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First Review
On le comprend dès les premières secondes de
Synth On Axis, le nouvel album des Napolitains de Retina.it porte on ne peut
mieux son nom. Transfuges de l'écurie chicagoanne Hefty Records (Savath &
Savalas, Telefon Tel Aviv...), on retrouve aujourd'hui Lino Monaco et Nicola
Buono du côté de Glacial Movements (Stormloop,Loscil, Bvdub... et tout
récemment Pjusk dont le superbe Tele est chroniqué ici) après un bref détour
par les discrètes structures Mousikelab et Flatmate et si les étendues
gelées auxquelles on associe naturellement les travaux du label d'Alessandro
Tedeschi(Netherworld) sont loin d'être étrangères à ce choix, c'est plutôt
la dimension isolationniste qu'en retient d'abord notre duo en s'enfonçant
sous la glace au gré des sinuosités claustrophobes d'un étroit boyau rocheux.
Freezing The Fourth String voit toutefois ce ténébreux conduit déboucher sur
une caverne aux dimensions monumentales, dont les parois phosphorescentes
semblent s'animer au contact de la faible lumière émise par la torche que
l'on avait pris soin d'emporter avec nous dans cette descente à l'issue
incertaine.
La musique de Retina.it se fait alors hypnotique, conjuguant pulsations
minimales, nappes analogiques et orchestrations synthétiques, et l'enfermement
devient féérie, nous faisant oublier jusqu'à l'existence même du monde
extérieur sur un Moonshine dont le ballet scintillant va jusqu'à épouser le
rythme de nos battements de cœur pour mieux prendre le contrôle de nos
émotions.
Ainsi, aucune raison de se méfier de cette étrange force qui nous attire peu
à peu dans le plus sombre recoin de cette chambre souterraine. La lumière de
la torche elle même semble se résorber à l'approche de ce puits d'ombre qui
nous engloutit dans un interminable fondu au noir sans que l'on sache
vraiment si l'on doit capituler ou résister. A mesure que l'on avance à l'aveugle,
le sol se liquéfie et bientôt, de l'eau glacée jusqu'à la taille et l'humidité
suintant de ce que l'on imagine être des stalactites suspendues comme autant
d'épées de Damoclès sous une voute résonnant de mille échos troublants, une
angoisse sourde nous étreint.
La lumière à nouveau, fragile, hésitante, mais suffisante pour jeter un bref
coup d’œil au thermomètre qui nous sert de brassard de survie. - 32°
Fahrenheit ? Un éclair de lucidité, une boucle rythmique de piano préparé
charriant dans un flot indiscernable de souvenirs et de regrets toute l'urgence
désespérée d'un souffle de vie qui s'accroche en vain à ce qui n'est déjà
plus.
Le noir à nouveau, on s'enfonce mais sans bouger cette fois. Engourdi, et
pourtant conscient, quelque part, de l'inéluctable tragédie qui s'amorce.
Aucune lumière au bout de ce tunnel là, mais les échos déchirants des
plaintes émises quelques milliers d'années auparavant par les âmes damnées
qui nous ont précédés sur ce chemin où ténèbres et beauté se confondent,
condamnées à errer entre coma et trépas. Un purgatoire de glace en mal de
combustible spirituel, voilà donc la nature de ce piège qui s'est refermé
sur nous sans que l'on y prenne garde et devrait faire de nous dans les
semaines, les mois voire les années à venir, les tributaires désarmés des
envoûtements soniques deRetina.it.
DESCENDRESALACAVE
Second Review
Si potrebbe pensare che la primavera non sia il periodo più
adatto dell'anno nel quale far uscire dischi improntati alla "contemplazione
sonora" dei ghiacci perenni. Eppure, da qualche tempo a questa parte, la
Glacial Movements, curata con passione da Alessandro
Tedeschi,
sta cercando di sviluppare l'impianto concettuale delle sue produzioni,
senza tuttavia con ciò sconfessare i propri tratti caratterizzanti.
Non è infatti la prima volta che, ascoltando una nuova uscita
dell'etichetta romana, capiti di pensare di essere in presenza del disco
"meno ghiacciato" del suo prezioso catalogo (basti pensare al maestoso "The
Art Of Dying Alone"
di Bvdub). Eppure la "discesa nel crepaccio" del duo campano Retina.it,
formato da Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono, si discosta almeno in parte non tanto
dall'immaginario di riferimento quanto piuttosto dal monodimensionale
isolazionismo ambientale a base di drone.
Se infatti la parte iniziale dell'album è lasciata a spesse
modulazioni di note processate, al di sotto della coltre gelata cominciano
ben presto a intravedersi residui organici ("Freezing The Fourth String"),
mentre folate di rumore avanzano sinistre lungo gli oltre dodici minuti di
"Attrazione Magnetica". Le atmosfere si fanno claustrofobiche sulle ali di
synth analogici scarnificati e nell'abituale quasi totale assenza di
elementi ritmici; unica parziale eccezione sono i poco più di cinque minuti
di "-32°F Porcelain, Metal & Ice", che riassume in forma sintetica i
sussulti provocati dalla congiunzione tra ghiaccio e fuoco, tra fragilità e
resistenza, sottesa a "Descending Into Crevasse".
La conclusione del lavoro, con il pezzo che vi dà il titolo,
non assume i tratti di una liberazione, quanto piuttosto quelli della
chiusura di un viaggio senza meta apparente in anfratti spazio-temporali
gelidi e angusti, metafora evidente di un percorso al tempo stesso di
ricerca sonora e di umana ascesi.
La primavera è lassù in superficie, e anche se nelle
profondità dei crepacci non potrà mai penetrare, la sua esistenza è tuttavia
percepibile.
ONDAROCK
Three Review
By now, one pretty much knows what the latest Glacial
Movements release will sound like before hearing it—deep, frozen ambient
of the isolationist kind, generally speaking—though that in itself isn't
objectionable. If anything, it's kind of interesting to hear the
particular solution the artist in question devises in response to the
Glacial Movements concept. The choice of Retina.it, which Lino Monaco
and Nicola Buono originated in the early ‘90s, is certainly fitting,
given the duo's deep ambient soundscaping approach and their command of
synthesis, both modular and digital. Though its six tracks are indexed, Descending
Into Crevasse's fifty-two minutes appear without interruption.
“Synth On Axis,” co-composed with Heidseck (Fabrizio
Matrone), establishes the material's brittle, ice-cold ambiance by
pairing the ghoulish wails of freezing winds with cavernous rumbling,
the implication being that such terrain is so severe no human could
survive for long amongst it. We naturally expect the material to go
deeper as it advances into the subsequent tracks and the explorers
descend in the crevasses between the gorges of ice. The dreamlike,
shimmering flow of “Moonshine” gives off a glimmer and glow that's
appropriate to its title; “Attrazione Magnetica,” by comparison, is
gloomy, its repeated muffled blows foreboding. The twelve-minute title
track punctuates its ominous rumblings with violent screeches and
dovetailing string figures, making for a dramatic end to the recording.
Though Descending
Into Crevasse clearly
perpetuates the tradition established by the Glacial Movements artists
who've come before them, Monaco and Buono do bring a few unexpected
moves to the series. “Freezing the Fourth String,” for example,
introduces a startling wrinkle in adding orchestral strings to its
reverberant ambient drone; in this case, the strings' silken timbres and
swooping arcs offer a dramatic contrast to the electronic elements. And
on an otherwise beatless collection, “-32°F Porcelain, Metal & Ice”
introduces if not beats then at least rhythmic pulsations that give the
track an almost Mokira-like propulsion. Such differences merely help
distinguish Retina.it's contribution from others in the label's
catalogues. At day's end, it's simple: anyone drawn to past Glacial
Movements releases should find the latest one equally satisfying.
TEXTURA
Four Review
I Retina.it a
sostegno di una fortissima vivacità compositiva, presentano a pochi mesi di
distanza dall’uscita di “Randomicon”,
il nuovo ”Descending
Into Crevasse”,
edito dalla label romana Glacial Moviments Records di Alessandro Tedeschi.
Se il precedente album, già un classico del duo di Pompei, ha un
suono caratterizzato da super-compatte percussioni derivate e che vanno a
impattare con energia tutto ciò che le circonda, per questa volta Lino
Monaco e
Nicola
Buono si
misurano in una meditativa attinenza acustica con il concept della su citata
etichetta nel tentativo di edificare un assemblaggio sonoro contemplativo,
“glaciale e isolazionista” partendo immediatamente dalla “ghiacciata” copertina
del digipack, curata dal norvegese Bjarne
Riesto.
Qui siamo in ambiente puramente cosmico, ovvero kosmische e
”Descending Into Crevasse”
suona come un pallone aerostatico che attraversa lentamente la
Via Lattea.
L’introduzione assegnata a “Synth
on Axis”
si contraddistingue per assenza di forza di gravità delimitata da riverberi che
si comportano come il mascara sulla linea degli occhi, aderiscono ai
sintetizzatori lasciando intatto e riconoscibile lo spazio ottenuto dal
pre-delay, mentre tutt'attorno si accendono e spengono bagliori astrali. Il
suono di “Freezing
the Fourth String”
è epico e ricorda molto i primi Tangerine Dream a metà strada tra una “Atem” al
netto delle fanfare di mellotron e con la percezione di assenza di tempo come
accadeva proprio in “Zeit”.
In effetti, un po’ tutto il disco ha soprattutto questa seconda
peculiarità, tant’è che termina senza neanche accorgersene, frattanto l’album è
breve e si ha subito voglia di risuonarlo.
L’ambient/electronica dei Retina.it sembra avere radici moderne,
ispirata dalle timbriche di Pierre Schaeffer e un po’ a tutto il G.R.M.C. in
generale, ma rilette in maniera razionale e in chiave attuale. Così “Moonshine”
("chiaro di luna") è un appassionato poème électronique, colonna sonora perfetta
di un lento allunaggio, che in definitiva trattasi soltanto di una sosta
momentanea poiché subito si ritorna a viaggiare verso altre rotte, non del tutto
sconosciute...perché è nel mantra minimale “Attrazione
Magnetica”
che sembra di stare nel bel mezzo delle tempeste atemporali del su annunciato “Zeit”,
non che sia del tutto elegante fare paragoni, ma la sensazione di vuoto cosmico
tratteggiato da attimi eterni che si avverte è la stessa!
FREAK OUT
Five Review
Exploring the capabilities of manipulated sounds and ambient soundscaping are
Retina.it, the duo made up of Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono. ‘Descending Into
Crevasse’ moves with icy awareness through landscapes of elegant classical
orchestration, frosty synth-work, frozen ambient passageways and patchworks of
unnerving field recordings. The result is a sudden influx of dreamlike elevation
and ghoulish drama.
BLEEP
Sixth Review
Działający od połowy lat 90. w Neapolu duet tworzony
przez Lino Monaco i Nicolę Bruno początkowo
penetrował rozległe obszary muzyki IDM. Świadectwem
tego jest debiutancki album projektu, ilustrujący
doświadczenie życia u podnóża Wezuwiusza – „Volcano
Waves 1-8” – opublikowany przez wysoko cenioną w
tamtym czasie amerykańską wytwórnię Hefty. Potem
włoscy producenci zwrócili się w stronę bardziej
ambientowych dźwięków – a udokumentowały to ich dwa
kolejne wydawnictwa: „Retina.it” i „Randomicon”. Nic
więc dziwnego, że w końcu trafili do znanej i u nas
wytwórni Glacial Movements.
Podobnie, jak i inne płyty wydawane przez Alessandro
Tedeshiego, również i czwarty album w oficjalnej
dyskografii Monaco i Bruno jest dedykowany
arktycznym pejzażom. Otwierający stawkę „Synth On
Axis” wypełniają metaliczne drony, które powoli
zstępują w mroczną przestrzeń, wypełnioną
tektonicznymi odgłosami. Głównym wątkiem „Freezing
The Fourth String” jest miarowo kroczący pochód
masywnego basu – uzupełniony w zaskakujący sposób
dramatycznymi smagnięciami klasycznych smyczków. „Moonshine”
ma wyjątkowo statyczny charakter – a o jego urodzie
decydują oszczędnie dozowane akordy lodowatego
piano.
W minimalistycznym „Attrazione Magnetica” trafiamy
na niemal industrialne wyziewy – zapętlone w
uderzające i cofające się fale monochromatycznego
szumu. „-32°F Porcelain, Metal & Ice” to chyba
najciekawsza kompozycja w zestawie – łącząca w
oryginalny sposób głęboką pulsację dubowego basu z
mroźnymi akordami zimowych klawiszy. Na finał
dostajemy natomiast coś wyjątkowo monumentalnego – „Descending
Into Crevesse” to preparowana neoklasyka, w której
podniosłe drony splecione z orkiestrowych sampli
dęciaków i smyczków zderzają się z monotonnym
strumieniem podskórnego noise`u.
Wbrew pozorom nowy album Retina.it ma wyjątkowo
rozbudowaną strukturę brzmieniową. Choć sześć
umieszczonych na nim nagrań zostało wpisanych w
formułę arktycznego ambientu, włoskim producentom
udało się przemycić doń kilka zupełnie
nieoczywistych elementów, wywiedzionych z zupełnie
odmiennych estetyk. W efekcie ich płyta jawi się
jako jedno z najbardziej oryginalnych wydawnictw w
kolekcji Glacial Movements.
Nowamuzyka
Seventh Review
Retina.it, the Neapolitan duo formed of Nicola Buono
and Lino Monaco, ordinarily assemble extremely intricate and gritty
records which place them at the sharpest edge of electronic music,
but, their latest sonic excursion is quite a different offering
altogether. Published on Italian isolationist imprint Glacial
Movements, purveyor of sub-zero desolate ambient since 2006, Descending
Into Crevasse is an extremely contemplative collection, its
components, almost entirely devoid of beats, crystallised into
slowly looping patterns which occasionally disappear down incredibly
vast reverbs. Described as a theoretical journey down ice crevasses,
a metaphor for human introspection, Descending Into Crevasse is
quite a departure for the duo whose releases on Hefty, Mousiklab or
Flatemate have, until now, largely demonstrated a strong appetite
for textured electronica.
Although they partly subscribe to
Glacial Movements’ isolationist theory, Retina.it opt for a slightly
more refined and open-ended approach for much of this album. On Freezing
The Forth String for instance, the initial drone, once fully
loaded, is layered with tiny electronic fragments and a series of
string motifs which are not without recalling some of Biosphere’s
work, notably on Shenzhou. Moonshine, and later
on -32°F Porcelain, Metal & Ice, are also very much
reminiscent of Geir Jenssen’s work, but ark back to Substrata‘s
peaceful arctic environments. On the former, Buono and Monaco slowly
develop a series of melodic piano loops which phase in and out of
focus with each other, their respective shimmering textures and
ephemeral melodic patterns contributing greatly to the overall
dreamy feel of the piece. The latter, at five minutes seventeen the
shortest piece on the album, also stems from delicate piano loops,
although both the context and realisation are different. The pair
rely here on a three-note pattern, upon which a second looser one is
occasionally added, stripping any purely melodic aspect to
concentrate on building a gently hypnotic groove, partly by dubbing
tiny electronic particles to create the illusion of a rhythmic
structure.
There is nothing on these pieces of the impression of
latent peril which often infuses isolationism, but the rest of this
album takes on a much darker meditative tone. Whilst opening piece Synth
On Axis slowly scans through a series of long drone forms,
rendered hazier by the seemingly ever expanding reverbs, and tainted
with randoms bleeps, glitches and what sounds like animals calling
out, Attrazione Magnetica and Descending Into Crevasse are
much sterner, bleaker pieces, built around extremely desolate
soundscapes, with very little sign of any sustained activity. If Freezing
The Forth String, Moonshine and-32°F Porcelain,
Metal & Ice somehow represented a euphoric notion of calm, the
dystopian nature of these last two pieces is their flip-side. Attrazione
Magnetica moves at the pace of the relentless flux and reflux
of its soundwaves, with very little change through its whole course.
If anything, Descending Into Crevasse appears even more
barren and menacing, but the constant ebbing and flowing is much
more random and takes on a variety of forms, from piercing noises to
heavily distorted orchestral stabs, until they slowly die down.
Although they have never shied away from difficult
music, this album is Retina.it’s most demanding record to date, and
whilst the pair negotiate the isolationist concept well by injecting
more accessible ambient components, the oppressive atmosphere which
lingers through occasionally makes for quite an uncomfortable
listening experience. If Nicola Buono and Lino Monaco have for now
shed their complex electronica and successfully adopted to a much
bleaker state, a rapid thawing of ambience would be very much
welcome.
THE MILK FACTORY
Eight Review
GO-MAG
Nineth Review
NOISE MAGAZINE
Ten Review
BLOW UP nr. 170
Eleventh Review
Fusion ist ein unbeliebter Begriff. In seiner ursprünglichen
Verwendung bezeichnet er die Verschmelzung von Rock und Jazz zu einer
hybriden Mischform. Die dem Begriff inhärente Kritik kommt von den Puristen,
die in jeder Vermischung gleichsam eine Verwässerung vermuten und die Gebote
des musikalischen Reinheitsgebots verletzt sehen. Mit „descending into
crevasse“ (dt. Abstieg in den Gletscherspalt) gelingt dem italienischen Duo
Retina.it nicht nur eine atmosphärische Reise in die akustische Antarktis,
sondern auch ein eine Fusion im Bereich der Ambient-Music.
„descending into crevasse“ ist das fünfte Album der Musiker
Lino Monaco und Nicola Buono, die darüber hinaus allerdings auf eine weit
größere Diskographie zurückblicken können. Das erste Stück des Albums „snyth
on axis“ entführt den Hörer mit seinen gleißenden Drones direkt in die Welt
des ewigen Eises. Anschwellende Synths und wummernde Bässe treffen auf
pochende Geräusche, die das Tropfen von Wasser zu simulieren scheinen. Mit
seiner immer undurchsichtiger werden Klangstruktur vollzieht der Opener den
Weg in die Tiefe eines Gletschers nach und antizipiert die glatte,
undurchdringliche und milchige Erscheinung des Eises.
Schon das nächste Stück „freezing the fourth string“ das mit
seinem Titel erneut eine kryptische Assoziation zwischen Komposition und
Thema herstellt, hebt das Tempo an. Unter einem vibrierenden
Synthesizer-Teppich beginnen sich dezente Bass-Patterns und Violinen-Samples
herauszubilden, die den Ambient-Charakter der ersten Stückes um Elemente aus
Minimal-Music und Neo-Klassik ergänzen. Es ist eben dieser hybride Charakter,
der sich auch durch die weiteren Kompositionen zieht, der dem Album eine
gewisse Fusion-Natur verleiht. Immer wieder gewinnen die Stücke durch
rhythmisch-wellenförmige Muster an Form, die den Hörer von der akustischen
Mikrotextur des Eises zur kantigen Makrostruktur des Gletschers und zurück
alterieren lässt. Abgeschlossen wird das Album durch den monolithischen
Titeltrack, der die anderen fünf Stücke schon allein durch seine Spielzeit
von 12.30 Min. überragt.
Retina.it verbinden auf „descending into crevasse“ sehr
geschickt unterschiedliche Genre-Traditionen von Ambient über Drone bis hin
zur klassischen Minimal-Komposition und führen dabei zusammen, was
eigentlich schon immer zusammengehört. Der Gletscher wird hierbei als
mythischer Gegen-Topos der Moderne zum Thema gemacht und in den
Kompositionen klanglich immer wieder aufgegriffen. Auch die monochrome
Gestaltung des Digipacks verweist auf diese Ästhetik und vollendet das Album
stilgerecht: umfassend gelungen, große Empfehlung!
Patrick Kilian
IKONEN
Twelve Review
Having been around since the early part of the 1990s, this
duo of Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono seem as if they took their cue from that
periods isolationist movement, that darker, bleak spin-off of ambient that
had a short, but brilliant life. Heavily effected loops, guitars, and
synths float together in an inviting dissonance throughout this album's six
tracks.
Opener "Synth on Axis" (with guest collaborator Heidseck) and
the closing title track embrace the album title literally, both conjuring
images of drifting through aquatic murk. Slow, bubbling reverberations,
bass heavy swells, and unidentifiable sounds slithering by feel like the
oceanic equivalent of Thomas Köner's Arctic endeavors.
"Attrazione Magnetica" takes that sense of drift and
exploration and casts it in a more cosmic sensibility. Loops of rhythmic
guitar, heavily filtered and processed, arrive to just drift away again into
the darkness. Between the overall darker mood and the erratic, sub bass
swell that is monstrous on its own, there is a more sinister feel overall,
although here it is blackness of space rather than our own seas.
The remaining pieces don't have as much of an environmental
reference point, but instead construct slowly evolving ambient passages from
heavily treated loops. "Freezing the Fourth String" begins simple enough,
with an unending droning note that becomes more and more prominent, slowly
augmented with other abstract loops, before finally what sounds like a
symphonic sample is added in, casting everything in a much more melodic
direction before slowly concluding.
"Moonshine" similarly takes its time, building upon a simple,
but progressing melodic loop. There is just the right balance of repetition
and change: it stays static enough to lock into a hypnotic groove, but
slowly works in additional sounds so that, by the end, it sounds
significantly different than how it began.
Isolationist ambient constructed from loops can be a
difficult proposition: one of the reasons the genre died out so quickly is
that almost everyone with a sampler and a reverb unit tried their hand and
putting out an album, and too often the result was a boring sonic equivalent
of beige wallpaper. While Retina.it are not necessarily revolutionizing the
genre with Descending Into
Crevasse, it makes for a strong nod to a sound that time forgot, and
had it been released during that period, it would have been clearly on the
better end of that genre’s spectrum.
BRAINWASHED
Thirteen Review
Ad un anno esatto di distanza dallo splendido Randomicon tornano
i Retina.it con un nuovo album per la romana Glacial Movements, label in
continuo crescendo che tiene ben fede al suo credo continuando a produrre
lavori d'ascolto dalle coordinate ambient/drones eteree e solitarie.
Assistiamo quindi ad un cambio di registro anche per i Retina.it
che per la stesura di questo album lasciano momentaneamente alle spalle
tutto l'armamentario techno/minimalista/sperimentale che finora è sembrato
essere il loro marchio di fabbrica per concentrarsi in questa nuova
avventura sotto lo zero.Il loro suono diventa così un crescendo crepuscolare
basato sulla modulazione lenta e delicata di oscuri tappeti, sin dal brano
d'apertura infatti è possibile immergersi in questa dimensione distorta dove
i pads vengono sollecitati di tanto in tanto da riverberi elettronici più
sofisticati, particelle d'acqua e gelidi vénti.
C'è continuità nel loro lavoro, un evoluzione dinamica che
vede la materia addentrarsi in territori cosmic con la seconda, bellissima "Freezing
the Fourth String", un lavoro che strizza l'occhio a certa elettronica
tedesca degli anni settanta grazie all'inserimento di un suono d'archi ed a
synth acquatici che entrano ed escono sull'importante tappeto drones
comunque intessuto nel sottofondo.
Ancora un picco nella successiva "Moonshine", un raggio di
sole a portare tenue calore al rigoglioso crescendo sensoriale, il suono
cosmico che entra in orbita ed inizia a girare con un accordo di chitarra
registrato e manipolato.
"Attrazione magnetica" riporta le coordinate dentro un
binario isolazionista con i suoi undici minuti di drones, carrelli, cascate
elettroniche, ruggiti e lunghi tunnel sotterranei. Un brano ipnotico e
freddo ma al contempo cinematico.Entra in gioco il suono del piano in "-32°F
Porcelain , Metal & Ice", altro brano che sembra voler prendere il volo
nelle prime battute ma che poi rivela un anima psichedelica incentrata sulla
ciclicità e sulla ricchezza degli elementi inseriti. Il
brano conclusivo "Descending Into Crevasse" (che da il titolo all'album)
racconta in maniera precisa e fotografica la discesa nel crepaccio (Crevasse
n.d.r.) tra i ghiacci. Il fondale oscuro in lontananza, negli abissi, un
lungo viaggio nella paura, l'ignoto, il buio.
I Retina.it firmano un nuovo grande capitolo nella saga
atmosferica della Glacial Movements. Dedicato a chi sa viaggiare.
ELECTRONIQUE
Fourteen Review
Vyjde-li na Glacial
Movements nové album, můžeme mít předem jasno: půjde o ambientní ztvárnění
ledu a mrazu, což je ve slunné Itálii dosti neobvyklé. Zůstává však vždy
otázka základní: jak se s tématem a žánrem v průběhu již 14 vydaných alb kdo
vyrovná. V tomto ohledu není dvojice Retina.it, totiž manipulátoři se
syntezátory, objekty a okolními zvuky Lino Monaci a Nicola Buono, bez zázemí:
má za sebou dlouholetou činnost a popasovala se při koncertech už s kdekým.
Do programu GMR tedy nejen
dobře zapadá; navíc k jeho základnímu znění dodává nové barvy. Nachází totiž
sonickou identitu v propojení orchestrálního klenutí s drónováním, vyhledává
dramatický kontrast setrvalé atmosféričnosti s elektronickým jiskřením. Jde
tedy o vánici hudby, kterou projíždějí sněžné sáně s náznakem rolniček,
pociťujeme třeskutý mráz, fujavici, ledové tříštění, při poslechu šesti
opusů, pohybujících se kolem mínus 32° F, vnímáme svištivé poryvy větru,
prohřmívání, vybičovávání, ale i zurčení, a to vše bez nadbytečné ryčnosti.
Naopak: skladby zneklidňují zdánlivým utlumováním, vynucují si pozornost
prolongovaným klekáním s posloupným projasňováním a probíjením přídavných
tónů i přemílavým přemítáním.
Ovšemže jde občas o variace
na obdobné nahloučení tónů ve stupňujících se rešerších, o protáčení témat
v žentouru okolkování, ale to k ambientu patří. Takže hromovládnost se tu
snoubí s nezávratností, zvukové houfování s plynutím, ba útlumem, odezvy
dálek s vyjádřením niterného postoje, v čemž dvojici v případě vstupní
kompozice Synth on axis skladatelsky
pomůže Fabrizio Matrone, známý jako Heidseck. A tak nám poslech Descending
into crevasse, tedy
Sestoupení do pukliny (ledovce, avšak název může být pojat i metaforicky,
tedy bez ledovce), může
sloužit k napjaté pozornosti nebo i k uspávání – podle nátury, nálady nebo
stupně únavy vnímatele.
HIS VOICE
Fifteen Review
When the label is called Glacial Movements, the album is
titled Descending
into Crevasse,
and the artist describes the music as “a fluxe of muffled and confused
memories, frosted in a wave moving like an algorithm,” you can bet that the
disc in question is not going to enliven your party. But if what you want is
molten waves of carefully-sculpted gray and white sound that involves chords
but nothing that can reasonably be called a chord progression, ambient music
that doesn’t so much comfort or soothe as it does induce a vaguely troubled
alpha state, then you’ve definitely come to the right place. Highlight
track: the gently glistening “Moonshine.”
CD HOTLIST
Sixteen Review
Alessandro Tedeschi should be applauded
for his bloody-minded pursuit of what is essentially the essence of the
earth’s polar regions through sound. His
Glacial Movements label is unwavering in its focus, as the interview we
conducted with Tedeschi recently testified, but it has meant that some of
their releases have overlapped and blended together to increasingly become
very much of a muchness. If you’re unaware of the label they employ various
renowned sound artists (Bvdub, Loscil, Francisco Lòpez, Pjusk) in an attempt
to place on tape what Tedeschi calls “the mythological significance of the
Poles” and to “restore the primordial unity between man and nature”.
Retina.it’s Descending
Into Crevasse is, happily,
one of the most impressive releases I’ve heard from Glacial Movements in
some time. Not content to let their music drift on a series of deep,
creaking drones as so many of the label’s recent attempts have done, the
Italian duo of Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono bring elements into the equation
that wouldn’t necessarily be immediately associated with either the label
or, most interestingly, the landscapes it obsesses over. The drones and
loops are there, of course, but Retina.it build on them with icy piano
figures, strings and even guitar that sometimes gives the sound a surprising
warmth. Whereas many Glacial Movements releases have struggled to escape the
mighty shadow of Thomas Köner’sNunatak/Teimo/Permafrost trilogy,
Retina.it’s background in electronica means they draw far more from
Biosphere, especially on subtle pulse-oriented tracks like ‘-32°F Porcelain,
Metal & Ice’, which brings a refreshing clarity to the typical isolationist
sound that doesn’t usually get much of a look in.
The album’s centrepiece ‘Atrazzione Magnetica’ is the darkest
and most threatening of all, and thus the most familiar. Even still, Retina.it
manage to pull it off. The great booms that ring out, muffled by the sheer
weight of water above and around you, sound like icebergs colliding. At over
eleven minutes, ‘Atrazzione Magnetica’ allows the duo the time to build
upwards to an all-consuming crescendo, the awesome reverb running into
itself and the dainty spindles of guitar evoking minuscule sea creatures
fleeing the scene. It’s a technique they return to on the title track – also
clocking in at over ten minutes – when the feeling of being submerged
returns for one final, crushing time. Sudden, high-pitched orchestral jabs
pierce the darkness before they get overwhelmed by almighty gusts of frozen
air. By far the most barren-sounding piece of music on the album, it’s also
the most punishing. Listened to on headphones, it becomes almost unbearably
loud and bleak before it draws to a fade, but it captures perfectly what
Tedeschi has been searching for for all these years. As a distillation of
the Glacial Movements sound it’s as close to perfect as anyone’s managed to
come and it caps off what I think is the best album so far released on the
label.
FOXY DIGITALIS
Seventeen Review
Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono’s Retina.it project has been active since the
early ‘90s, forging a name for deep ambient soundscaping heavy on modular
and digital synthesis. Ordinarily the Neapolitan duo’s dealings are dense
gritty affairs located towards the sharper end of the experimental
electronic cline. Descending
Into Crevasse, though, is something of a departure, responding to
the Glacial Movements brief in more meditative mode with a symbolic
psychonavigation down ice crevasses. Its parts coalesce in slow looping
sequences diving into vast reverb nebulae, shivery synthesis colluding with
neo-classical orchestrals, attended by unquiet field recordings, sudden
oneiric incursions and spectral entrances. “Synth On Axis” sets a brittle
frosted tone with chilly Zephyr blasts and chthonic resonance, a slow flow
through a droning expanse hazed with exponential reverbs, laced with sundry
bleeps, glitches and animal-esque cries. On “Moonshine” a series of piano
loops is set in motion, phase
shifting into convolving
timbral shimmy and shimmer. On “Freezing the Fourth String” the duo draw out
an initial drone, thread it through with particulate electronic fragments,
then bring strings to tumescent ambience, as if of draughts of Shenzhou they
had drunk, fulsome timbres and swooping arcs in relief against the less
generous electronics. Rhythmic pulsations propel “-32°F Porcelain, Metal &
Ice,” with a recall, albeit not total, of Mr Jenssen again, this time echoes
of the pacific arcticism of his Substrata.
While the early section is largely devoid of isolationist doom-tropes, a
darker introspective tenor progressively sets in, the eponymous abyssal
descent modeled at the meta-level of sound architecture. The gloom starts
gathering on “Attrazione Magnetica,” a foreboding, attended by muffled
recursive blows. Ominous rumblings continue on the title track whose
dystopian mien is in stark contrast to previous—a harsh desolate affair
punctuated by strident screeches and nervous strings. The emergent
oppressive tenor may leave a discomfiting taste in the listening mouth, but
overall Retina.it makes something particular out of the glacial isolationist
construct, offsetting caustic components with more alluring ambiance. IGLOO MAG
Eighteen Review
ROCKERILLA (JUNE 2012)
Nineteen Review
RITUAL MAGAZINE nr. 51
Twenty Review
Retina.it è un duo campano composto da Lino Monaco e Nicola Buono,
attivo sin dalla prima metà degli anni '90. Dopo quattro album da
studio, i Nostri accettano la sfida proposta dalla Glacial Movements di
Alessandro Tedeschi e abbandonano le sonorità IDM e techno sperimentali
per forgiare un lavoro a tema, dando ai suoni la forma di lastre di
ghiaccio e crepacci ancora inesplorati. "Descending Into Crevasse" è un
disco paradigmatico che non esce mai dai limiti tematici imposti,
facendo della meticolosità descrittiva la sua arma vincente, cosa già
propria di altri artisti invitati in passato alla corte della gelida
label romana. Le architetture dei cinque brani risentono sia dei
dilatati temi di synth tipici della cosmic-music che dei toni circolari
e para-melodici già messi a punto dalla scena minimal amenricana: in
pratica si sente non poco l'eco dell'elettronica sperimentale degli anni
'70, aggiustata e rifinita in base alle necessità dell'album. Si lavora
principalmente sulla linearità: suoni puliti e dilatati si distendono
fino a mimare un'enorme coltre bianca, battuta da vento e misteriosi
rumori naturali. L'isolamento, fisico prima che mentale, è il grande
protagonista al debutto impetuoso già col primo pezzo "Synth On Axis"
(alla cui composizione partecipa anche Fabrizio Matrone), incentrato su
temi ventosi, riverberi che sembrano provenire dal vuoto e rintocchi che
rimandano a picchettii su lastre di ghiaccio; l'oscurità e il mistero
dominano un'atmosfera comunque distante da quella tipica della
dark-ambient. Più scarna la seguente "Freezing The Fourth String",
incentrata su un freddo sibilo cosmico variato di poco con l'entrata di
un tema simil-sinfonico ripetuto circolarmente: un pezzo semplice e
ammaliante, dotato di pochi ed efficaci suoni intrecciati in modo
mirabile. Il drone monocromatico torna anche in "Moonshine", ma qui
viene sovrapposto ad un motivo strumentale di arpa (ovviamente
campionata) che crea sussulti sinuosi e liquidi: senza dubbio il brano
più vicino alla scuola minimal. La sterminata "Attrazione Magnetica"
viene strutturata su piccoli rumori e riverberi, lasciando da parte le
sonorità che hanno segnato le tracce precedenti; la natura sembra
prendere il sopravvento in un quadro di profondo isolamento fisico e
mentale. "-32°F Porcelain, Metal & Ice" ha invece un orientamento più
spiccatamente electro, dovuto a piccoli rumori ritmici che vanno a
creare una base glitch in sovrapposizione al solito drone bianco e al
tema circolare di synth. La conclusiva title-track è una trasposizione
in suoni di una 'discesa nel crepaccio': raggruppando le peculiarità dei
pezzi precedenti viene ricostruita un'atmosfera gelida e solitaria,
perfetta colonna sonora di un qualcosa posto al limite della possibilità
umana, tra drones freddi, temi sinfonici ripetuti in loop e ventose
bufere. "Descending Into Crevasse" è un preciso quadro naturalistico
dipinto con le tecniche proprie dell'elettronica anni '70, a cui viene
pagato giustamente tributo. Forse in assoluto l'album più aderente al
tema tra tutti quelli prodotti dalla Glacial Movements, la quale
aggiunge al suo catalogo un altro tassello di indubbio valore. Chi ha
apprezzato i precedenti lavori di Retina.it non rimarrà deluso da questo
CD, sebbene si troverà dinnanzi ad uno stile decisamente diverso.
Mastering curato dal grande Denis Blackham.
DARKROOM MAGAZINE
Twenty-one Review
Ce jeune duo italien (Lino Monaco et Nicola
Buono) fait dans l’électronique ambiante isolationniste et, pour cette
production pour Glacial Movements, il adopte la thématique glaciaire de
l’étiquette.Descending into Crevasse propose des ambiances froides,
solitaires, claustrophobes à l’occasion – on se promène dans les
fissures de glaciers sonores, à des profondeurs insoupçonnées. Les
environnements sonores sont très bien exécutés – ça vrombit, ça
scintille. Une belle écoute ambiante.
This young Italian duo (Lino Monaco and
Nicola Buono) is playing isolationist ambient electronic music. For this
production for Glacial Movements, they have adopted the label’s glacial
theme. Descending into Crevasse features cold, solitary atmospheres with
a touch of claustrophobia – we’re travelling inside the cracks of sonic
glaciers, at unfathomable depths. Sound environments are perfectly
executed – they rumble and scintillate. A fine ambient listen.
MONSIEUR DELIRE
Twenty-two Review
RUMORE NR. 459
Twenty-three Review
Retina.it are two Italians, Lino Monaco and Nicola Bruno,
who have worked together for a few good years, although that amount of
time isn’t reflected in the number of releases they have produced. Only
a few full-length CDs, some EPs and in fact mostly single performances
on various compilations. Roughly speaking, ambient musicians are
generally fairly prolific, so in this matter Retina.it extracts itself
from the norm. The musical aspect of Retina.it is more classic, and
quite well served, I tell you that.
I didn’t know of this project before, so “Descending Into
Crevasse” is my maiden voyage with it. It is interesting that, although
these guys are living almost at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, yet they
chose a rather different atmospheric journey on this album. On the other
hand, you know, it’s Glacial Movements, so it couldn’t have been
otherwise… The album opens with “Synth On Axis”, composed together with
Heidseck, a very cold song which is a perfect illustration for the title
of the release. Indeed, it sounds like the wind whistling in glacier
crevasses, looking for a vent, a piece of empty space wherever it’s
possible. I expected that this dark and minimalist approach would
characterize the entire album, but in “Freezing The Fourth String” I met
with a surprise, because the song is built on paradoxically warm drones,
looped samples, pulsating bass and string instruments. Associations with
Biosphere’s “Substrata” and Rapoon’s “Time Frost” haunted me immediately.
The same thing takes place in “Moonshine”, only here the string
instruments are replaced by piano sounds. “Attrazione Magnetica” is once
again a return towards minimalism, maybe not right away in Thomas Koner
style, but after the two previous tracks, this looped, cyclically
repeated sound of a dying radio transmission enriched with deaf murmurs
– not necessarily of an organic origin – and disquieting guitar sounds,
establishes a severe and definitely colder impression, not necessarily
in a purely meteorological meaning. Brighter landscapes can be noticed
in “-32F Porcelain, Metal & Ice” – the design of this fragment is
similar to “Freezing The Fourth String” and “Moonshine”, yet by
introducing some subtle “clicking” sounds it gains strongly on the
dynamics front when compared to the rest of the tracks. Finally, the
title track which is a sort of return to the place where we started from,
although in addition there are strong, primal-sounding synthesizers that
can be visualized as some ancient force being revealed in the midst of
arctic cold.
It’s not the best album in the Glacial Movements
catalogue, but it’s still a very good piece of ambient music. The
diversity of moods and multitude of measures used to create these
atmospheres attracts the listener’s attention from the beginning.
Italians generally do not fail in the ambient field, and so it is in
this case.
SANTA SAGRE MAGAZINE
Twenty-four Review
Descending into crevasse” is a kind of metaphor. An hypothetical journey
between the gorges of eternal ice, an internal journey in search for
reassuring corners. A flux of muffled and confused memories, frosted in
a wave moving like an algorithm.
Descending Into Crevasse was composed especially for Glacial
Movements. To fit within the label’s remit it also represents a new
shift in your work towards a more ambient / isolationist direction and a
less electronic based sound. How did the album came about and will you
be exploring similar territories even further in the future?
Lino Monaco: Nicola and I had been thinking about doing an album based
on studies of classical music for years. As a matter of fact, some of
the tracks that ended up on the album had lied dormant on there as
simple sketches. Last Winter, when we met Alessandro Tedeschi, Glacial
Movements’ labelhead, we realized the time had come to tackle that same
project. As we were chatting about music in our studio, we listened to
the three tracks that were to become the stumbling blocks basis for
Descending into Crevasse. Alessandro was so taken by what he heard that
he urged us to complete the project, which he then asked to release on
GM.
The idea behind it was to process a number of samples from some of the
milestone of classic music. We had started with an aria by JS Bach,
which became Freezing the fourth string and Debussy’s Claire de Lune,
which we rendered as Moonshine, only to end with some samples from
Satie’s Gymnopedye, which we used in–32°F porcelain metal and ice. To
complete the picture we chose two great Italian modern composers, Bruno
Maderna and Giacinto Scelsi who were at the forefront of musical
experimentation. The track by Maderna we selected is Syntaxis, a piece
our hard drives or else were met Alessandro Tedeschi, Glacial come to
tackle that same project. we listened to the three tracks for Descending
into Crevasse. recorded in the 50s, which is representative of his
abstract electronic output. After we processed it, with the help of
Fabrizio Matrone (Heidseck , Matter), it became Synth on Axis.
The final two tracks are instead studies based on samples taken from
Giacinto Scelsi’s opus. What we value about this particular composer
work is the contamination with music from the Far East and the use of
unconventional instruments within the context of western classical
music. His music is filled with pathos and mystery and is the result
mainly of the manipulation of sound. As a matter of fact, Scelsi
prepared filters for wind instruments and tuned them separately thus
obtaining different degrees of sound. The tracks Attrazione Magnetica
and Descending into Crevasse are therefore a humble homage to Giacinto
Scelsi, a real alchemist of sound.
As for what lies in store for the future, we cannot tell. Based on past
experiences, I can only say that we won’t remain static. Throughout the
years we moved between different genres without asking ourselves too
many questions. Our work is based on an ongoing and stimulating
exploration born from a physical desire for sound.
FLUID RADIO
Twenty-five Review
Maintenant que je suis devant mon écran, les doigts suspendus au-dessus
du clavier, je me rends compte d’une chose. Comment parler d’un disque
de musique ambient ? Concrètement, qu’est-ce qui va rendre le dit objet,
excellent, bien, pas mal ou mauvais ? Qu’est-ce que je peux affirmer,
finalement, sur une expérience solitaire, dont chaque écoute aura un
tout autre visage, une expression multiforme ? Il est vraiment difficile
d’apposer des mots, une rhétorique face à ce genre de pièce. À cheval
entre l’art contemporain, la musique et les traitements analogiques ou
numériques, l’ambient est un genre qui échappe à toutes connotations ,et
la critique que j’émets ne peut que péniblement rassembler une bribe d’informations
ou de pensée éparpillée. J’essaye quand même. " Retina. It" n’est pas du
tout venant, le duo Italien a déjà fait ses armes à la fin des années
90, passé par la période myspace (où on n’aura jamais vu autant de
projets electronic/ambient à ce jour) et continué son bonhomme de chemin.
L’analogique, ça les connait, le numérique aussi. Les ambiances éthérées
qui prennent leurs ampleurs dans l’obscurité d’une chambre, ça marche
aussi.
Sons classiques retravaillés, percussions sourdes émergeant d’un abysse
inter-dimensionnel, mélodies vaporeuses, utilisation spatiale du silence,
les amateurs se retrouvent dans un terrain connu, à défaut d’ouvrir un
portail sur un monde nouveau. Mais là où j’aurais pu pointer du doigt "gna
gna gna" qu’on a déjà entendu ça, "gna gna gna", ce qui est en partie
vrai, "Retina.It" parvient à envelopper celui qui écoute. Les basses
répercutent comme il faut, un peu grasses mais vivantes, un passage plus
électro classieux aère l’ensemble qui aurait pu ressembler qu’à un
vulgaire bloc de glace frappé par le vent, ou encore à du Thomas Köner
avec un zeste de mélodie. "Descending Into Crevasse" a mis du temps à me
donner un aperçu. Il m’a bercé quand j’étais allongé, accompagné, café à
la main en train de regarder la neige tomber.
Un contexte qui en crée un autre car, soyons franc, la thématique d’un
disque d’ambient n’est que très rarement tributaire de son écrin sonore.
Après tout, c’est toi qui va te monter ton propre film expérimental, ta
propre fiction, ton propre paysage, et la thématique d’approche sert, en
effet, à juste "approcher". Car, en fin de compte, ce qu’on retient, ce
sont les structures minimales (mais pas vides), l’émotion par son
absence, le fantastique, ces sonorités détaillées qu’on entend à peine
mourir. En cela, "Retina. It" peut se targuer d’avoir réussi à m’avoir
fait passer des soirées hivernales où être seul ne rime pas forcément
avec solitude.
CLAIRE et OBSCUR
Twenty-six Review
Het Italiaanse Glacial Movements label van muzikant Alessandro
Tedeschi (zelf in Netherworld en Liquid Ghosts) richt zich op de
meer experimentele ambient en specifiek op de ijzige en
isolationistische ambient. Wie daar eens een goede compilatie
vol van wil horen, moet maar eens naar het geweldige Ambient
4 Isolationism(1994)
luisteren. Maar goed, ik dwaal af, wat overigens wel bij het
genre past dat dit Italiaanse label uit wil dragen. Onder meer
Loscil, Lull, Rapoon, Bvdub, Oophoi, Francisco López, Celer en
zijn eigen projecten hebben er sinds 2006 hun heil gevonden. Wie
de genoemde artiesten kent, weet ook hoe groot en breed het
ambientuniversum is en kan concluderen dat Glacial Movements een
bijzonder en gevarieerd label is. Om dat nog eens extra te
onderstrepen, zal ik de nummers 13, 14 en 17 uit de catalogus
bespreken. De eerste twee nog van vorig jaar en de laatste
gloeit nog na, zo vers. Verder een ijzig drieluik kan ik alvast
verklappen.
Hoewel je Italië wellicht eerder associeert met warme temperaturen
en temperamentvolle mensen, weet het duo Lino Monaco en Nicola Buono
(beide ook in QMen en Resina) als Retina.it toch
een behoorlijk rustiek en onderkoeld geluid aan de dag te leggen. Op
eerdere releases zitten ze nog wel een in de IDM hoek en brengen ze
complexe elektronica, waarvan een aantal op het Hefty label is
verschenen. Voor hun nieuwste album Descending
Into Crevasse hebben
ze bewust gekozen voor een meer vloeiende aanpak. Ze hebben namelijk
altijd een meer klassiek gericht werk willen maken, wel met
elektronica maar meer gecomponeerd, waarbij ze de kalme plekken in
onszelf onderzoeken. Hierbij trekken ze de metafoor naar de eeuwige
ijswallen met hun verborgen ruimtes. Ook in ons brein zit veel
verborgen informatie, die soms als verwarde flarden weer opduiken.
Dit hebben ze in zacht pulserende muziek weten te vangen. Je hoort
elektronische minimal music, dark ambient, glitches en zachte beats,
die samen een ongelooflijke diepgang kennen en je helemaal weg van
de realiteit brengen. Dagdromen en zoektochten vol desolate, maar
wonderschone beelden die trekken langs bewuste en onbewuste zaken.
Denk daarbij aan een kruisbestuiving van Gas,
Markus Guentner, Stars Of The Lid, Biosphere, Thomas Köner en Celer.
In 6 nummers en ruim 52 minuten weten ze je helemaal aan de grond te
nagelen. Onbeschrijflijk mooi!
SUBJECTIVISTEN
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