isan. Une époque et des sentiments que My Favourite Kind of Irrelevance réveille en nous de manière doucement nostalgique. Il faut dire que Norris n'a pas son pareil pour les ambiances et l'évocation de paysages synthétiques. Quand l'Anglais ne démontre pas sa science du break beat ("Man-Q-Neons"), il déroule un tapis sans fin de mélodies fractales (le grandiose "Here to Go (Days Are Gone)") et échafaude des cathédrales de bulles de savon ("So Many Ways"). Un palais des glaces dans lequel on trouve aussi une relecture très personnelle du "Personnal Jesus" de Depeche Mode, "Free Robots", une collaboration avec le pionnier de la synth-pop John Foxx, fondateur de la première mouture d'Ultravox! (avec le point d'exclamation) ou "Do it", un remix de A1 People. Autres moments forts : les joyaux pulsés aux harmonies plaintives composées sous le nom de Norken ("Motor Breeze", "Ty Canal" et "Southern Soul"), le groove cybernétique de "Motor Breeze" (Norken toujours) et les flirts poussés avec l'ambient ("Blue Water" ou "East"). Une question demeure : Comment Warp a-t-il pu passer à côté de tout cela à l'époque ? Dans une veine proche des travaux de Norris, Lino Monaco et Nicola Buono, duo italien à l'origine de Retina.it, réunissent avec Semeion une sélection de tracks initialement dispersés sur divers maxis, tous parus chez Hefty Records. Retina.it compose autour d'un son de basse nettement plus monolithique que Metamatics mais cultive le même amour pour le groove abstrait et les mélodies subtiles ("Pick", "Civilta Meccanica"). A la manière du Autechre des débuts, Retina.it parsème ses compositions de références electro funk audibles sur "Violynth" et d'influence hip hop ("Apeiron"), voir booty techno. De cet héritage le duo tire des morceaux hybrides, souvent sombres aux ambiances franchement envoûtantes (voir le prenant "Zucchine Alla Scapece"). Et quand ils s'expriment dans un domaine plus "techno" (comprendre, "à la Pan Sonic"), Monaco et Buono sont carrément saisissants. A l'écoute de "Per Assurdo" ou "Comunicazione Postmoderna", on comprend que le duo soit porté aux nues par des outsiders du dancefloor comme Ricardo Villalobos, Richie Hawtin, ou leur collègues electronica de Funckarma et Autechre.

Metamatics & Norken - My Favourite Kind of Irrelevance (Hydrogen Dukebox/La Baleine, jullet 2007)
Retina.it - Semeion (Hefty/La Baleine, juin 2007 )

20-06-2007 11:13 by Giosuè Impellizzeri | http://www.disc-jockey.it/2/index.php?m=single&id=603&PHPSESSID=e214e1cf5722ddd16bf383be87745d46

La collection dei RETINA.IT
Iniziano a comporre musica elettronica nei primi anni novanta avvicinandosi al suono romano promosso dai gemelli D'Arcangelo fatto di spezzettamenti farciti di effetti e rumori. Sono gli italiani Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono, inizialmente affiancati da Rino Cerrone nel progetto Qmen, tra i primi esempi di electronica made in Naples.Trasformatisi prima in Retina e successivamente in Retina.It i due musicisti sono devoti ad un suono sperimentale che in Italia nessuno ha mai preso troppo sul serio se non i veri cultori di uno stile anticonformista che mira più alla sperimentazione che alla vendibilità.Ad interessarsi alla loro musica è infatti la mitica Hefty di Chicago fondata da John Hughes III aka Slicker che, oltre a pubblicare una serie di 12", mette le mani sull'album "Volcano Waves 1-8" edito nel 2001 e nato da un ibrido tra techno, hip-hop, electronica, funk e deep. In questi giorni la stessa label mette in commercio "Semeion" con cui il duo esplora i meandri della musica digitale proponendo valide alternative che si mostrano alle orecchie dell'ascoltatore come possibili nuove visuali sull'evoluzione elettronica.Improvvisazioni registrate di getto su dat e poi trasferite su computer per essere editate rappresentano il punto d'inizio per la musica dei Retina.It, il primo anello di una catena che oggi trova modo di chiudersi attraverso una vera e propria raccolta di rarità, esclusive ed inediti particolarmente indicati a coloro che supportano la musica di Ricardo Villalobos, Richie Hawtin ed Autechre.Da Pompei, nota in tutto il mondo per l'eruzione del Vesuvio risalente al 79 dc, i Retina.It ci mandano un lavoro complesso da cui si ergono pezzi come "Tetsub" e "Zucchine Alla Scapece" in cui si manifesta vivido l'amore per il glitch e le concatenazioni dub a cui si aggiungono "Tren Ri Cosei", composta come soundtrack per un video di Claudio Sinatti, le inedite "Uranio" e "T-Ufo" e le gemme che segnarono il loro ingresso in Hefty (nel 2001) come "Per Assurdo", "Comunicazione Postmoderna" e "Civiltà Meccanica", tutte pronte a sottolineare la lotta dei Retina.It contro i cliché e le prevedibilità.Sono loro i veri anticipatori italiani di un certo tipo di glitch che oggi, grazie a molti artisti tedeschi, è riuscito a penetrare con forza nel settore della dance.

July 07 | http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=36769

The Italian production duo of Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono have been releasing records under the Retina.IT moniker for quite some time now (they were originally simply called Retina, but had to change the name for legal reasons), and since 2001 have been releasing with Chicago's omnipresent Hefty label. This latest disc collects the very best of the now long gone Hefty EPs and puts them together with some unreleased and rare material to create a diverse collection of quite singular electronica. I know electronica might be a dirty word right now, but there was a time when we were literally flooded with great material, and Retina.IT were always just under the waves, never quite receiving the attention they deserved. Hopefully things will be different this time around, certainly the music is interesting enough - the duo manage to distance themselves from the bland world of laptop bedroom producers by using real analogue gear and improvising, letting the music dictate its own path. This kind of ethic really pays off and leaves us with some seriously odd music - somewhere inbetween the minimalist dancefloor tomfoolery of Ricardo Villalobos and the abstract insanity of Autechre. Just check 'Uranio' for proof of this; with spooked, groaning pad sounds in the distance Monaco and Buono build up intense echoing rhythms with enough groove to make you shake your feet a little. It's powerful stuff and surprisingly forward thinking considering most of the material is over five years old. Hungry for electronic music? Well you're looking in the right place, Retina.IT provide the goods.

ByDJ Gio MC-505 on 06.07 | http://www.technodisco.it/2007/06/christianfischerclubtechcd/

Retina.It “Semeion” (Hefty): prima formano, con Rino Cerrone, i Qmen, poi diventano i Retina e successivamente i Retina.It: si tratta di Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono, inseguitori di un suono fatto di spezzettamenti farciti di effetti e rumori che, dal 2001, trova appoggio sulla mitica Hefty. “Semeion” è una raccolta di rarità ed inediti come “Uranio” e “T-Ufo” oltre a gemme che segnarono il loro ingresso nella label di Chicago (”Per Assurdo”, “Comunicazione Postmoderna” e “Civiltà Meccanica”) pronte a sottolineare la lotta dei Retina.It contro i cliché e le prevedibilità. Sono loro i veri anticipatori italiani di un certo tipo di glitch che oggi, grazie a molti artisti tedeschi, è riuscito a penetrare con forza nel settore della dance.

By Andy Hermann on 06.21.07 | http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,4115457,00.html

Retina.IT certainly don't sound like they're from Italy. There's nothing languid or romantic in their frigid breakbeats and glitchy, minimal techno, and unless maybe your name is Hannibal Lechter, you certainly wouldn't wash down the menacing synths of "Zucchine alla Scapece" (translation: zucchini cooked in vinegar) with a nice glass of Chianti.

The production team of Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono have been releasing their sparse-yet-spacey electronica on the Hefty label since 2001, and Semeion functions as a greatest-hits of sorts, compiling all their best material from various EPs and compilations, plus a handful of unreleased tracks. The oldest tracks here, "Apeiron" and "T-UFO," show the duo's roots in Goa trance and UK glitchcore artists like Squarepusher and Aphex Twin, but most of the disc is a refreshingly original take on minimalist electronica, where weird, otherworldly sounds bump up against unexpected touches of funk. Among the many highlights are the creepily infectious "Uranio," which unfolds like the soundtrack to a zombie dance party, and the piercing, pulsating "Oiu," whose hard-edged synths have the sleek lines and gleaming surfaces of a Lamborghini. Come to think of it, maybe Retina.IT do sound Italian.

July 2007 | http://www.textura.org/reviews/bermon_retinait.htm

Hailing from Perth, Australia, Victor Bermon presents thirteen inviting organic tracks on his debut album Arriving at Night (he previously appeared alongside Retina.IT and Samadha on the Immediate Action #009 12-inch). Melodic constructions like “Farewell Lunch for Laura” and “We Face Each Other” waft in on a warm breeze of hazy acoustic guitars and lightly skipping beats. At certain moments, his music suggests a potential hip-hop-influenced direction (“On This Night”) but Bermon typically resists the urge and opts for a less frenetic amalgam that's more Savath + Savalas-styled ambient placidity (“Unprepared,” for example, is a particularly lulling moodscape) than a Prefuse 73-flavoured urban soundtrack. Though beats are present, they're more like afterthoughts in this sometimes subtly glitch-laden context, with the emphasis on acoustic guitar flutter, sunlit electronics, piano, and vibes. All of which makes Bermon's music stylistically kin to similarly tranquil collections like Keith Kenniff's Helios and Goldmund outings Eingya and Corduroy Road. Arriving at Night proves that becalmed needn't mean embalmed.

The 70-minute Semeion suggests that Retina.IT (Italy-based Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono), by comparison, is all about beats. Interestingly, after Monaco and Buono met as DJs at a Neapolitan club in the ‘90s, they began collaborating and eventually formed Qmen (with third member Rino Cerrone), an outfit whose material was defined by heavy rhythms and minimal electronica elements—much like the Retina.IT sound of today. The duo's current approach consists of performing and improvising all of their material to DAT, which they later transfer to the computer and re-edit into a stripped-down, funky electronic-techno hybrid. All of which sounds fantastic, and would be, if the duo crafted melodic structures as compelling as their impeccably tight beat constructions. Too much of the over-long Semeion (a collection of unreleased and previously-issued cuts from various 2001-06 EPs) is bereft of melody, making the tracks sound like sleek background music; too often, the listener waits in vain for something to happen and a dramatic compositional structure or development to declare itself but it doesn't happen. In those cases, though, where there is development, the group's polished and propulsive material impresses, like in “T-UFO” where a synth melody punctuates an intensifying two-toned attack, in “Apeiron” where a jazzy keyboard melody floats overtop the tune's swinging funk, and in “Uranio” where voice edits alternate with keyboard intricacy, commanding attention. Admittedly, too, even when a track is primarily about rhythm, it's sometimes so infectious (“Violynth”) and the activity level so engrossing (“Per Assurdo”) that the relative absence of melodic elements is something one can overlook.

 

By da bookman on May 7 | http://www.musicforamerica.org/node/114160

Retina.It are also from Italy, but in their case they are an electronica duo, playing what they call "minimalist electronica". Semeion will appeal to fans who are into Jan Jelinek, The ORB, Coldcut, and early Kraftwerk, combine them and you have a very small hint into Retina.It's sound.

Even though there are 13 songs on the CD, I listened to it as 13 divisions of a whole. It felt that way as one song moves into the other, and you don't want to press stop or even look at the song titles. You will hear pulsations of the bloops and bleeps, but there's a level of warmth that they put into their music, where one may want to chill out or listen to at 3am while going into "the zone". Everything on this album is beautiful, and I'm sure all of this enhanced when they perform these works live.

By lmnop on May | http://babysue.com/2007-May-LMNOP-Reviews.html#anchor30747

The folks at Hefty Records have a great ear for picking out some of the most unusual and original electronic artists around...and they've certainly hit the bull's eye again with Retina.IT. The band is the duo consisting of Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono. Rather than create club music or techno trash, these two individuals compose electronic music that has its own unique flavor and sound. Simeion serves as an introduction to Retina.IT. The CD features previously released and unreleased tracks...but due to some rather precise mastering, as a whole the album flows very smoothly. Monaco and Buono seem to draw their inspiration from various decades and locales...making it difficult to describe the music. Elements of ambience, techno, scratch, and cut-and-paste all find their way into these tracks. While not for everyone, Semeion is certainly an acquired taste for a specific eclectic audience. Uniquely crafted stuff. (Rating: 5+)

25.10. 2004 | http://www.intro.de

Angenehm out of Kontext und toll: Retina.It verzaubern mit Listening der alten Schule. Vier Maxisingles auf Hefty Records, nun gar ein eigenes Label? Da scheinen Leute es definitiv wissen zu wollen. Und einen großen Haufen Material auf Halde zu haben. Diese Halde befindet sich in Süditalien, Pompeji, genauer gesagt, das hauptsächlich durch ein auf Film gebanntes, ultrapsychedelisches Pink Floyd-Konzert und den benachbarten Vulkan bekannt wurde. Zeit also für ein neues Kapitel in Sachen Unterhaltung: Lino Monaco und Nicola Buono, die Mitglieder von Retina.It, hauen auf ihrem neugegründeten Label gleich zwei CDs raus. Beide hinterlassen den Eindruck spontaner Improvisation - der Flow klingt nach Echtzeit. Auf der ersten, ›Opinio Omnium‹, zollen sie Autechre, dem übermächtigen Einfluss, ein kleines bisschen viel Tribut, frickeln an rumpelig-schmirgelnden Beats herum, ohne sich gross ums melodische Beiwerk zu kümmern, was die Platte ein wenig karg und unfertig erscheinen lässt. Auf der zweiten, selbstbetitelten CD zeigen Retina.It dann, was sie wirklich draufhaben: geheimnisvoll sein, den Hörer erst mal im Track ankommen lassen, bevor sie dann irgendwann zwischen hypnotischen Beats und einsamen Sequenzermelodien die magischen Flächen bringen, auf die man instinktiv gewartet hat. Das machen die beiden Ragazzi so geschickt in Sachen Timing, dass man ihnen sogar verzeiht, dass hin und wieder ein riskantes Instrument, das Didgeridoo nämlich, als tragendes Element in die Spur gepackt wird. Organisch-elektronische Musik, von der wir uns liebend gern ins weite Reich der Träume holen lassen.

http://www.fakezine.tk/

i already know retina.it. from their previous stuff released on hefty. now after three years they are back with this release that assembles tracks written from 2001 till now. this release is made with digital geometries, analogical sounds and organic beats, more than with real and typical simply rhythms. organic beats, minimalistic moody electronics, clicks, hums, deep bass… sometimes there are idm like melodies, but it is still more into minimalistic, clicks and cuts oriented electronics. even there are microsoundish moments. sometimes dark melodies and electronics are covering weird bass lines and abstract rhythm. there are beats and strict rhythms in bigger part of the release, but this music practically still isn’t intended for dance floors, except if you are on some party equipped with open minded people, introspected deep into them selves and into music. as they should always be. at the end this release shows that italian electronic scene is on the track to the international music tendencies. just keep on moving.

Chile | http://www.sobras.com/perdidos/centro.html

Ya llegó el saludo enviado por los integrantes de Retina.It para mostrar este nuevo trabajo de Lino Monaco y Nicola Buono, electronica minimalista, llevo de recovecos, subbajos por doquier, reminiscencias de Torocorot, algo de ADN, Tarwater y en fin. Estos italianos se codean en compilados y festivales con lo mas granado de la avanzada: Leafcutter John, Carsten Nicolai, savat+savalas, telefon tel aviv y un largo etcetera.

Txt: tachapati | http://www.manamana.hu

Adva van egy csodás lemezborító (korallokat ábrázol), aztán ez a név: Retina.it, majd a nyitószám (aaghee), s megérkeztünk. Az elektronikus zene olyan mezsgyéire kerültünk, ahol biztonságban vagyunk. Túravezetõink - két olasz arc - intelligens, geometrikus, mégis élõ, valódi nembientszõnyegein utazhatunk. Elektronikus és szintetikus, mégis organikus. Mese, mely valódi, telis teli sok apró információval, hangokkal, mesterien s olaszos eleganciával elhelyezett leütésekkel, a legapróbb figyelmességgel kikevert sustorgásokkal. Érdekes basszusfutamokat hallunk és közben csodás dallamokat, melódiákat, a háttérben, s elõl egyaránt. Egy abszolút egyensúlyban lévõ, legapróbb részletekig finoman összerakott album ez. A hatodik track (om nama rtnt) szitárokkal indul, aztán kattogások és emberi sóhajok vegyülnek a szõnyeg mintáiba, egy kiállás, és ipari groove-ok helyeznek vasbeton oszlopokat a textúra alá, melyet szintetikus szivárványszínû szappanbuborékok emelnek az égig, szóval igazi IDM.

Txt: Marc | http://www.chaindlk.com

Retina.it is a duo based in Pompei, near Naples, Italy, who, ever since the early nineties, when they met, have been making music together under different monikers (primarily as Qmen, and most recently as Resina) and they've been keeping busy collaborating with DRM, Nous, 99 Posse, among others. Once they put aside their interest for techno music, today Retina.it is a careful and skillful research in the fields of refined electronic sounds and sophisticated atmospheres. Their fine blend of minimal beats and waves wouldn't look bad at all in the Warp catalogue, as they explore the thin boundaries of the semantics of today's digital music's denominations, from glitch electronics to idm, from ambient to trance, and from chill out to lounge, where you'll only hear sparse and distant echoes of what once was a techno outfit. Although their history demonstrates that it's no big deal for them to be noted by international labels, this time around they've decided to use their own label to put out their new record. This self-titled CD comes in a beautiful digipack with art work inspired by fractal design and represents nothing short of their fifth release, after their 2001 debut "Volcano.Waves 1-8" on Chicago's Hefty records, and their three 12" and one EP entitled "Nulla", "Manifesto", "Strutture" and "Immediate Action". In my book they're highly recommended.

Txt: Fabrice Allard | http://www.etherreal.com/magazine/disques/?file=retinait_st

On découvrait Retina.It en live il y a deux ans lors du festival Batofar cherche Italie. Un joli set d'électronica minimale, et une musique que l'on retrouvait avec plaisir sur leur premier album, Volcano.Waves.1-8 paru chez Hefty. Après une collaboration avec Marco Messina éditée sous le nom de Resina, on retrouve le duo italien avec cette deuxième sortie sur leur propre label, Mousike Lab.

Avec le morceau d'ouverture on se dit que Retina.It nous revient en très grande forme. On retrouve ici les constructions minimales du premier album, mais la musique y gagne en finesse et subtilité avec des rythmiques plus précises et moins lourdes. En effet, alors que certains morceaux du premier album penchaient vers une techno minimale, Retina.It nous propose ici un disque de pure electronica aux grooves minimaux, précis, tandis que la douceur des éléments mélodiques et nappes font parfois pencher la balance vers une ambient ondulante.
La première moitié de l'album est particulièrement efficace, que ce soit dans une douceux envoutante sur Aaghee, magnifiquement envahi de bleeps lumineux, tandis que des claquements viennent apporter un peu de rythme. Juste après on trouve Sambush, au contraire extrêmement rythmique avec des sonorités aussi bien électroniques qu'acoustiques (percussions métalliques) qui ont d'abord un petit quelque chose de tribal et finissent, via de subtils effets, par former une rythmique typiquement IDM.
Toujours preuve d'éclectisme, on trouve ensuite deux des plus beaux morceaux de l'album dans des styles très différents. Papc et sa rythmique minimal techno ultra répétitive se fait pourtant planant avec ses douces notes feutrées, projetées avec une juste parcimonie. Om Nama Rtnt est quand à lui hypnotique avec son long drone nasillard, ses basses profondes, sa rythmique répétitive qui gagne en complexité, jusqu'à ce que d'étranges sonorités tout droit venue d'un vieux jeu vidéo viennent nous sortir de notre rêverie.
La suite est un peu plus difficile d'accès, dans un style assez différent, que l'on expliquera peut-être par le fait que la composition de cet album s'est étalée sur trois ans. Les quatres derniers morceaux, s'ils gardent cet esprit minimaliste au niveau des rythmiques, font preuve d'expérimentations nouvelles pour le duo italien : utilisation de sonorités concrètes et fields recordings d'une part (Risveglio, 12set.), et mélodies abstraites faisant plus penser à des pièces expérimentales de musique électro-acoustique d'autre part (Lost Ctrl, China @ House). Le résultat est alors assez inégal, et dépendant de l'intégration de ces expériences plus libres dans les structures assez rigides du groupe, mais China @ House qui conclu l'album est une belle réussite dans le genre.

Un album dans la lignée du précédent, avec ce qu'il faut de remise en question et de recherches pour s'avérer intéressant. Avis aux amateurs d'une electronica qui se remet en cause ou d'une techno minimale déliquescente.

Txt: Kelly Cornelius | http://www.modsquare.com

Not new to the electronic musical scene at all, this duo has had releases on various Labels including a full length on Hefty Records titled Volcano Waves 1-8. Also on Hefty the project released a 12” and an EP titled Immediate Actions. Various compilations during this era included an Amanita Records release, and as I understand a featured track issued to The Wire magazine.
This new Retina.it release has caught my ears, eyes and properly chilled my soul. I first took a listen on a cold winters day of February 12, driving from MD to Ithaca, NY. This LP made the expedition even more surreal than it already was. My first thoughts were in the vein of "If sound could glisten, this is what glistening would sound like.” The LP consists of music composed from as early as 2001 to the present and is, in my book, a delicious addition to any distinctive collection. I'll never forget hearing the first few tracks as they soothed me into the mood of the wandering day. Watching the ice grow along the mountain side cliffs, clear and blue and almost iridescent.

Exquisite is an understatement in describing the music you will find on this release. Track 4, "papc" really has its way of pulling the listener in and here you will know what I mean when I tell you that sound can and indeed does glisten! As the listener travels further into this LP he is led on a journey of metallic overtones and pulsating bass rhythms with injections of glossy slick clicks and taps. Retina.it's audience is very comfortable to stay in this zone until the LP finishes up with the remarkably delicate melodic finale "china @ house." Another very bodacious track on this release is "risveglio (awakening)." This track was apparently birthed by the duo as a new version of the soundtrack to a very brilliant film in the annals of visual history Un Chien d'Andalou (A film by Brunuel & Dali) if you have not experienced this film please order a copy today.

First get your vibe chillin and your hands on Retina.it’s s/t LP available through http://www.mousikelab.it Another point to add here is that the label itself, based in Naples, It., was started in 2003 by Marco Messina along with partners Lino Monaco and Nicola buono (whom, if you don’t already know make up this lovely duet Retina.it).

Txt: Bell 03 | http://www.electronicdesert.com

“s/t” is coming from the deep south of Italy, Europe; Naples based Mousike Lab’s second full-length album release features retina.it in form. As to the album name could it possibly be an abbreviation of “Senza Titolo” means “Untitled”? The first track on “s/t” is titled “Aaghee” and it has an excellent intro and dramatic yet controlled build-up. Centred on an industrial strength melody creating an indestructible sonic structure. Ingenious in its simplicity, that track is not only out of this World it’s also an item that warrants instant reply. The first track sets the standard high as well as the expectations on the rest of the album and it doesn’t leave you disappointed. Retina.it’s 10 minimal and well-crafted songs carry through the entirety of the album, it’s heavily loop-based music with hypnotic characteristics like the percussion-filled “Sambush”, the quirky sounding “Zafari” or the bass-heavy “Papc”. The sweet-sounding melody of the “Comamilla” track breaks the before mentioned triplet in a beautiful way. “Om nama rtnt” follows and adds a bit of mysticism with the vocals and India inspired sounds. “Risveglia” and “12set” return the album to the harder sounding starting point. And the last track on the album “China @ house” glitches the “s/t” album to a quiet stop. In short this is a very good album, it comes recommended and with the special recommendation not to miss out on “Aaghee”.

http://www.fatplanet.com.au/

retina.it are an electronic duo made up of lino monaco and nicola buono. their label, mousikelab, was founded in 2003 and one of their primary releases last year was a self-penned, self-titled back-catalogue compilation of tracks from which the above mp3 is taken. click here for free label downloads from retina.it and more. a more recent label release is a compilation entitled 'condominum' with brings together iceland's mum, russia's dj vadim, italy's populous and many more. unlike retina.it, who seem to specialise in beats (albeit metallic or micro), the condominium comp is very much of the abstract side of contemporary electronica. dare i use the word ambient? ahh - there goes a flashback

Txt: brendax | http://www.basebog.it

(minimal-electronic) Retina.it - s/t (Mousikelab) Più affino i miei ascolti, più risento della scelta del tempo nella musica che ascolto. La ritmica, intesa come proposta di una certa metrica, è diventata per me visione di un certo procedere, risuona internamente e influisce drammaticamente sullo spirito complessivo dell’ascolto. Da diverso tempo percepisco il procedere del tempo in maniera tutt’altro che lineare. Eppure, la musica, come un quarzo, talvolta pare creare sintonie o risonanze che sfuggono anche alla mia logica. Del secondo disco dei nostrani Retina.it, dopo il famigerato esordio per la Hefty Records di Chicago di tre anni fa e numerosi progetti paralleli, sembra risaltare soprattutto la sensibilità verso un certo tipo di metrica. La traccia esemplificativa, quasi monotonica, benchè sfaccettatissima nel suo impianto strumentale, è ‘aaghee’: concetto non innovativo ma stilistica talmente precisa da sembrare ineffabile. Dal loro amore per l’analogico, i due di Pompei estraggono suoni risucchiati e biascicati pur essendo metallici. Così, da synth, effetti, uniti ad alcuni plugin irrinunciabili, si estrae un intrico raffinato e autenticamente minimale di suoni. La traccia nasce anche in un momento speciale dei due elettromani: un lieto evento nelle vite di entrambi.
E’ difficile ai tempi che corrono ritrovare il bandolo della matassa del minimale. Forse è il pregio di vivere al caldo che ha consentito a Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono di rimanere, soavemente e anche un po’ giocosamente, negli ambiti del tracciato.
I pezzi sono accomunati da una linea melodica non invadente, segnata per lo più da veloci loop sintetici e talvolta sostenuta da una sotto-melodia. Continuano a non mancare i campioni vocali, con l’italiano che esce, foneticamente, simile ad un idioma esotico e affascinante. Il risultato è un disco apparentemente electro, in realtà rivolto con candore al seminato della scuola teutonica, con rallentamenti dub che, anche quando sottesi ad un tappeto di piattini accelerati, sembrano quasi citare Farben (‘comamilla’, ‘12set.’). Bella ‘lost ctrl’ che sembra richiami certa techno minimale alla Chain Reaction, in stile Vainqueur o Mike Ink, con i rumori pieni di un fabbro con fiamma ossidrica. ‘china@house’ sembra la colonna sonora perversa di un nuovo episodio di Blade Runner ambientato nella Rio de Janeiro del 2083. ‘om nama rtnt’ col sitar sotto sa un po’ di Fridge ed è forse la traccia kraut dell’album, spinta però in ascendere come avveniva spesso nel primo disco ‘Volcano Waves’.
Questo disco prezioso suona come un tributo al passato animato da una fiamma che cambia colore in continuazione. ‘risveglio’ fu pensata come colonna sonora del cult ‘En Chien Andalou’, di Luis Buñuel e Salvador Dalì, e utilizza un frammento di campione pitchato ricavato da un mantra tibetano. L’improvvisazione è lo schema di lavoro prevalente: ‘12set.’ nasce in un’unica session pomeridiana l’11 settembre di tragica memoria. La traccia, nata dalla smania di suonare forse per via della tensione, si avvale di voci ritmate e frantumate ricavate da una radio filtrata, tenuta accesa per ascoltare il susseguirsi delle notizie.
Bella la copertina con i cavolfiori psichedelici. Una strizzata d'occhio a chi ci ha sempre letto un tributo di madre natura a frattali, processi seriali e algoritmi vari.

Txt: Massimo Garofalo 8,5/10 | http://www.rockshock.it/news.asp?id=952

I Retina.it riescono a creare texture sonore praticamente con qualsiasi cosa, per poggiarvi le loro melodie e in cui far perdere l’ascoltatore
I napoletani Retina.it, lo scorso anno coinvolti con Marco Messina dei 99 Posse anche nel progetto Resina (http://www.rockshock.it/news.asp?id=693), sono la dimostrazione pratica di come sul fronte dell’elettronica la scena italiana è attiva, all’avanguardia e all’altezza del panorama internazionale, quindi non semplicemente a ricasco dei suoni e delle mode che arrivano dall’estero.

Dopo Volcano.Waves 1 – 8, uscito per la Hefty di Chicago 3 anni fa, i Retina.it reclamano la nostra attenzione con un album omonimo fatto di geometrie digitali, di suoni analogici e di battiti organici, più che di veri e propri semplici ritmi.Inutile cercare in questo disco, che raccoglie materiali scritti tra il 2001 ed oggi, alcuna possibilità di muoversi verso la danza, ma il piedino proverà lo stesso a battere ritmiche prodotte nelle maniere più disparate.

I Retina.it riescono a creare texture sonore praticamente con qualsiasi cosa, per poggiarvi le loro melodie e in cui far perdere l’ascoltatore. 12set in questo senso è un vero e proprio capolavoro. Composta in una session di un giorno, il 12 settembre 2001, appunto, usa il suono della radio accesa come un perfetto tappeto sonoro, perfettamente integrato col resto dei suoni da incubo, lo stesso di quei giorni, che compone il brano.

C’è chi la chiama IDM (Intelligent Dance Music), c’è chi se la gode e basta come musica elettronica, senza spremersi troppo in inutili tentativi di imbrigliamento in filoni e generi vari, o – ancor peggio – evocando parallelismi con i Rechenzentrum.

I Retina.it oggi sono una delle più belle realtà del panorama elettronico internazionale. Punto.

Txt: g.ancora | 02.07.2004 | http://www.freakout-online.com/re_view.asp?id=127

Qualcuno dovrebbe preoccuparsi una volta per tutte, forse potremmo farlo anche noi della redazione di F.O. che già diverse volte nelle pagine del sito ci siamo occupati delle lavorazioni digitali di Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono, di dare una informazione, una volta tanto, di carattere scientifico; mi spiego: dovremmo segnalare, agli scienziati e ricercatori che vigilano sulle sorgenti rumorose provenienti dalle viscere del Vesuvio, di tenere in considerazione la possibilità che quei dati, così pregiudizialmente considerati come testimonianza dell’attività sismica del vulcano, talvolta potrebbero rivelarsi di natura ben diversa e riconducibili alle vivacità creativa dei due manipolatori pompeiani, anch’essi impegnati in attività di ricerca nel bacino dello stesso cratere. Le coincidenze che porterebbero ad una errata lettura dei dati con successive ripercussioni sulle previsioni di possibili eruzioni ci sono tutte: già con le precedenti uscite dal 2001 ad oggi, le potenti pulsioni ritmiche sprigionate dalle macchine modulate per una estetica techno potrebbero aver portato a degli errori nelle misurazioni e nei calcoli satistici.
Mentre con l’ultima uscita per la neonata Mousike Lab (una particolarità circoscritta alle produzioni elettroniche italiane questo proliferare di etichette) il discorso narrativo va prendendo spessore e si dilata nello spazio, articolandosi sulle trame compositive ad oggi particolarmente ricercate rispetto alle precedenti uscite, arricchito anche delle esperienze e delle collaborazioni intrattenute dai due con interpreti di arti visive e cinematografiche, come successo ultimamente per la presentazione in anteprima del disco al Teatro Galleria Toledo di Napoli; l’esecuzione del live-set veniva accompagnata dalle proiezioni su grande schermo dagli ologrammi e dai frattali realizzati - just in time – dal videomaker MastroFabbro, mentre invece “Risvegli”, presente anche su questo disco, accompagnava la visione del film” “Un Chien Andalou” (Francia,1928) di Luis Bunuel e Salvador Dalì. Le nuove sonorita dei Retina.it assorbono energia sotterranea, riprodotta dalla serialità dei beats e ne tramandano le suggestioni attraverso un impasto sonoro tra glitches elettronici e click’n’cuts regolati su melodie facilmente riconoscibili; come per “Camamilla” e “Om Nama Rtnt” tra le migliori scritture per musica elettronica ultimamente arrangiate, con oscure suggestioni cinematiche ed il trasporto emotivo provocato da una sequenza digitale evocativa e struggente come nemmeno i buoni Autechre hanno mai saputo realizzare.
Qualcuno potrebbe accusarci di campanilismo per gli slanci adottati nel tessere le lodi di quest’album, ma nell’asfittico panorama delle produzioni musicali italiane, un disco dalle basi tanto solide e ponderate difficilmente si segnala, non fosse altro che per quei quattro anni intercorsi dall’esordio fino a questa uscita.

Txt: Francesco Casuscelli | http://www.idbox.it

Parafrasando una vecchia pubblicità, ecco un disco per molti ma non per tutti. Un album destinato ai cultori dell’elettronica minimale. Il nuovo lavoro sulla lunga distanza dei Retina.it ha fascino, appeal, riesce a coinvolgere nonostante non dia mai (o quasi mai) molta confidenza all’ascoltatore, anzi, tende sempre (o quasi sempre) a dare del “lei” alle orecchie dei potenziali utenti. Il cd raccoglie tracce composte dal 2001 ad oggi, e vede in cabina di regia Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono – quest’ultimo è anche il designer dell’artwork.
La musica dei Retina.it è stratificata: ogni suono gode di vita propria, ma dà il meglio di sé quando si fonde con altri beats. Tracce come “comamilla”, “risveglio” e “lost ctrl” lasciano il segno dopo pochissimi ascolti. Il resto del disco non delude, anche se ci vuole una e propria attitudine al genere per apprezzare il fine lavoro targato Monaco-Buono. Ci vuole anche pazienza: affrontare un’ora abbondante di ritmi rallentati non è cosa da poco…
In conclusione: disco nato per essere proposto come sottofondo musicale; di notte offre all’ascoltatore i suoi lati più oscuri e magnetici. Pregi e difetti? Flirta con le produzioni berlinesi, ma non cede al fascino dell’ultra beat teutonico; purtroppo (o per fortuna) l’album dei Retina.it è destinato ad un pubblico di nicchia.

Txt: Gianluca Polverare | 07.2004 | web

Un nuovo viaggio virtuale.
Voto: ****

La bontà dell’elettronica italiana è più celebrata all’estero che in patria. La Hefty Records (per la quale incidono anche gli idolatrati Telefon Tel Aviv) produsse due anni orsono l’esordio dei Retina.it, duo di Pompei che ora torna per la nostrana Mousike Lab. La loro elettronica è un magma lento che scende placido dalle vette scaldando tutto ciò che incontra, ma senza distruggere come invece fece il Vesuvio. E’ una musica che sa colpire i giusti sensi, una sequenza estatica che trova quell’ideale convivenza tra tecnologico e natura.

Txt: Gianni Avella | 07.2004 | http://www.sentireascoltare.com

Volcano Waves del 2001 fu un'esemplare operazione di elettronica made in Italy esportata all’estero (l’album uscì per la chicagoiana Hefty Disco), ponendo gli allora Retina sul piedistallo dell’Idm italiana (e non solo). Da quel momento il duo campano ha allargato la ragione sociale (da Retina al più nazionalista Retina.it), creato la Mousike Lab (label messa su in compagnia di Marco Messina, dread dei 99 Posse) e dedicato gli ultimi tre anni alla lavorazione del nuovo disco.

Considerando il progetto Resina (i Retina.it più Marco Messina, come a dire: restiamo in famiglia), il vezzo di un musicista - Messina - voglioso di rimanere al passo coi tempi, il nuovo self titled è la seconda prova adulta della coppia Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono. Il duo, ormai più che una semplice promessa, è raggiunto da una verve compositiva di invidiabile presa. Pur ancora legato all’estetica Idm, il bagaglio culturale assume connotati maggiormente delineati rispetto al debutto, arricchendosi di aree cosmiche (Aaghee, fra tardi Tangerine Dream e Klaus Schulze), e melanconici excursus melodici alla Morr Music (Comamilla intreccia Limp e Manual, superandoli di gran lunga).

Si vaga tra paesaggi psichedelici alla Boards Of Canada (Om Nama Rtnt, pervasa da languide figure tribali), foschi come lo sono i Rechenzentrum (Risveglio, scritta come colonna sonora di "Un Chien Andalou", il corto del '29 di Buñuel/Dali), ma anche concreti (si prenda la radio accesa e usata come strumento nelle texture di 12set.).

Maturo sin dai dettagli (sono del duo sia la produzione, sia l’artwork), l'album rappresenta un ulteriore passo avanti dei Retina.it nell’elite dell’elettronica moderna.

(7.5/10)

Txt: Danilo Corgnati | 10.2004 | http://www.liverock.it

retina.it è uno tra i progetti in ambito elettronico più interessanti esistenti attualmente in Italia, formato dai napoletani Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono, negli anni ’90 membri di Qmen. I due, dopo un primo lavoro uscito per l’etichetta di Chicago Hefty Records, Volcano Wave, danno alle stampe sulla propria personale etichetta questo secondo, omonimo, cd. La ricerca sonora condotta da Lino e Nicola negli anni, ha portato ad elaborare per retina.it un suono estremamente personale, l’ambito in cui si muovono ha che fare con l’elettronica sperimentale e la minimal techno, territori affini ad esempio a quelli frequentati da Autechre ed Oval, ma i due riescono creare un suono molto più caldo e avvolgente, umano. Tra le band attuali forse si possono trovare affinità anche con Kapital Band 1 e Trapist, o con Plumbline per la semplicità di certe melodie, anche se azzardare paragoni è opera abbastanza gratuita e serve solo a rendere in minima parte l’idea di quello che è retina.it. Ovvero un lavoro complesso e stratificato che va dalle reminescenze ambient di aaghe, tutta giocata sulla ripetizione di una semplice frase costruita su poche note e sulle sue variazioni, alle intriganti divagazioni di sambush, introdotta da un ritmo minimale a cui si sovrappongono gelide aperture di synth, a zafari, un labirinto di suoni e ritmiche analogiche in cui perdersi, alla scheletrica pulsazione techno di papc. O ancora, i due retina.it si avvicinano alle produzioni Morr Music con la delicata comamilla. L’atmosfera pare farsi più cupa nella seconda metà del disco, a partire da om nama rtnt, attraversata da un lungo ed ossessivo drone sopra il quale prendono forma una pulsazione regolare e una melodia accennata. O in risveglio, dominata da ritimiche spezzate, intrusioni di synth e mantra di voci devastate dagli effetti. 12set. è tutta fruscii, interferenze radio, accenni di dub e ritmiche frastagliate. In lost ctrl e nella conclusiva china @ house tornano invece a farsi sentire le influenze techno del duo. Quello che stupisce in questo album infine è la ricchezza di suoni e la raffinatezza con cui questi sono stati utilizzati. Una costruzione sonora all’apparenza semplice si rivela in realtà densa di particolari, niente è lasciato al caso, ogni singolo pezzo è costruito con cura quasi maniacale. Il risultato finale è quanto di più vario sia dato ascoltare oggi in ambito elettronico. Per chi volesse cominciare ad avvicinarsi a retina.it, è disponibile in rete Reingagement ep, pubblicato come MP3 da scaricare a gratis dal sito della net-label Ctrl+alt+canc records.

10.2004 | http://www.movimenta.com

Essenziale, è l'aggettivo più appropriato per definire il metodo con il quale questo album, è stato composto dal duo pompeiano: hanno lavorato su quanto fosse necessario per creare un tessuto sonoro vivo, evitando distrazioni ed inserti, suonando un movimento fluido di ritmi vicini a quanto già ascoltato nel loro primo album, Volcano Waves, ma con un tocco più delicato e raffinato. La dinamica del disco si sviluppa attorno agli intrecci minimali tra le battute e composizioni melodiche coinvolgenti, colorando a chiare tinte la loro musica, che si avvicina ad un'ipotetica nuova psichedelia (intesa come senso di dilatazione ed immersione nel suono) e all'elettronica minimale europea, con accenni a tempi di battuta da dancefloor ma senza superare la soglia che divide la musica da ascolto rispetto a quella da ballo. Questo disco è frutto di tre anni di produzioni attorno a macchinari analogici ed alla ricerca nel suono (metodologia che sembrava essere scomparsa nell'ambito elettronico), sommata alle qualità del duo, capace di dare un calore a musiche che in parecchi casi sanno di freddo e plastico, ed è questo il punto peculiare dell'album; hanno le stesse qualità che in Italia, ritroviamo nei Jolly Music, capaci di farsi apprezzare oltremanica, allo stesso modo, Retina.it ha iniziato a farsi apprezzare oltreoceano (con la pubblicazione del primo album e di alcuni 12" su Hefty Records di Chicago), ora si propongono in patria, tramite il progetto Mousike Lab, l'etichetta che ha pubblicato il disco dei Resina (il duo assieme a Marco Messina: che corrispondono al nucleo dell'etichetta stessa).
L'album è essenziale/giusto, nella proposta, 10 brani, lontano dalla pomposità ed incentrato sulla raffinatezza: l'iniziale Aaghee, ripete in modo ossessivo poche semplici note, dal tono vivace, un po' come succede in Zafari, con maggiore accento sul ritmo, che rappresenta uno dei punti più alti dell'intera raccolta; la ritmica costruita su battute glitch si impone nella vibrante Sambush, diventa minimale (quasi ortodossa) in 12set, ed allo stesso tempo è capace di mutare nel suo corso in un continuo crescendo come in Lost Ctrl; Om Nama Rtnt è un'immersione in un simil mantra, dove trapela un'anima dub a condurre il tempo, la conclusiva China @ House, chiude il disco in una dimensione quasi da colonna sonora.

Text: Patrizio longo | www.patriziolongo.com

Senza Titolo il nome del nuovo lavoro per l’etichetta napoletana Mousike Lab.
Abbiamo avuto l’occasione diverse volte di ospitare in Extranet Marco Messina una delle menti insieme a Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono di questa Label.
A volte semplici incontri fra persone che condividono uguali interessi fanno nascere delle fruttifere collaborazioni, come in questo caso. Un breve accenno sulla nascita di questa giovane etichetta che vanta interessanti progetti sonori.
Lino e Nicola si conoscono all’inizio degli anni ’90, quando entrambi condividono alcune serate come dj fra club napoletani. Si parla, come spesso avviene fra dj di musica, di nuove uscite… Minus Habens è il nome dell’etichetta che stabilisce un punto di contatto.
Bisognerebbe fare un accenno a questa realtà pugliese che nasce con l’idea di distribuire promo indie su casetta e dopo poco tempo inizia a stampare anche dischi in vinili.
Nel ’94 il duo decide di iniziare collaborare ed incontra il dj Lino Cerrone. Insieme creano i Qmen. La prima realtà elettronica che sperimenta il suono nella scena vesuviana.
Lino e Nicola ricercano suoni elettronici attenti alle sonorità Techno reduci da tutto quel mare di suoni derivanti dal fenomeno New Wave degli anni ’80.
Dalla ultime tracce di Qmen nasce retina.it che impressiona favorevolmente un’importante label di Chicago Hefty la quale decide di pubblicare il loro lavoro d’esordio Volcano. Nelle otto tracce del disco paesaggi spaziali, ritmiche, sperimentazione. A Volcano seguono diversi 12’ inc. ed anche un EP.
In attesa del nuovo lavoro retina.it collaborano in diverse raccolte: Recycling Buzz per l'etichetta francese Amanita Records, Batofar Cherche l’Italie, Le due raccolte di Hefty Immediate Action e Samule This allegato alla rivista Wire. Nel 2001 partecipano ad Output 01 documento sonoro in occasione del festival napoletano Sintesi.
Retina.it nel 2002 collabora con la label web TU m’p3 che invita i musicisti ad inviare delle colonne sonore di immagini digitali scaricabili gratuitamente. Successivamente la label napoletana si cimenta in diversi remix fra cui quelli dei 99 Posse. Partecipano alla realizzazione di una colonna sonora per lo spettacolo teatrale La Tempesta di Shakespeare regia di Cauteruccio. Il duo insieme a Marco Messina ha dato vita nel 2003 ad una nuova label Mousike Lab.
Il nuovo album dei retina.it è uscito il 7 giugno 2004il disco raccoglie tracce realizzate nel 2001 fra cui 12 set registrati il 12 settembre 2001 dove la radio è tenuta accesa e funziona come un vero strumento che si aggiunge alla struttura sonora…..
Per il resto vi suggerisco di acquistare il disco…. È un lavoro ben realizzato !!!!

Text: Marco Braggion | http://www.kathodik.it

Il nuovo disco dei Retina.it parte con una base che ricorda i Depeche Mode di Halo o Enjoy The Silence. L'elettronica usata in questo disco è un pò più pulita di quella del precedente. I suoni sono più orientati alla costruzione di canzoni e la loro compattezza rimane comunque un 'marchio di fabbrica'. La spazializzazione viene usata sempre in maniera misurata e mai pesante.
I paesaggi sonori sono molto eterogenei: si va dai synth che ricordano qualcosa degli anni 80 (Tangerine Dream in Sambush) a delle parentesi ambient/electro/new age (Zafari) che ricordano a tratti Eno e qualche suono di Richard D. James. C' è anche un richiamo alla trance (però in slow speed... slow trance?) mescolata qualche suono psichedelico in Papc. I riferimenti si ampliano ulteriormente in Comamilla che sembra uscire fuori da qualche disco di Tosca; in Om Mama Rtnt l'uso delle tablas ricorda Talvin Singh. Risveglio è composta da layers che si intersecano in modo da costruire un mondo surreale di sogno (non a caso è nata come riscrittura della colonna sonora di Un Chien Andalou di Buñuel/Dalì). In 12set. vengono usati dei samples registrati dalla radio il 12 settembre 2001.
Le tracce che mi son piaciute di più sono quelle più sperimentali (i.e. Lost Ctrl e Risveglio). Speriamo che la voglia di seguire tracce diverse dal mainstream non venga meno! Ottimo lavoro.

Text: Angelo Paolillo | http://www.musicboom.it

Qualcuno li ha definiti geometrici, e forse non a torto: quella dei Retina.it è musica molecolare, dispone i suoni con la perfezione dei cristalli, spore che si diffondono su multistrati come un elettrocontagio: energia meccanizzata per produrre sonorità (dis)umane.
Arriva l'omonimo secondo album dei Retina.it (già Retina, oggi quasi a testimonianza della loro collocazione su di un piano newmediatico si aggiungono un suffisso a mo’ di webdominio) senza considerare il progetto “opinio omnium” portato a termine come Resina (Retina + Marco Messina dai 99 Posse). Non sono gli ultimi arrivati, Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono: già nel 2001 si era fatto strada il loro album “Volcano Wave 1-8” pubblicato dalla Hefty, e oggi compaiono con un nuovo progetto, grazie alla neonata MousikeLab, che riprende le fila del loro discorso artistico aggiungendo un’importante tappa di crescita.

Non ricercano in alcun modo la forma-canzone i nostri partenopei e questo in assoluto rappresenta un punto di forza ed in contemporanea uno svantaggio: le combinazioni articolate in modo casuale/predeterminato sono di comprensione ed interiorizzazione non direttissima. Spinti a volte in una sperimentazione oltre i limiti finiscono col risultare poco accessibili in certi passaggi tanto da richiedere più ascolti per non diventare noiosi.
La complessità, lo sappiamo, è spesso arma a doppio taglio: ed i loop reiterati in modo ossessivo a volte generano nell’esperienza dell’album una monotonia un pò stancante. Ascoltato più volte, il disco rivela le sue ottime potenzialità: delle radici technominimaliste che possono probabilmente aver influenzato il loro lavoro, i due partenopei conservano tratti che vengono arricchiti dalla loro originale personalità.

Sintesi quasi interamente analogiche e sistemi personal computing usati principalmente come piloti di devices esterne e compilatori di sequenze midi per queste ultime, mai direttamente per la produzione (il rischio sarebbe un risultato rudimentale), si percepisce subito una conoscenza e padronanza che fa di loro degli electromakers di assoluta professionalità. In comune con altre realtà elettroniche (mitteleuropee e non) hanno la ricerca spasmodica di strumenti inusuali come fonti di suoni nuovi: è proprio vero che sperimentazioni di questo tipo sono sottoposte ad una pressione innovativa estremamente più forte di qualsiasi altre.

La prima traccia, “Aaghee”, è affascinante e penetrante, delicata nei suoni che propone senza neppure una sbavatura. Ancora “Sambush”, degna di nota, e “Comamilla”, che si pone tra le tracce forse più immediate del disco con una base melodica estremamente accattivante. Devastante è invece “Om nama rtnt”, pezzo di grande impatto da ascoltare assolutamente in cuffia: i suoni di questa traccia riempiono, ed emoziona il riferimento vocale da trip etnico. “Risveglio” è invece la traccia che ha visto lavorare Masto Fabbro anche nel set tenuto a Napoli in Galleria Toledo lo scorso Aprile, associando alla soundtrack la proiezione di frammenti di “En chien andalou”, icona surrealista di Luis Bunùel.
Per concludere, “12 set”: il titolo indica la data 12 Settembre 2001, all’indomani della caduta delle Twin Towers di New York. Una data emblematica che vede racchiudersi nel pezzo a cui dà il titolo il senso della tragedia e della devastazione accanto alla necessità di ricostruzione e del cambiamento dello stato di cose. È la produzione mediatica planetaria a fornire la base: onde radio che trasmettono il messaggio del tragico evento diventano strumento musicale ricompilatore in modo subliminale, il che ne delinea un utilizzo non banale.

Un disco nel complesso da ascoltare, una produzione italiana sicuramente innovativa e competitiva quella della MousikeLab: oramai diventare produttori di se stessi diventa più semplice (pur con tutte le difficoltà relative connesse) dell’affidarsi alle realtà produttive mainstream spesso troppo disattente o incompetenti per permettere a sperimentazioni interessanti di venire fuori.
Pur con i suoi limiti per i non amanti del genere, Retina.it è un disco da assaporare e da analizzare: ed è piacevole scoprire che dalla scena sotterranea metronapoletana continuano a fuoriuscire fertili eruzioni sonore glitch, disturbi tecnologici dal basso nel panorama artistico internazionale.

Text: urbanspaceman | http://www.ultrasonica.it

Reduci dall'esperienza del loro precedente album, VOLCANO WAVE, licenziato dalla Hefty Records di Slicker, i RETINA.IT scelgono la via dell'autoproduzione racchiudendo in questo secondo lavoro, che porta come titolo il nome del gruppo stesso, dieci brani incisi dal 2001 ad oggi tra i quali spiccano 12SET. registrata all'indomani del tragico crollo delle torri gemelle, si può sentire in sottofondo una radio lasciata accesa le cui parole diventano tutt'uno con il glitch del duo napoletano, e RISVEGLIO concepito come nuova colonna sonora per il cortometraggio UN CHIEN ANDALOU di Bunuel/Dali. Il suono è quello tipico delle produzioni targate MousikeLab e RETINA.IT, fantasiosi intrecci melodico glitch su intuizioni ritmiche e percussive dalla spiccata personalità

Text: Giancarlo Currò | 06.2004

Li avevamo lasciati pochi mesi fa Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono, quando insieme all'amico Marco Messina avevano pubblicato un bell'albo di sperimentazione techno minimale: "Opinio Omnium". Li ritroviamo oggi, nel loro main project, con un full degno di attenzione. Retina.it dunque, per una musica che non ha bisogno di parole per esprimersi, ma solo di atmosfere, di incanto, di riflessione. Alle canzoni, Lino e Nicola preferiscono le forme geometriche, gli spazi multidimensionali; ai ritmi, preferiscono i battiti, le scansioni del tempo. Elettronica ragionata, IDM direbbero negli States, psichedelia futuristica, consumata davanti a un computer e a un campionatore, talora vittima anche di qualche eccesso sperimentale, ma sempre elegante nel suo incedere, nella sua realtà. Un buon motivo per confutare chi ancora sostiene che, la nostra Italia, sia condannata ad arrivare sempre un momento dopo.

06.2004 | http://www.liberazione.it

Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono raccolgono nel loro nuovo album una serie di tracce composte a partire dal 2001 poco dopo aver dato alle stampe il loro disco d'esordio "Volcano wave 1-8". Il lavoro conferma la capacità del duo di ricercare sonorità maneggiando con disinvoltura e creatività l'elettronica, superando la comune origine techno senza mai rinnegarla. Chi li ama non si sentirà tradito e chi ancora non li conosce non sa che cosa si sta perdendo.

15.06.2004

Addio gag, faccio il cantautore

......Avanguardia? Difficile trovare la parola adatta per definire la glitch music dei Retina.it, duo digitale di Pompei già noto anche oltreoceano che, nell’album che porta il loro nome da poco edito dalla Mousike.lab, raccolgono suggestioni electro-ambient tra cui spicca «12set», registrata il 12 settembre 2001 con la radio usata come uno strumento, e «Risveglio», riscrittura della colonna sonora del corto di Bunuel/Dalì «Un chien andalou».....

Txt: Alessandro Besselva | 22-28.06.2004

.Era il 2001 e sul catalogo della Hefty, prestigiosa etichetta elettronica di Chicago, accanto a gente come Slicker e Alluminium Group faceva la sua comparsa, dopo anni di attività underground, un duo nato alle pendici del vesuvio. In VolcanoWaves 1-8 Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono creavano strutture ritmiche minimali su cui si inserivano suoni analogici finemente cesellati e spogliati di ogni superfluo. Un esordio eccellente, originale abbastanza da meritare un pò ovunque ottime recensioni. Il nuovo lavoro dei Retina (che nel frattempo hanno aggiunto la dicitura ".it" alla ragione sociale originaria e , in compagnia di Marco Messina, hanno dato vita ai Resina) raccoglie materiali registrati a partire da allora, materiali che evidenziano una crescita sostanziale. La novità più evidente: una stratificazione melodica che ora li accomuna a gente come Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin e Orbital. Al di là delle parentele, in Retina.it la devozione a una estrema essenzialità è ancora al primo posto: mai qualcosa di troppo, mai una sbavatura, mai un passo falso. Le tastiere che in Zafari si inseguono, pigre e inesorabili, su uno sfondo percursivo etnodub, una Papc che si muove dalle scansioni scheletriche del disco precedente e finisce per abbracciare la psichedelia notturna evocata da un vibrafono, il carillon vaporoso-piano elettrico e ritmi scheletrici - di Comamilla , le stranianti ondate di synth che in Sambush costruiscono una sinfonia onirica, puntellata dal tocco metallico delle percurssioni, dimostrano, se ce ne fosse ancora bisogno, che il duo non ha bisogno di alcun incoraggiamento per dimostrare la propria statura internazionale, evidente sin dal primo ascolto.

Txt: Federica Linke | 06.2004

Un secondo lavoro importante tanto per i Retina.it quanto per Mousike lab. Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono si erano gia guadagnati (più che meritatamente) stima e rispetto a livello internazionale con i precedenti lavori e grazie all'esposizione data dalla pubblicazione sulla Hefty di Chicago. Nel 2003 i due, insieme a Marco Messina, decidono di lanciarsi in un'impresa che in Italia richiede estremo coraggio e idealismo: la creazione di una propria etichetta. Così nasce Mousike lab e con essa compare sulla scena un nuovo progetto, quello dei Resina (unione di Retina.it e Messina dei 99posse). Autori di un ottimo debutto dal titolo Opinio Omnium. Un lavoro quest'ultimo che consolida la buona opinione che ci eravamo fatti di questi ragazzi napoletani e impone la Mousike lab all'attenzione anche dei Magazine esteri. Questo nuovo album dei Retina.it, senza titolo, è un'altra bellissima sorpresa,che,in un mondo giusto, dovrebbe affermare definitivamente la Mousike come una realtà da tenere d'occhio, e non solo nel circoscritto panorama italiano. Non c'è che dire, sono artisti che meritano la stessa attenzione e la stessa risonanza che si da a progetti come quello dei Rechenzentrum per esempio. Forse ancora più intriganti che in passato, i Retina.it conservano tuttavia certi tratti distintivi, probabilmente per via del fatto che i modi con cui si divertono a creare musica non sono sostanzialmente cambiati (lunge session live in studio da cui verrebbero poi estrappolate le singole tracce). Mancano qui le aperture a una ritmica più sfacciatamente techno (episodi presenti invece nel disco a nome Resina) e si rimane su un'elettronica minimale e microscopica (massima cura di ogni singolo dettaglio sonoro) popolata da una miriade di suoni (effetti acustici, rumori d'ambiente) che entrano ed escono dalla traccia convergento alla creazione di una rete sonora fitta e intricata i cui pattern ritmici sono in costante evoluzione. Grande dinamismo dunque, sia nei suoni che nelle ritmiche. Si aggiungono poi le melodie, sempre evocative, cinematiche, atmosferiche, a volte cupe e cariche di tensione (Risveglio), a volte memori di paesi lontani (Zafari), forse qualche momento più up-tempo non avrebbe stonato ma la visionarietà della musica dei Retina.it non lascia spazio a rimpianti. Chissà se sanno che in America c'è chi invoca una distribuzione dei loro lavori da quelle parti e pur di averli si sobbarca volentieri le spese di spedizione dall'inghilterra? Sicuramente saranno consapevoli che rappresentano uno di quei pochi casi per cui gli italiani dell'elettronica fanno la loro bella figura anche all'estero.

Txt: Nicola Catalano | 07/08.2004

Giunti all'album numero due della loro discografia (da mettere in conto che "opinio omnium", firmato con l'ex 99Posse Marco Messina a nome Resina), i napoletani Retina.it confermano di quanto buono prometteva il precedente lavoro su Hefty Records. Anzi, questo anonimo secondo disco ritrova il duo maturato e compattato intorno ad una scrittura decisamente personale, elettronica tutta (o quasi) analogica con grande attenzione all'aspetto melodico e al calcolo di spazio e volume, dunque assai più in palla di tante blasonate formazioni internazionali. Da evidenziare la semplice ma efficace costruzione torpidamente indietronics di Comamilla, la divertita intelligenza comunicativa di Papc e le coloriture vagamente etno di OmNama rtnt e China@House.

(7/8)

Txt: Gianni Santoro | 22.07.2004

Scavate pure a Pompei: troverete l'elettronica

L'elettronica italiana che non teme confronti con l'estero. Da Pompei i Retina.it hanno gia conquistato Chicago. Il primo cd del duo partenopeo, Volcano Waves 1-8, fu pubblicato nel 2001 dalla Hefty, l'etichetta di Slicker e Telefon Tel Aviv. Il secondo esce a tre anni di distanza dopo la collaborazione con Marco Messina dei 99 posse (Resina fu il risultato, inquietante).Rimane intatto il gusto per i titoli improbabili: Comamilla. Lost ctrl. E non cambiano le coordinate: elettronica minimalista con grande accento sulle ritmiche secche. Un campo in cui gli Autechre hanno gia detto tantissimo. Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono offrono le loro varianti (Aaghee, Sambush). Allineati alle produzioni estere. Anche troppo.

07.2004

Intelligent techno, elettronica minimale, avanguardia....come descrivere retina.it? Il progetto di Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono, entrabi ex dj in vari club napoletani, arriva al secondo capitolo. Un'opera "aliena" e suggestiva che non ha nulla da invidiare a più blasonate produzioni straniere, non a caso il duo ha pubblicato fino ad ora con la Hefty Records di Chicago.

Txt: Gianluca Runza | 07/08.2004

Ritornano i napoletani Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono (con il nome leggermente cambiato, da Retina a Retina.it) con un disco che raccoglie materiale composto negli ultimi tre anni. Musica come una forma di diario artistico e personale? Si, credo che l'ipotesi possa passare. Ma se pensaste che questo significhi una collazione repsodica ed eterogenea, questo no, o comunque non nel senso di cose molto diverse messe assieme. Per il semplice motivo che i due possiedono una propria scrittura ben precisa. Ambient e techno? Boh,si,ma dovrebbe essere chiaro ormai a tutti come queste siano categorie talmente ampie ed elastiche da significare tutto e il suo contrario. Il suono è un tessuto scuro e denso, finanche liquido, composto da elementi tagliuzzati in porzioni piccole piccole, macinate e assemblate (ad esempio, la radio sotto e fra le rughe in 12 set. che sta per 12 settembre 2001), che mostrano, parlano, ma non spiegano. E sebbene ci sia nell'aria un non so che di mediterraneo, di italiano, quello che si sente sono ascendenze tedesche, di kraut come di Chain Reaction e Mille Plateaux. Paesaggi come buchi cilindrici con leggerissime torsioni, i Plaid e la poesia astratta dei codici che informa il lavoro di AGF. Sempre bravi.

Txt: C.A. | 12.2004

Il panorama internazionale dell'elettronica da ascolto o da lieve balletto casalingo o da sottofondo per sesso dilatato da parecchio non ha regalato molto. Saranno i troppi laptop visti sui palchi negli ultimi anni, sarà una certa rigidità costantemente riprodotta degli schemi, sarà che certo anonimato anaffettivo troppo spesso ha celato mancanza di capacità. Certo è che con gioia abbiamo accolto il lavoro - anche live, specie in coppia con il talento visuale Claudio Sinatti - dei napoletani Retina.it, capaci di regalarci di nuovo sottigliezze soniche all'altezza dei nostri desideri più sfumati, partiture solo apparentemente euclidee e in generale forme disegnate per conservare calore, come i segni che il corpo lascia sulla sabbia dopo esser stato a lungo al sole. Sì, perchè quella dei Retina.it è musica etnica, partenopea, mica deterritorializzata e fintamente global, fatta com'è di forme porose, di tufo bucherellato. Puro Vesuvio.

Txt: John H DeGroot

Various Artists - Immediate Action 9 - Hefty

Continuing the red installment of its diverse Immediate Action 12-inch series, Hefty presents us with a three-way split disc that cross-pollinates genres in the subtlest of manners. Three of the five cuts are from Victor Bermon, an Australian producer who mangles the standard instrumentation of jazz music, squeezing nearly all affect from bass, sax, and drums. The remains are lifeless shells, tools without their masters, memento mori of golden years past. The imagery of film director Werner Herzog comes to mind as dusty loops whirl endlessly like unmanned automobiles and eddy-fettered river rafts.

Pompeii’s Retina.IT contributes a single track on the flip side, similar in structure to the static Bermon pieces, but utilizing an electronic and more deliberately textured sound set. Buzzing drones serve as a backdrop for a muted violin, as various chirps act as foils. Samadha’s “Anonyme” closes out the EP with still more drones, although they play a secondary role to somnolent piano, sax, and acoustic guitar, gently optimistic accompaniment to a foggy Saturday morning.

http://www.feedbackmonitor.com

Crafted their sonic creations in a studio that practically sits in the shadow of the infamous Mt. Vesuvius, Retina's Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono are likely the first electronic artists from Pompeii, Italy to come to the attention of the world at large. Despite living and recording in such relative isolation, the duo appear to have distilled a wide range of influences to create their own take on abstract electronica. The eight tracks on their debut album are peppered with elements of minimal tech-house, watery glitch-dub, robotic IDM and droning ambience, resulting in a disc that at times feels more like a compilation of new school electronic producers rather than the work of a single group. But even with this air of eclecticism, Volcano Waves 1-8 still retains a sense of flow and aural harmony from track to track. Not a groundbreaking effort to be sure, but still a strong and pleasant set of work.

http://it.qoob.tv/users/blog_det.asp?post=16256 | by Effemme September 2007

Una cura ossessiva verso la qualità del suono e la lunghezza d’onda quella che Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono, alias Retina.it, riservano al loro primogenito “Volcano.waves.1-8”, per Hefty Records (la stessa dei Telefon Tel Aviv, per intenderci). Il lavoro è imperniato sulla ricerca esasperata del giusto equilibrio fra techno, ambient e sperimentazione, senza mai allontanarsi troppo da un certo melodismo italico. Il concetto fondante è difatti quello del fuoco lavico, perfetta simbiosi fra metalli e gas, dove le caratteristiche intrinseche d’ogni elemento della tavola periodica si sposano tra loro forgiando un unico fiume magmatico. Le otto onde vulcaniche, “Agni”, “Plinius observer”, “Camera magmatica”, “Our lady of mystery”, “Lander”, “Piroclastic flux”, “Insekt” e “Obsidian”, vanno rincorrendosi su sentieri tecnologici d’avanguardia, fra bassi molto bassi e kick in evoluzione, fx complicati ed intrecci vst senza eguali. Tra l’altro, se si va a studiare attentamente la forma delle frequenze, ci accorgiamo che spesso e volentieri non c’è simmetria, ovvero le fasi si trovano spesso invertite rispetto alla convenzione.

http://www.almostcool.org

One of the beauties of electronic music is that it opens up the sonic palette beyond what most people would consider music and allows those elements to become yet another part of music today. While that sometimes means that you hear some just downright awful music (and believe me, I have), it also makes for some combinations that you just wouldn't hear otherwise. One of these strange combinations is played with in several different ways on this new release by Retina, and fortunately they don't manage to fall into the "annoying as hell" category by doing so.

The tonal range of electronic music will hit you square in the inner ear when the first track, "Agni" starts. A series of super high pitch tones ring out to start things, sending dogs barking and you scrambling for the volume knob if you have things turned up too loud. After awhile, though, the group blends in some lower end pulses until the track builds into an off-kilter rhythm track with weird orchestral bursts and other odd noises. Although it's interesting, the second track "Plinius Observer" is much more effective at combining the two elements, mixing a very cool groove (although it takes awhile to develop) with some more of the high-pitched tones.

On "Camera Magmatica," the group moves the track along with a molasses-thick quagmire of a bass pulse that sounds like a washing machine dryer spinning down with too many clothes inside it in the next room. Steadily, they add little bits of clicks and clacks and squeaks, but the track still feels bottom-heavy with the lumbering grumble. "Piroclastic Flux" sounds like it's going to be nothing more than a weird collection of glitchy blips until a dancefloor pounding beat comes in and manages to tie the whole damn thing together. The group close out the release in the same banging fashion, too. The seventh track of "Insekt" slams along with a chunky beat and ringing hi-hat while odd elements filter in and out of the long track (making it almost sound like something that could have come out during the Plus 8 heyday a couple years back) and the album closer of "Obsidian" steadily adds mechanical sounding elements to the machine-like tromping beat. By the end, it sounds like music that might accompany a nightmare of running through a forest and being chased by something rather sinister.

If the Clicks And Cuts compilation (actually, either of them) made you get all in a tizzy about low end rumbles combined with little bits of spat-out data, the tracks early on in the disc will probably be right up your alley. Later on in the release when things get a little more beat-driven, the group seems to lose a little bit of their focus and especially rhythmically the tracks simply aren't as interesting. The release as a whole has a bit of a darker feel to it, but there are also some interesting things to be found. Not essential, but interesting. Rating: 6.5

Txt: Kenyon Hopkin

Besides the duo's musical influences from classic {\experimental} bands like Einsturzende Neubauten and Clock DVA, Retina's chief inspiration for Volcano Waves comes from (strangely enough) a volcano. And, in a way, this could easily be a soundtrack for the Vesuvio volcano in Pompeii, Italy, where Retina resides and records. Spooky tones flow like lava, low-end bass rumbles, and beats erupt. Most of this improvised (and later edited) material is repetitive and often extends past five minutes, creating persistent textures that cool down before they have a chance to really heat up.

Txt: -Camilo Arturo Leslie | http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/r/retina/volcano-waves.shtml

The very first sounds on Volcano Waves 1-8 drip rapidly and unexpectedly from the speaker, attempting a Chinese acrobat-style balance on the line between pleasant and painful. It sounds at once familiar and menacingly alien. A circling sequence-- of chimy notes that slice like aural paper cuts, and are tweaked just short of dog-whistle pitch-- forms a piercing, trebly melody. A cyborgan heartbeat joins in immediately after, pulsing out a steady a-sharp. This first track, "Agni," issues these thinly veiled threats until, around the fourth minute, another track of discordant keyboard samples and reverbed factory sounds join in to create a decidedly uncomfortable dance-din. Following on its tail, "Plinus Observer" plays good cop to the opener's bad. A bassy keyboard line injects warmth into the harried air even while insect-meets-shortwave-radio sounds keeps things from actually becoming pleasant.

"Camera Magmatica" begins with what sounds like air-raid sirens dropped four octaves, while scratchy blips and bwooop-bwooop sounds form subtle, if psychotic melodic lines. Crackling sounds fill the foreground as the dropped alarm sounds bwooop on. You have the sudden urge to evacuate the premise.

But let's get to who's responsible for this stuff. Retina is the collaborative project of two DJs from Pompeii, Italy. Yes, really: Pompeii, Italy. The cover art, as you can see, makes no attempt to hide that fact, depicting Mt. Vesuvius, Roman ruins, and what I'm guessing is the ash-preserved mummy of some unlucky blast-era resident. The back of the case even features a Roman bust and an amphitheater! So, what's the connection between the Pompeii's sooty, age-old history and electronica? Well, you know the Romans used to say "in blip, Verite."

Actually, both these guys, Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono, grew up working in family businesses that catered to tourists, all the while making frequent forays to Naples record stores to satisfy their passions for New Wave rock and roll. Soon thereafter, they became interested in DJing and electronic music, availed themselves of some analog sequencers and computer software, and the rest is ancient history.

The duo's methodology consists of improvising material in DAT format, later transferring it to computer for editing. I can't say I can sense the improvisatory elements of their music, but the fact alone is quite interesting. Some pieces do sound more warm, and thus "played" as opposed to "composed," than others. The fifth track, "Lander," features some nice rubber band-sort of noises which almost sound like singing. A subtle keyboard playing howling wind noises provides a nice-counterpoint to the rubber bands.

Cuesto no e my cup of tea but it's certainly intriguing. "Piroclastic Flux," the sixth episode, warms up even more. An ascending keyboard part repeats while whirring noises seem to talk from the right speaker. "Insekt" the appropriately titled penultimate track brings back the frenzied tension missing since the opener. Again, we have a stark separation between bassy frequencies of keyboard and pitter-patter, and the multiplicity of trebly, metallic voices jockeying for attention in the foreground. A house-style keyboard part joins in at the three-minute mark, making "Insekt" the most overtly dancy of the tracks.

"Obsidian" the mysteriously evocative closer features a spoon-on-copper-bowl metallic beat and what sounds like a twin-engine airplane circle overhead. Electro-crickets join in no time, rubbing their legs together in perverse imitation of the everyone's favorite bucolic night-time sound. But while this is the most relaxed and relaxing of the eight, it's still fraught with tension and foreboding. Maybe that's what you feel when you live under the shadow of a volcano, who knows? Someone, hurry, play me a fuckin' guitar chord.

http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=6271

Retina is an avante-electronic-experimental-noise project that explores the boundries of digital music. Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono of Retina began making music as the Qmen in 1994, one of the first performing electronic groups of their kind in Pompeii, Italy. Lino explains that, 'the Pompeii volcano is a huge example of the natural energy ready to explode here. The people here have great energy, but because of the poor economic situation and cultural struggles, they can't turn it into positive activity'. He elaborates that he has 'a great fascination in the historic area', in which they work, 'which has a big influence on our experimental activity'. Retina's studio exists beside the ancient city of Pompeii, the city that was buried under the Vesuvio volcano 2000 years ago. They perform and improvise all of their material to DAT which is later transferred to the computer and re-edited

Txt: -Alessandro Besselva | http://www.kwmusica.kataweb.it/kwmusica/review_scheda.jsp?idContent=61685&idCategory=2068

I musicisti italiani che frequentano i territori della dance più sperimentale stanno ricevendo all?estero consensi decisamente lusinghieri. Un esempio recente: i romani Jolly Music. Non sembra così strano, allora, che due musicisti di Pompei, Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono, titolari del progetto Retina dal 1994, si vedano pubblicare l?album d?esordio dalla Hefty, etichetta di Chicago in forte ascesa presso cui sono accasati, tra gli altri, gli Aluminium Group. Le otto ?onde vulcaniche? contengono un mix di techno astratta e minimali scenari ambient. Anzi, pensandoci bene è proprio la lava, visto anche il titolo, la metafora più appropriata per descrivere la musica dei due. Che è sì scarna ed essenziale, ma sfocia in flussi sonori continui e grumosi, impasti avvolgenti e quasi organici. Alcuni momenti, come Insekt, sono squisitamente percussivi, altri lasciano spazio a striature sonore più variegate: Plinius Observer è costruita su un arpeggio di tastiera dai riverberi ancestrali, che si addentra in un paesaggio inospitale di spigoli sonori, scricchiolii e crepitii vari. Ma il ritmo, minimale, resta comunque la cifra stilistica dell?intero lavoro: il funk alieno di Lander e il pulsare liquido di Piroflastic Flux coniugano al meglio elementi meccanici e organici. Come se questi ultimi, sorpresi da un?eruzione, si fossero fusi con macchinari e circuiti al silicio. L?esperimento dei Retina è più che riuscito. Attendiamo fiduciosi il seguito di queste ?volcano waves?.

Txt:Dennis Scanland | http://www.musicemissions.com/display_review/218

As Volcano Waves opening track seeps in with it’s high pitch rhythmic ting, you start to realize what your in for with this Italian IDM duo. Retina consists of Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono and they state that Volcano Waves was actually written with the Pompeii volcano in sight. You will sense the feeling of the surging and the lava flow with a few listens to this Retina album. Retina’s actual studio is located beside the ancient city of Pompeii that was historically buried under it’s warm lava flow. As the opening track “Agni” gets rolling you will feel your head bobbing but you won’t really know why. Not sure if it is the high pitch ting or the driving techno samples, but you know it’s good. “Plinius Observer” gets rolling with an almost oriental feeling but you will soon realize that the sounds are all fabricated using Retina’s high tech equipment. On “Camera Magmatica” the sample keeping the rhythm is a deep sonic sound that sounds like it’s actually bubbling through a layer of lava. Then another high pitch sound enters their desired mix. Retina succeeds through and through with giving the listener sonic landscapes to view volcano’s to.

Txt: Flud | http://www.periferal.it

vvaa Hefty Records Immediate Action

Questo doppio cd sulla statunitense Hefty Records rappresenta in pieno lo stile unico ed innovatore di questa etichetta, contiene la raccolta dei 12" della serie Immediate Action realizzata nell'anno 2000. Vede come protagonisti nomi ormai noti e apprezzati come savath+savalas aka Scott Herren (qui presente anche con le registrazioni live del progetto Samadha Trio) che con maestria unica si muove fra melodia, jazz e deviazioni sintetico-acustiche, Retina.it portabandiera delle vibrazioni magmatico-analogiche e sperimentali made in Italy, Bogdan Raczinsky folle e radicale sperimentatore drill'n'skizm di casa Rephlex, i grandi Beneath Autumn Sky con i loro beat hip-hop elettrocontaminati pieni di puro groove, Slicker in coppia con The Aluminum Group, Telefon Tel Aviv che apre il cd e molti altri.
Come avrete dedotto, vista la presenza di artisti di questo calibro, in questa stupenda raccolta, l'elettronica viene spinta oltre qualsiasi confine senza concedere spazio a facili classificazioni.....
la Hefty, esce da qualsiasi clichè e si rivela una delle label più interessanti di questi ultimi mesi. Naturalmente per il concept grafico di cover e packaging anche questa volta si avvale della collaborazione dei Graphic Havoc che già si erano occupati dei 12".
Una raccolta consigliata a tutti coloro che amano l'elettronica senza confini, che si apre facilmente anche all'ambient, al jazz o al post-rock... semplicemente DA AVERE!!

Txt: Mario | http://www.noego.org

vvaa Hefty Records Immediate Action

Raccolta della serie di 12" "Immediate action". Oltre a note figure del genere sperimentale/IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) come Savath & Savalas, T. Raumschmiere e Slicker, troviamo anche il progetto italiano Retina.it, falange armata della new wave sperimentale napoletana. Nel complesso un buon doppio CD che si presta bene a fare da bignami di un genere musicale anomalo, di transizione, ma che ha tantissimo da dire. Finalmente nuovi suoni, sicuramente orchestrati in modo psicotico ma a mio modesto parere aria fresca sul panorama elettronico. Non mancano iniezioni di jazz e down-tempo per cui se volete avvicinarvi al genere, scoprirete che non sarà un'esperienza poi così spigolosa.

http://users.skynet.be/entrepot/rev/compilations/recycling_buzz.htm

vvaa Recycling Buzz | Amanita Records

.......Like it should be on a good compilation record are their some project and labels with some name and some totally new things on it. Within my case already heard; the reasonable acquaintance Alejandra & Aeron (have also the Luky Kitchen label) who plays with pulsing sounds, from deep bass tunes to micro electronic are weave to one conjuring pulse. Minimal solely with very many expression and tension are the contributions from Forestopper (Tête to tête label). For me unknown, but a record released on hefty mains already something, Retina with two tracks where basic, dry beat patrons standing central. The name Eardrum has I notice before in some magazines, and drum stood not for anything in their name, hilarity wacko sounds and whipping up drums. New surprising in the electronic sector are for me Colongib with two better abstract electronic tunes and the dark sound from Format who gets especially the attention with his openings track "n°7". ........

http://sonomu.net

vvaa Output 01 | Sintesi Archivio

......Local boys Retina.it (part of the Hefty stable) go for some seriously sub-aquatic beats and squelches on "Lost in the Church", a real-time improvisation with a naggingly-familiar horn sample, beaming in from a radio station from another planet and a ticking clock giving colour to their beats and clicks. The twenty-minute piece is vaguely reminiscent of a gentler Two Lone Swordsmen on a very minimal tip, and as it expands and evolves over twenty minutes the listener’s attention doesn’t flag once, which is quite an achievement....

Monday 28 August 2006 | http://www.fly.co.uk

“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present, and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history that we make today.”

The quote ‘History Is Bunk’ is accredited to Henry Ford (Chicago Tribune, 1916) and what a good title for Hefty Record’s two-part CD set of ‘collaborations, re-interpretations and new compositions’. Hefty is based in Chicago and is to be forever thanked for re-issuing Carlos Niño’s favourite album by Phil Ranelin Vibes From The Tribe.

While this compilation showcases a whole list of artists, Daedelus and Telefon Tel Aviv are probably the most well known. As part of the ‘underground’ scene, these albums act as a reaffirmation of where the label and artists have come from and were they are going to after some fifty releases.

For me, Ranelin’s trombone stands out on his contribution to the Chris Chase track ‘Deluge’ as it’s the closest to a ‘jazz’ track. As a (breakable) rule, the label features mostly electro-downtempo IDM artists. At the far end of that, the best example here of the minimal electronic ambience is the seven and a half minute Ryuichi Sakamoto remix of the Telefon Tel Aviv track ‘Sound In A Dark Room’ and a remix of ‘Axtel’ on Part 2.

Following on from having a track picked for inclusion on the Bass-Ment Classics CD, Dabrye has a remix of a track called ‘Snowbreaker’ on Part 1 which is a fine example of Detroit electronica with a hip-hop attitude. Dabrye was recently interviewed in Hip-Hop Connection about his new album Two/Three which got a top review on Fly.

Other exponents of forward looking experimental electronic music are Slicker (who kick off Part 1 with a fine electro-broke blip-bop instrumental and have a couple of remix tracks included on Part 2), Spanova (‘Absentminded’ is a little downtempo electro dubby jazz track) and Retina.it (particularly liked ‘Anticamera Dei Dubbi’ with its modern Eno/Byrne groove with a touch of No Wave).

Some tracks get a little too close to authentic 80’s electro pop for me but at the other extreme, there’s a track by L’Altra called ‘The Last’ which is a more Rough Trade indie electro with strings (very emotional).

The best of the lot for me is the Daedelus remix of Savath & Savalas (aka Prefuse 73) with ‘Paths In Soft Focus’. Other ones look out for are the ‘Super Group’ of STS9, Slicker and Retina.It on ‘Mackinaw Peeper Division’ and Hefty Cut Up Remix of ‘Outer City Sound’ (Jimmy Edgar).

Hectic Mix Nominations: Part 1 ‘Snowbreaker’ (Dabrye Remix), ‘Deluge’ (Benelli Mix) Chris Case feat. Rich Embach & Phil Ranelin, ‘Paths In Soft Focus’ (Daedelus Wishes You The Best Remix) Savath & Savalas

Part 2: ‘Absentminded’ Spanova, God Bless This Mess, This Test We Pass (Haruomi Hosono Remix) Slicker, ‘Anticamera Dei Dubbi’ Retina.it

Reviewed: V/A - History Is Bunk (Part 1) & (Part 2) (Hefty Records) Cat. No. HEFTY052 & HEFTY053 Release Date: April 2006

Txt: Ar | http://www.basebog.com

History is Bunk/Hefty 10 Digist | Hefty Records

La Hefty continua il suo singolare approccio alle celebrazioni per il suo decimo anniversario con un paio di colpilation, "History Is Bunk" volume 1 e 2. Il lungo sottotilo è "Collaborations, Reinterpretations and New Composition", in partica ci invita ad escoltare sotto una luce diversa l'offerta del catalogo dell'etcihetta con base a Chicago. In particolare il volume 2 si appoggia maggiormente sulle novità, sui nuovi artisti su chi la Hefty ha puntato. Spanova, Plus Device, Eliot Lipp, Some Water And Sun, Beneath Autumn Sky e, attenzione... Retina.it. Ci sono inoltre pezzi di Sliker, remix di Hauromi Hosono e Jan Jelinek, Daedelus, Dabrye, Telefon Tel Aviv, Savath & Savalas L'altra, insomma i soliti nomi che apprezziamo da sempre. C'è poco da aggiungere, se apprezzate la Hefty queste due compilation non possono lascirvi indifferenti. Se al contrario non conscete bene l'etichetta quale occasione migliore di questa.

Txt: Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. | http://billboard.com

History is Bunk/Hefty 10 Digist | Hefty Records

Hefty Celebrates 10 With Two Compilations

Chicago indie label Hefty Records will celebrate its 10th birthday via a pair of collections. On April 4, the label will unveil the double-disc set "Hefty 10 Digest," which features a disc of highlights from artists such as Slicker, Telefon Tel Aviv, Euphone, Bill Ding, Ilium, Phil Ranelin and Scott Herren's Savath + Savalas project.

The second disc finds Herren (under his Prefuse 73 moniker) riffing on the mixtape concept by blending previously released tracks with rare versions and remixes by El-P and Savath + Savalas.

On April 25, Hefty will separately release two volumes of the compilation "History Is Bunk: Collaborations, Reinterpretations and New Compositions." The first album boasts new music from Slicker and L'Altra plus a Ryuichi Sakamota remix of Telefon Tel Aviv's "Sound in a Dark Room," while the second is highlighted by Jan Jelinek's remix of Samadha's "Anonyme" and new cuts from Spanova and Retina.IT.

Beforehand, Hefty will on March 21 issue a 12-inch vinyl EP featuring one track each from Some Water And Sun, Spanova, Eliot Lipp and Slicker. Various Hefty acts are also planning on touring this year in tandem with anniversary shows in New York, Chicago, Berlin and Los Angeles on dates to be announced.

Txt: Giosuè Impellizzeri | http://www.disc-jockey.it

History is Bunk/Hefty 10 Digist | Hefty Records

Tra gli emblemi della 'neue electronica' c'è indubbiamente la Hefty Records di Chicago che non ha mai voluto confinarsi in un preciso settore musicale preferendo esplorare di continuo i meandri della musica prodotta con le macchine. Partendo senza troppe pretese nel 1995, John Hughes (noto come Slicker) è riuscito a fondare una vera e propria 'famiglia' che raduna attorno a sè un numero non esagerato di artisti che però sono riusciti a dimenarsi bene nello sconfinato mercato internazionale della musica.

La continua ricerca di un segmento che si allontanasse il più possibile dalla prevedibilità e serialità ha fatto si che la 'creatura' di Hughes divenisse qualcosa di rispettato e coinvolgente.

Hefty raccoglie consensi col post-rock, idm, down-tempo e jazz-funk dalle venature electroidi in grado di far appassionare anche i più restii. Per festeggiare il decimo compleanno, la label, 'mamma' anche dell'Aestuarium, rilascia un'emblematica raccolta che getta l'occhio al futuro della musica da ascolto.

Nel cd 1, 'Digest', il pfunk sposa il soul, il new jazz, l'acustico e il rumorismo tipico dell'experimental: a rendere possibili questi curiosi incroci sono pezzi come "Fahrenheit Fair Enough" dei Telefon Tel Aviv, "F Ride + Blues" di Savath + Savalas, "Red Blue, Yellow" di Euphone, "Amidha" di Samadha, "Our Lady Of Mistery" dei Retina.it e "Knock Me Down Girl" di Slicker che racchiude in sè echi daftpunkeschi.

"Hefty 10 Digest" ingloba al suo interno anche un secondo cd, 'Hefty Mixtape 10 Years', selezionato da Scott Herren, che raccoglie 21 tracce del catalogo tra cui anche alcuni interessanti unreleased. Tra i tanti "Nokia" di Eliot Lipp, "Agni" dei Retina.it, "Define" di Process, "Sound In A Dark Room" dei Telefon Tel Aviv, "Variokoppler" di T. Raumschmiere ed altri esperimenti dalla bellezza sopraffina firmati da Ilium, Phil Ranelin, Slicker e L'Altra.

In "Hefty 10 Digest" vive l'essenza del sound anticonvenzionale, non indicato alle piste da ballo ma non colpevole di un allontanamento. Perchè la musica si giudica a prescindere dal genere che segue.

Txt: Nick | http://justaddnoise.com

History is Bunk/Hefty 10 Digist | Hefty Records

As somewhat of a companion to the Hefty Digest dual disc we talked about a while back, History Is Bunk: Collaborations, Reinterpretations and New Compositions (volumes 1 and 2) continues celebrating 10 years of exceptional musical output by Chicago’s Hefty Records. But as Digest looked back over the past, the HIB series gives a glimpse of the label’s future with remixes of past material, collaborations between Hefty artists and friends as well as new material from the current roster.

Volume 1 kicks off with the experimental but jungly “Russian Icle Slide” by Slicker (label head John Hughes) which sets the stage for next 50 minutes of highlights. The mellow strings and soft boy/girl vocal harmony of L’Altra’s “The Last” are perfectly complimented by the restrained use of electronic bits and downtempo beat that only stays for the middle peak and the final Radiohead-ish eruption towards the end. This is also an early indication of the wide spectrum of sounds that Hefty’s “electronic” music covers. Dabrye’s brand of hip-hop infused into Some Water And Sun’s “Snowbreaker” is completely contrasted by the delicate piano and jazzy horns (over subtle atmospherics) of “Deluge” by Chris Case featuring Rick Embach and Phil Ranelin. “Mackinaw Peeper Division” by Sts9, Slicker and Retina.It combines a folksy guitar loop, bits of keys, random percussion and distortion over a crunchy bass beat to form a strange futuristic freak-folk.

After packing all that and more into the first disc, Volume 2 slows the pace a bit overall beginning with the (nearly ambient at times) downtempo beat and spacey vocals of “Absentminded” by Spanova. But the pace picks back up again immediately afterwards with the new wave-ish danceable “Compose The Beat” by Plus Device and old school hip-hopishness of Eliot Lipp’s “Heat”. Chris Case and Rick Embach return with very subdued keys, tiny blips and chimes over quiet washes of fuzz on “Axtel” that is counter-balanced by the choppy sound design of Retina.It’s “Anticamera Dei Dubbi”.

Both discs blur the dividing lines of dance, experimental, ambient, hip-hop, pop and jazz, and each track in it’s own unique way. If you like it on the faster, harder side, choose volume 1. If you like it softer and smoother, choose volume 2. If you like many flavors of electronics, get both. You won’t be disappointed. History is bunk? Not Hefty’s history, and by the sounds of these, a bunk future isn’t on the horizon either.

Download Some Water And Sun’s Snowbreaker (Dabrye Remix)

 

Txt: Dominic Umile | http://www.orlandoweekly.com

History is Bunk/Hefty 10 Digist | Hefty Records

Ten years of experimental electronic music calls for a celebration that shouldn’t be without bottle rockets and Less Than Zero depravity, but a bulky commemorative CD set will do the trick. Chicago-based Hefty Records is celebrating its first decade, and these collections offer a sizable cross-section of what hands-on label head John Hughes is still putting out, as well as the significant contributions on which Hefty has built its prominent reputation. The Prefuse mix tape is a noteworthy bonus, too.

Hefty Digest features message board–burners like Telefon Tel Aviv and Savath + Savalas, but its 16-track spread also sheds light on names like Euphone, Retina.It and Bill Ding, whose “Just a Nick in the Car Door” 7-inch was among the first of the Hefty releases. Boasting three separate and distinct movements, Bill Ding’s multilayered “Bucket of Strawberries” falls fifth in the Hefty Digest lineup. Plucked from their 1997 Trust in God But Tie Up Your Camel album, its bold string-laden middle section, abstract vocal offerings from member/Hefty main man John Hughes, and boisterous cat noises in the background may serve as a comprehensive model of the label’s diverse output.

Scott Herren backs Hefty Digest with a mix tape segment under his Prefuse 73 alias. While it isn’t the kind of mix that’s peddled sidewalk-style, with D-Block exclusives and DJ Clue screaming all over it, Herren’s selections are just as tight, lined with unreleased cuts and outtake numbers. Some Water and Sun’s “Ah Oh” is a lively mesh of jumpy clicks, clipped vocals and scattershot beats, and Herren fittingly pushes it up against “Map of What Is Effortless,” a vast arrangement of atmospheric shuffles and film-score violins. This half is littered with natural blends and laptop madness; if only Herren traveled the mix-tape circuit more frequently.

The two-disc History Is Bunk: Collaborations, Reinterpretations, and New Compositions set culls new and old, with remixes of Hefty names and unreleased cuts from Slicker (a Hughes alias) and Eliot Lipp, among others. Brilliant West Coaster Daedelus adds percussive madness to Herren project Savath + Savalas for his “Paths in Soft Focus” remix on Part 1, layering a searing synth melody and a pitched-up vocal sample atop the already quivering structure. Dabrye’s work on Some Water and Sun’s “Snowbreaker” teems with icy, digital keystrokes, working logically alongside the vintage analog patches of Eliot Lipp’s “Hefty Naked Ninja Remix.” The 1970s aesthetic that honey-coated Lipp’s funky Tacoma Mockingbird LP spruces up an impressive batch of new cuts on Part 2, with lovely choral bits in Spanova’s “Absentminded” and jumbled minimal clicks as provided by Retina.It. In spastic portraits and moments of warmth that redden the cheeks, Hefty is aging like a tasty wine.

 

Txt: soulseduction | http://www.soulseduction.com

History is Bunk/Hefty 10 Digist | Hefty Records

This essential EP release is LIMITED EDITION of 1,000 for the entire world.
At the tail end of 1995, out of his college dorm bedroom, aspiring musician & label owner JOHN HUGHES released a little album by his band BILL DING, kick-starting HEFTY Records as a fully functioning label, infamous for it's cutting-edge sound & aesthetic detail. Since then, HEFTY has become a respected and critically hailed label (from humble, local label beginnings to international recognition), having launched the careers of best selling, respected artists like SAVATH+SAVALAS (Scott Herren, Prefuse 73, Piano Overlord), TELEFON TEL AVIV, SLICKER (John Hughes), ELIOT LIPP, L'ALTRA, PHIL RANELIN, RETINA.IT, SAMADHA, BENEATH AUTUMN SKY, etc. We are proud to announce that from December 2005 through December 2006, HEFTY Records will be celebrating its 10th anniversary. It's been a wild, adventurous 10 year ride, thus far, and we're excited by what the next decade will bring. Throughout all of 2006, you will see 10th anniversary branding on all of our 2006 releases, heavy promotion/marketing, lots of touring and label showcases in key cities worldwide. To further emphasize the 10th celebration, HEFTY is releasing a string of releases (HEFTY 10 Digest [HEFTY 051], History Is Bunk,Part 1 [HEFTY 052], History Is Bunk,Part 2 [HEFTY 053]) which will highlight the label's past, present and future. The HEFTY 10 EP comprises music from all three 10th-related releases, along with a brand new, exclusive song by HEFTY's buzz-heavy instrumental hip-hop producer ELIOT LIPP. his strong EP also includes a burnin' hip-hop remix by DABRYE (Ghostly International artist) of a SOME WATER AND SUN original song, not to mention a luscious pop number by Japanese electronic pop act SPANOVA and an epic downtempo cut by SLICKER.

 

Txt: Josh Zanger | http://www.thetripwire.com

History is Bunk/Hefty 10 Digist | Hefty Records

Trying to start a record label is like skateboarding - a lot of people can do it poorly but only a few can do it really well. Chicago independent Hefty Records isn't Tony Hawk caliber, but they also aren't the eight year old with protective pads strapped to every limb, either.

The label's accomplishments to this point - the most notable being a 10-year anniversary being observed throughout the last two months - have been relatively modest when compared to other record companies. But owner John Hughes doesn't hold the same view towards accomplishment and overall vision that some business owners do. For him, Hefty's goal is about something much more basic.

When talking to Hughes it is clear that he is focused and confident but also casual and affable. By the time this article runs, he says he will be 30 years old. He is married and resides in Chicago, the city that he has called home nearly his entire life. Appearing to be an every-man sort, Hughes has some tattoos inked into his personality that make him more interesting than he emits as the t-shirt-and-jeans character who was recently DJing at APT in New York in late March for his label's 10-year party.

“ Hughes started to feel that 'lo-fi' or 'bedroom' production was the most expressive way to create music, from artist to creation. He believed that while rock was a big part of the hands-on approach, electronic music offered a more immediate and complete method. ”

Exactly a decade ago Hughes founded Hefty Records in Chicago. At the time there were a multitude of indies popping up around the Midwest, all of them generally on the same plane-small, unknown, and gung-ho. Most of these record companies released hip-hop or rock albums, and Hefty was no different. Of the first numbers in Hughes' catalog were acts like indie-rock/experimental solo act Euphone and straight up indie rock from Bill Ding, Illium, and Chisel Drill Hammer. Hughes also co-released indie/math rock group Ghosts & Vodka with the Six Gun Lover label as well.

Coming into the late 1990s there surfaced non-acoustic sounds from the Hefty roster that began to differentiate its classification from the rest of the indie bunch. Around that time Hughes started to feel that "lo-fi" or "bedroom" production was the most expressive way to create music, from artist to creation. He believed that while rock was a big part of the hands-on approach, electronic music offered a more immediate and complete method. He felt, and correctly so, that as time advanced, recording from a home setting would become easier and of higher quality. Hughes says that the vision had less to do with being interested in the electronic genre - even though all of the artists certainly were - and more to do with wanting to be entirely expressive.

Hughes also takes great pride in developing new artists from raw potential. One of the company's leading principles is not to release music from established artists unless the situation seems right. For this measure, one of the label's more notable connections has been to a good friend of Hughes,' Scott Herren, who many also know as Prefuse 73. Early on, Herren worked with the label under that moniker but eventually went to Warp Records as his career progressed. He is still part of the Hefty family though, under alter-moniker Savath & Savalas. Prefuse also contributed a mixtape disc compiled entirely of the labels' previous releases to the recent Hefty Records compilation, Hefty Digest 10.

The 10-year celebration has been acknowledged in part by three releases of retrospective nature of which Digest 10 is incorporated. The other two are History Is Bunk 1 and 2, both collections of exclusive material like collaborations, remixes, and even some new compositions. Hughes sees these event-marking albums as an opportunity to reintroduce people to the music from the label, as well as a chance to show what the future holds.

Through the Prefuse 73 Digest 10 mixtape one can see how under-praised the label repertoire has been. The first track, which is part Mondii and part Elliott Lipp, is an exceptional blend of '70s synth-backdrop melody with an eclectic mixture of vocal samples and bouncy, fresh beats. Later burners can be found from Telefon Tel Aviv, Some Water and Sun, Slicker (Hughes' moniker), and in a L'Altra/Phil Ranelin mix of "A Day Between" and "Vibes From The Tribe," respectively. During the History Is Bunk series we see defining moments from an amazing cast of under-the-radar regulars like Lipp and Retina.It, and remixers including Dabrye, Daedelus, Jan Jelinek, Jimmy Edgar, and Ryuichi Sakamoto.

“ Hughes finds the city's rich musical background inspiring as he cites the soul stylings of Curtis Mayfield, Chess Records, house music, hip-hop, independent jazz, and post rock from the '90s as contributors to a strong tradition that he hopes to extend. ”

Part of what makes the release and party hoopla more impressive is that all of this has been done with a small, nameless cast of artists and label staff, and all out of the same hidden gem of a city that it originally started, Chicago. While it seems every art-related individual with talent flees for the coasts or across the oceans, Hefty has found it important to embrace family and roots. Hughes finds the city's rich musical background inspiring as he cites the soul stylings of Curtis Mayfield, Chess Records, house music, hip-hop, independent jazz, and post rock from the '90s as contributors to a strong tradition that he hopes to extend. Further telling is that Hughes says none of the Hefty roster (himself excluded) is from the Midwest, and that the label's record sales and attendance at performances are much better in Japan, France, Germany, and U.K. These are also non-coincidentally where the label held several of their anniversary parties.

For John Hughes and Hefty Records it was never about doing things the easy or obvious way. Instead, it was always about doing it the way that felt right. 10 years telling, over 50 releases, and success across the globe...I'd say that's a pretty good instinct.

 

http://www.tinymixtapes.com

History is Bunk/Hefty 10 Digist | Hefty Records

Hefty Records is the decade-young label of Chicago's John Hughes and he shows it off on this double disc anthology, enlisting the aid of Prefuse 73 as curator of the superb bonus material. Hughes started the label in 1995 as a vehicle for releasing his own stuff under the Bill Ding moniker. Since those early 12-inches, he has worked hard to compile an eclectic roster of artists that includes Savath & Savalas, Telefon Tel Aviv, Retina. IT, and a host of his own projects. The label is permeable, progressive, and patient: Hughes listens to every demo that comes his way, personally selecting the artists he will add to a crew whose collaboration and camaraderie he actively encourages. Due to Hughes' diverse tastes, Hefty releases have ranged from scratchy electro-acoustic experiments to Telefon's sophisticated compositions to remixes of jazz trombonist Phil Ranelin.

Disc 1, "Digest," proffers a tasteful, well-paced survey of each of these facets of Hefty's pliant identity, while also allotting time to spare, Germanesque glitch, poppified fusions of jazz and hip hop, and even Chicago post-rock. Generally, compilations and especially label samplers can be frustratingly streaky, but "Digest" serves as both a balanced documentary and a carefully-mixed album whose downtempo groove belies a boldly expressionist push and pull. "Digest" is, song-for-song, a convincing success, worthy of the high rating above; I was pumped to find that Prefuse 73's "Mixtape" confirms and deepens the quality of the first disc.

As usual, Scott Herren has found a way to make a large number of tracks (21) snap together like snake vertebrae, sliding past the listener beneath a sleek, sinister skin. The intriguing coherence of the mix is a testament to the mettle and malleability of the source material, as well as Prefuse's considerable skill as a (re)mixer. Polygonal shards of dance techno are locked in place around cleverly-arranged de- and re-constructuions of Ranelin's solos, Telefon's canny orchestration, and Herren's own signature stop-and-go beats. Frisky melodies point up the friction of hooks and rhythm structures, which scrape across each other before resolving themselves into delightfully complex patterns. The intrinsic sympathy between Hughes' and Herren's respective styles is apparent, and their collaboration here succeeds as an impressive demonstration of the Hefty ethos – one of its own artists leaning on and transforming the material of his colleagues to create something both original and captivating. A Hefty accomplishment.

 

Text: Valerio Mannucci

http://justaddnoise.com

As somewhat of a companion to the Hefty Digest dual disc we talked about a while back, History Is Bunk: Collaborations, Reinterpretations and New Compositions (volumes 1 and 2) continues celebrating 10 years of exceptional musical output by Chicago’s Hefty Records. But as Digest looked back over the past, the HIB series gives a glimpse of the label’s future with remixes of past material, collaborations between Hefty artists and friends as well as new material from the current roster.

Volume 1 kicks off with the experimental but jungly “Russian Icle Slide” by Slicker (label head John Hughes) which sets the stage for next 50 minutes of highlights. The mellow strings and soft boy/girl vocal harmony of L’Altra’s “The Last” are perfectly complimented by the restrained use of electronic bits and downtempo beat that only stays for the middle peak and the final Radiohead-ish eruption towards the end. This is also an early indication of the wide spectrum of sounds that Hefty’s “electronic” music covers. Dabrye’s brand of hip-hop infused into Some Water And Sun’s “Snowbreaker” is completely contrasted by the delicate piano and jazzy horns (over subtle atmospherics) of “Deluge” by Chris Case featuring Rick Embach and Phil Ranelin. “Mackinaw Peeper Division” by Sts9, Slicker and Retina.It combines a folksy guitar loop, bits of keys, random percussion and distortion over a crunchy bass beat to form a strange futuristic freak-folk.

After packing all that and more into the first disc, Volume 2 slows the pace a bit overall beginning with the (nearly ambient at times) downtempo beat and spacey vocals of “Absentminded” by Spanova. But the pace picks back up again immediately afterwards with the new wave-ish danceable “Compose The Beat” by Plus Device and old school hip-hopishness of Eliot Lipp’s “Heat”. Chris Case and Rick Embach return with very subdued keys, tiny blips and chimes over quiet washes of fuzz on “Axtel” that is counter-balanced by the choppy sound design of Retina.It’s “Anticamera Dei Dubbi”.

Both discs blur the dividing lines of dance, experimental, ambient, hip-hop, pop and jazz, and each track in it’s own unique way. If you like it on the faster, harder side, choose volume 1. If you like it softer and smoother, choose volume 2. If you like many flavors of electronics, get both. You won’t be disappointed. History is bunk? Not Hefty’s history, and by the sounds of these, a bunk future isn’t on the horizon either.

 

http://WWW.CYCLICDEFROST.COM

Hefty Records are spending much of this year celebrating their 10th birthday, and these two compilations (I’m not sure why they didn’t just put out one double CD) cover much of that history, albeit in a somewhat revised form, as the subtitle would imply.

Hefty can be a difficult label to pin down, covering all the bases of Chicago music, from modern jazz to post-rock and “future roots music”, a term label boss John Hughes III coined for his 2004 Slicker album We All Have A Plan. In something of a coup, each CD features a remix by a Yellow Magic Orchestra member: on Part 1, Ryuichi Sakamoto turns Telefon Tel Aviv’s “Sound in a Dark Room” into something like minimal dub, while Haruomi Hosono’s work on Slicker’s “God Bless This Mess, This Test We Pass” is almost invisible at first — a strangely unradical interpretation of the original, although it’s nicely minimal. Daedelus, on the other hand, is in radical form in his reworking of Savath + Savalas’ “Paths in Soft Focus” (originally from the Rolls and Waves EP), doing his stumbling jungle thing, lots of fun.
Elsewhere, L’Altra’s contribution to Part 1 jolts a little with male vocals not entirely to my taste, but the strings are lovely, as is the production which I assume is probably Telefon Tel Aviv. Also on Part 1, Perth resident Victor Bermon presents “The Lonely Tired Dance”, very pretty with its guitar chords and subtly clicky sampled percussion, and STS9, Slicker and Retina.IT collaborate with some minimal hip-hop with guitars.
Japan’s Spanova open Part 2 with the lovely layered vocals on “Absentminded”, which eventually turns into a kind of funky ambient electro. Telefon member JLE remixes Slicker in familiar style, and Jan Jelinek is typically minimal in remixing jazz trio Samadha.
It’s a shame these two comps aren’t a double CD, because many listeners will probably, like me, find a few tracks they love on both and a few they don’t particularly care for. Still, they’re both solid compilations from a very fine label.

http://www.mosoul.co.uk

History is Bunk Mosoul Album review, August 06

Bleeps, electronic burps and flavoursome soundscapes are all present on Hefty’s 10 Digest, which celebrates a decade of releases from the label.
Hot tracks include Telefon Tel Aviv’s boastful “My Week Beats Your Year” and Savath + Savalas’s heart melting “Folk Song For Cello”. Hefty
contributor Scott Herren presents his own vision of the label on his cluttered mixtape, which accompanies the Digest. On the ‘tape’, Beneath
Autumn Sky’s macabre jazz overhauling of Phil Ranelin’s “Black Destiny” features alongside Euphone’s stumbling guitared “New Dusk Policy”.
Flitting between the old and new, this engaging Chicago label’s ‘History Is Bunk’ compilations feature exclusive cuts and cool remixes. The only
problem is that it’s ever so easy to get lost in the dreaminess of it all. Volume one highlights come in the shape of Daedilus’s jittery
smashup of Savath and Savalas’s “Paths In Soft Focus” and Victor Berman’s peaceful “Lonely Tired Dance”. The second instalment includes
Slicker’s brooding “Lucas (JLE Remix)” and Retina.It’s menacing “Anticamera Dei Dubbi”. Hefty release downbeat, post hop and jaded
guitar works for those who appreciate melody and like well-structured compositions.

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text: Bobby Digital, 2007-01-04 | http://www.zapbangmagazine.com/music/record_reviews/243/

History is Bunk is a collection of hip-hop, electronica and ambient music celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Chicago based record label Hefty Records. If Hefty Records means nothing to you then maybe a few of the artists it has farmed over the last decade such as Telefon Tel Aviv, Savath + Savalas (Guillermo Scott Herren) and Eliot Lipp, might. The double-disc collection comes in the form of collaborations, re-interpretations and a few new compositions and rather than pushing forward groundbreaking material offers a round up what Hefty is and has been about. Both parts of the compilation offer ‘off the shoulder’ style takes on hip hop and electronica that are unhinged through IDM bleeps and glitches and the odd disco beat. The tracks here are all pretty sharply cut and technically precise — the sort of craft you’d expert from a niche indie label like Hefty.

The presence of Scott Herren, if not always in form but in sentiment is heavy on Disc 1. L’Altra’s “The Last” could drop straight in on One Word Extinguisher with its clipped synths and ratchet bleeps all staggering along to a stunted melody. Chris Case changes the tone on “Deluge” undercutting the electronica vibe for some smoky piano refrains and bobbing xylophone. Not quite jazz, but this down tempo version of “Deluge” breathes easily amongst the IDM feel of most of other tracks here. Savath and Savalas remix/mash up of Daedelus “Wishes You The Best” takes a happy middle ground between the in-organic and organic, delicately placing the vocal sample between a set of horns whilst the bleeps sporadically intermingle. This ability to collect different sonic textures some obtuse others lackadaisical and then to maintain a flow that is reflexive but also fluid between the different textures is Herren’s genius and again he succeeds here.

Both parts of the compilation offer ‘off the shoulder’ style takes on hip hop and electronica that are unhinged through IDM bleeps and glitches and the odd disco beat.

There is something about the History is Bunk collection that sees its subtle variety and snippets of reverie creep up on you. Victor Bermon’s “The Lonely Tired Dance” is a good example. The mood perfectly encapsulated by its title, Bermon’s muzak veneer gives the body of the song a gauzy anachronistic feel simultaneously making it sound even lonelier. On Disc 2 Plus Device’s “Compose The Beat” pulls in some IDM disco flavour but fails to captivate. Slicker’s remix of Haroumi Hosono, is an interesting mix embodying tribal, trip-hop and jazz elements without sounding too clunky. You get the impression that this unwillingness to conform to specific genres and equal desire to pull from musical tropes all over the past century is why Hefty called this collection History Is Bunk. On “Anticamera Dei Dubbi” Retina It. again mirrors this ethos taking an electronic drum beat, giving it an ethnic live feel (even though it isn’t) and then transposing it against a minute scratchy guitar sound.

Between the two discs there are a few numbers that perhaps don’t do enough and suffer from a stunted IDM feel. However, the majority of History Is Bunk is interesting and rewarding. There is a real sense of group ideas being played out here and that resonates into some strangely soulful moments. Labels like this keep the music industry fresh, so big up Heftly and a happy 10 year old birthday even if it is a little bit late.

Text: JH | http://www.indieworkshop.com/articles.php?id=305

Retina.IT – IA Tunes – Digital EP (Hefty Records)

Being no stranger to the Immediate Action series in its more conventional form, Retina.IT get in on the IA digital releases. Six songs, ranging from danceable IDM fun to spacious atmospheric jams, this Italian duo continue to craft engaging electronica without succumbing to cheap tricks and dated melodies. I'm always up for an electronic album that doesn't rely on restructuring past influences and I'm always a fan of producers who carve out their own warmth and feel. These guys have been in this game for years, and they show with this EP that they still have the chops to out wit more than half of the scene out there today .

Text: Valerio Mannucci

Text: Danilo Corgnati| http://www.liverock.it/tuttarec.php?chiave=662&chiave2=Retina.it

Immediate Action #012 è la quinta uscita a firma Retina.it per la statunitense Hefty, ma se le quattro precedenti collaborazioni avevano la forma di altrettanti 12”, quest’ultima produzione si caratterizza per essere disponibile, già dal mese di marzo ormai, in formato mp3 su iTunes, e, a partire da giugno, come CD Ep.
Il suono del duo partenopeo è decisamente personale e di difficile descrizione, elettronica minimale sempre più intelligente e sempre meno dance, qualcosa di simile a certe produzioni dei Matmos, o dei Mouse On Mars, dove queste rimangono pure indicazioni per il lettore, un tentativo banale per spiegare sommariamente i territori in cui Lino e Nicola si muovono. In questi sei nuovi pezzi sembra prevalere il lato più acido del progetto Retina.it, sia per la scelta dei suoni e delle ambientazioni che per la quasi totale assenza di melodie. Tetsub è lo spettro della techno, una ritmica ridotta all’osso, che suona come un osso, un gommoso loop di basso sintetico, rumori a sfregiare il suono, mentre aperture drone più melodiche svoltano il pezzo verso una soffice cinematicità. Dronizio si muove sullo stesso canovaccio, il ritmo è sgretolato tra i glitch, la cassa è una pulsazione soffocata nel liquido amniotico, un contrappunto di synth disegna ombre acide, qualcosa di non lontano dall’Afx del progetto Analord. Pick si muove ancora su territori i.d.m. con quei synth acidi a ricordare quello che in principio era techno, poi un loop di basso, ritmiche taglienti. Zilencer diventa ossessiva nella sua ripetitività, un drone elettrico fa da sfondo a una ritmica rotolonte e a quelli che sembrano suoni casuali, elettroniche improvvisate e rotte, qualcosa che si spezza tra i beat e nei bit, digitalizzazione casuale di 0 e 1, una versione gentile e aggraziata dei finlandesi Pan Sonic. E infine Oiu, giocattolo finale, melodie elettroniche come messaggi nello/dallo spazio, un senso di analogico, vecchi sequencer, note abbozzate, l’ombra di una melodia. Ora, viene chiedersi spontaneo, a quando il terzo album?