Memento was born in the far 2006 in the thick fog of the Pianura Padana area, between Mantua and Bologna which is worldwide famous not only for Tortellini and Parmesan but also for Techno Music and the deep style. A city that keeps always an eye on the first steps of the far Detroit.
It was born from the encounter of two future great friends: Idriss D and Fabrizio Maurizi.
The former is a Parisian dj who fell in love with Italy and the latter is a tireless after hour dj from Bologna.
Berlin and the minimal style showed their power during those years and our 2 cowboys decided to give their contribution to the scene creating partly for fun the label Memento.
But fun became suddenly serious: the first Fabrizio's release "Hasta la Baldoria Siempre" (under the pseudonym of Roger) quickly was at the top of the charts Decks and Beatport becoming soon a killer floor in Europe.
Techno sounds, irresistibly funk with Fidel Castro's voice, it showed, well in advance of the modern styles, all the opportunities of this musical code.
After a little while one of Fabrizio's dreams became true: his majesty Richie Hawtin called him and Fabrizio became to all intents and purposes one of the Minus artists.
But Memento project is far to be over!
They were convinced that the label should grow their own artists, discovering new local talents, here the second release of a young new-comer from the "well-read" Bologna: Matteo Vanti.
The Ep called "Go straight on" showed how the research of an easy style is not the aim of Memento: Matteo's sound is dark but constantly supported by groove which is going to be typical in his art even in the future, he uses rhythmical elements which are able to stir every dance floor; all this is mixed with expert elements of "one shot" synth which make them a guaranteed minimal weapon fort the peak time.
The third release was not long in coming, one of the creator of the project, Idriss, the future manager of the label, took the field: our Parisian cowboy made us understand with the track "Envirorment" how an hypnotic plot with romantic shades can perfectly go with the techno materiality creating a perfect mix of two continuously intersecting worlds assuring a trip into the deep. Furthermore the track with the Arabian Nights' flavour reveals the origins of our beloved Iris: he is the first French-Algerian dj/producer that peeped in the marvellous world of techno music.
The Berliner Bloody Mary took care of the remix that added a more deep-house plot.
The next year, 2009, saw the birth of Memento Plus.
It's normal that sounds and style change like a bat out of hell and Memento Plus wanted to be the closest platform to the house style giving the chance to the label's artists but not only them to express another side of their personalities.
The debut is made by Paolo Cavicchioli (already known as Paul C, the owner of the label Polar Noise) with the track "Revolution", an engaging groove tech-house supported by a vocal hook which will define the entire genre for the next two years; the remix was made by Arnaud Le Textier, an experienced French artist who lives in London, founder of the Safari rec (he doesn't need any presentation).
The second record of Memento Plus consists in two tracks "Aicha" by Idriss , a never-ending tunnel defined by minimal archetype and dark voices, and "Day" by Danilo Vigorito, progenitor of the Napolitan scene and worldwide famous for it.
As the title suggests "Day" is a bright track which is focused on a percussion groove which sticks to the body and doesn't leave, just like the Neapolitan school can do.
The research of new talents for Memento never ends, let's talk about the Memento 004 "Crazyrouter" made by Lino Pugliese aka Linuz.
The young artist coming from beautiful Puglia but already adopted by Bologna seems to be born in Detroit if we consider his mastery in using deep and techno sounds which comes from that area.
"Crazyrouter" goes quickly to the top of the charts and is one of the favourite tracks of Marco Carola, Luciano, Paco Osuna etc...
Our young Lino, just to show his talent, will found with his friend UES the duo Pulpyt and release the ep with the label All Inn.
Memento ends 2009 with a digital Xmas Compilation, ten tracks made by artists and friends of the label.
This year is a little calmer. 2010 for Memento starts as a year of reflection and future projects: music industry is a permanent bloodbath, one needs to collect the thoughts and listen to the heart.
We restart next February with another, needless to say, young promise of Tortellini's land: Gas (Enrico Gasperini), raised with Moodyman, he proposes us his "Don't Stop", where his "dark" soul emerges impetuously.
His groove is an endless spiral, he uses in a masterly fashion typical sounds of famous instruments like Roland 909 and 808 and he mixes them with synthesized sounds of an epic flavour which appear and then vanish. Everything is refined with a vocal sample which, as a pendulum, reminds us that hypnotic trip "doesn't Stop".
This release marks the comeback in the label of Fabrizio Maurizi that presents a remix tailor made for a big floor: a driving groove, synths that grow until the break and clap and snare explosions which are already Fabrizio's trademark.
A few months later the Ep "The Scared of Boom" made by Danny Benedettini marks the Memento's only digital first experience. Thanks to Danny's style (young from the celebrated and dancing Adriatic Riviera) the ep is very electro, totally personal and excellently made. As he is a big fan of Magda he produces deep and decadent electro atmospheres from the 80', the expert use of past synths takes us back to a decade from where, we all know, we cannot escape. It seems to be a choice which goes against Memento's mainstream but it is counterbalanced by the absolute mastery of the artist.
After a little break concerning the releases (but absolutely not for our djs, who are working hard to rock the dance floors during these hot months) Memento is ready to start again. Soon it will be released "Sex Gas" by Marco Effe, a young artist from Tuscany who came to the spot-lights thanks to some releases with some labels like Cecille and Sci-Tec. Marco's talent is an indisputable fact and the track won't fall short of your expectations, the groove tool is incredibly gripping, has a tumbling bass and a sexy soul. Its breathtaking break will make you close the eyes and raise the hands at every start over.
The release features an absolute prestigious remixer roster. Memento thinks that now it's the time to make the project more international assigning the task to expert friends/artist to make the project grown, making particularly a fellowship with producers that have been spotted this summer like real "vagabundos" in the marvellous "Isla".
"Sex Gas" will be remixed by :Lee Van Dowsky, Mirko Loco, Arnaud le Texier, Paco Osuna, Daniel Sanchez , Mikel E & Soul Rack.























