Retina.it

The authors of the mix are Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono, publicly known as Retina.it, an Italian electronic music project based in Pompei, Italy. The duo met in the early 1990s and suddenly found common interests to start their longevous musical partnership. In 1994 they have conjoined with DJ Rino Cerrone and launched one of the first Neapolitan techno music group named QMen which in its short existence released 3 vinyl records. In 1997 QMen project broke up. Retina.it was born as a consequence of Monaco’s and Buono’s constant interest in various sound researches and experimentations. The duo started to focus more on the inventive and conceptual sound with more flexible rhythmical and atmospherical foundation. It took 4 years for the first Retina.it album “Volcano waves 1-8” (2001) to see the daylight on Hefty Records. It was quite a fruitful start for the still emerging artists in the new century. With a prolific album, numerous of 12” records, EP’s and participations in various compilations under their belt the duo started gaining their deserved recognition across the globe. In 2003 they presented Mousikelab imprint where their second self-titled album was released, as well as collaborative album under Resina name. Retina.it was supporting on stage such prominent artists as Kraftwerk, Mika Vainio, Alva Noto, Pole, Apparat, Telefon Tel Aviv, Kangding Ray, Aoki Takamasa and others. Between 2009 and 2010 the duo was invited to collaborate with students of the Conservatory of Avellino to elaborate classical works such as “Chamin de fer” by Pierre Schaeffer and some madrigals of Carlo Gesualdo. The performances were presented at “Flussi 2009” and “Sentieri Barocchi 2010”. Their latest releases “Randomicon” at Flatmate Music and “Descending Into Crevasse” on Glacial Movements Records clearly reflect how the duo improved their skills in the last decade as their sound became more fluid and compositional, with a lot micro activity inside it. They performed live at such notable festivals as Sonar, Störung and others. The future of Retina.it seems bright, as their latest work with Dadub for Stroboscopic Artefacts shows their intentions and ambitions to explore this emerging alternative techno scene.

STM 094 is a sequential and refined audio journey through obscure and profound sound projections of the past. The mix contains 15 firm and expressive carefully selected records mainly released between 1960’s and 1980’s. Also, this selection indirectly mirrors Retina.it’s past and current influences. Efficient pieces of modern and avant-garde music composers such as Roland Kayn, Luigi Nono, Raymond Scott and dynamic works by the great musicians such as Coil, T.A.G.C., Laibach, Tuxedomoon completely interact with each other and form a sustained wholeness. It is important to mention that the last track of this mix is mysterious work “O.S.T. Janvier”, composed by Retina.it and will be released only in 2014. The basis of the mix stands on the early experimentations with complex synthesizers, vivid melodies, rigorous rhythms related to industrial music, harsh guitar chords related to post-punk scene and evocative vocals. Connections between tracks are accurate and fluid, even the whole selection is eclectic and caries different musical themes behind each track. Progressively growing tension and sound density of the mix show duo’s maturity as they literally shape their musical narrative. Remarkably filled blank spaces between each connection let the listener fully drown into mix’s subtle aesthetic and symmetry and rediscover some high quality and valuable gems of the past, that is so relevant to these days “underground” music scene’s convulsions and the uprising cult to reinterpret 80’s sound in new production.

Records and connections

STM 094 is like a constructive František Kupka’s work “Musique” related to Orphism movement where mixture of concrete colours, figurative mechanical shapes and gradual motion creates a close relationship between music and visuals. This abstract painting is quite similar to Retina.it’s psychologically powerful mix where intuitively explored industrialization, globalization, religion and freedom topics evoke not always convenient moments of the humankind.