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Runtime: 13'38''
«From Spain comes Mikel Martínez a.k.a. Aitänna77 with an EP short on time but big at heart. 'Spring is Coming Soon' is the perfect company for those last winter days, when the sky is beginning to open up to let the sun smile on us. The pace is very slow, full of simplistic and down to earth elements, like acoustic and electric guitar, melodica and xylophone, processed afterwards with laptop electronics and glitch-pop beats. Very close to post-rock and post-folk, whatever that is... with a hint of downbeat clicks. Anyway, it all sounds good and very much in place.
"I sit myself over the frozen lake and think about the things i've never done. I close my eyes thinking and wishing for the warm days and the warm arms around when we paint the night with colours.
Time never goes silent and the sounds are like a campfire when the moon is full and a bear comes knocking at your door for a hot drink.
It goes on, dreaming with the sun that gently leaves your body over the trees to see everything: the mountains, the lake, the houses, the city, the old man, the working woman, the places that you were always hungry to feel."
'Spring is Coming Soon' is a delicate collection of click-folkpop melodies, very harmonical and dramatic. Four stripped down and lo-fi avant-folk songs, to make us smile for almost fifteen minutes of spring.
You won't even miss the lyrics.»
- The Caped Crusader and tortura |
Downloads:
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• Love is Colder than Death ....................................................... |
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[3'50'' • 5,36Mb • 192Kbps] |
| 02 |
• Happy Days... Fallen Leaves... Frozen Rivers ......................... |
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[2'56'' • 4,13Mb • 192Kbps] |
| 03 |
• Licking Ice Cream Cones ......................................................... |
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[3'26''' • 4,80Mb • 192Kbps] |
| 04 |
• Spring is Coming Soon ............................................................ |
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[3'26''' • 4,81Mb • 192Kbps] |
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• artwork ................................................................................... |
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[PDF-Zip • 1,98Mb] |
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• all tracks + artwork ................................................................ |
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[Zip • 20,05Mb] |
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Reviews:
«La referencia que nos interesa, es la número 12, "spring is coming soon", firmada por Aitänna77, o lo que es lo mismo, Mikel Martinez (responsable a su vez de una de nuestras webs de referencia). Un ep de cuatro temas rebosantes de una delicadeza que se sostiene sobre un armazón de guitarras acústicas y efectos digitales, una perfecta conjunción que tiene su punto álgido en el tema que abre el ep, "love is colder than death", una melodía brillante que nos lleva a paisajes mucho más cálidos de lo que su título nos indica.
Junto a ese tema inaugural, tres piezas más de orfebrería folktrónica en uno de los primeros trabajos editados por Aitänna77, un nombre que por desgracia y hasta el momento, ha tenido que buscarse la vida en sellos foráneos. Creo que por ahí lo llaman injusticia…»
- Moon Palace Fanzine / Somewhere in 2006
«I think, with something of a wince, that this is what is called "folktronica." Labels aside, this is quietly arresting music, all disc whirr and guitar wisp, tweaked lullabies for cold and dry seasons.»
- The Wily Filipino / December 28, 2005
«Esperanzador debut del "castelloniano" Mikel Martínez (personajillo importantísimo dentro de la escena e-zines en spagniolo), para el netlabel Test Tube (subsello del sello fisico Monocromatica). Cuatro temas paisajísticos a medio camino entre el songwriting de Drag City y el pop travieso de Audiodregs. David Grubbs o Jim O'Rourke sodomizando
a Lullatone o E*vax. Xilófonos y guitarrillas entre secuencias de blips y plofs. Otro valor en alza del intimismo electrónico made in Spain que, como todos los demás, ha optado por buscarse la vida en formato virtual. Altamente recomendado para los amantes de la artesania pop.»
- culocranky [Ich Hasse die Media] / July 2005
«A great find this week - the unassuming portuguese net label, test tube, home of beautiful abstract electronica, soundscapes, alt-folk and more. First up here is Mikel Martínez from spain, and his Aitänna77 project. His e.p. is entitled 'spring is coming soon' and features one of the few instances where folktronica genuinely gets it right. Too often for me, folktronica seems to be just an retro-fit electro remix of straight-up folk. Here the two seem to co-exist much more effectively, it's glitch as an instrument, the electronics are at the centre of the piece, and married seemlessly with acoustic guitar and xylophone. (...) »
- Fat Planet / April 24, 2005
«"La primavera arriverà presto", ci dicono gli Aitänna77. E noi speriamo che abbiano proprio ragione, viste le temperature e il clima tardoinvernale di questi giorni. Comunque sia, in questo breve EP (quattro tracce, una dozzina di minuti) si respira proprio l'aria delle prime mattine di primavera. Quelle in cui si può passeggiare per le strade senza correre il rischio di prendere una broncopolmonite, sentendo sul viso un'aria frizzante ma non glaciale, lasciandosi riscaldare dai primi caldi raggi di sole, osservando la natura che si risveglia e i prati che si colorano.
Visioni ad alto tasso bucolico difficili da incrociare se si vive e lavora in una grande città, ma comunque immaginabili grazie al potere della musica. E parlando di musica, qui siamo nel campo dell'ultra-minimale: tenui linee di chitarra acustica e un colpetto di xilofono qua e là, avvolti in un trasparente mantello di elettronica. Se avesse un qualsiasi significato, potremmo definirlo pop-folk elettronico strumentale di inizio millennio, folktronica per gli amici. E se volessimo dire una bugia, potremmo giurare sulla evidente provenienza nordeuropea di un simile acquerello sonoro.
E invece - sorpresa! - Spring Is Coming Soon è un fiorellino germogliato nella brulla e caliente penisola iberica. Gli Aitänna77 arrivano dalla Spagna e nascondono le gesta di un unico musicista, tale Mikel Martínez. L'etichetta Test Tube, tra le più interessanti e dinamiche in area Creative Commons, ha invece sede in Portogallo.»
- Luca Castelli / April 11, 2005
«This is go out our control.»
- Mikel Gaizcoleta [EARLabs] / April 04, 2005
«SUPERB SPANISH FOLKTRONIC MP3 EP:
The latest from the Portuguese netlabel test tube is a truly superb mix of acoustic and electric elements, with all the elegance of classic minimalism and all the presence of an early-1970s singer-songwriter album. It's sure to appeal to fans of Greg Davis' Arbor (Carpark, 2002), and other so-called folktronic music. Credited to Aitänna77 (aka Spanish musician Mikel Martínez), the 'Spring is Coming Soon' EP's four tracks mix gently plucked acoustic guitar and a smattering of digital effects. What makes the work special is that the blend of analog and digital isn't predicated on conflict, but on how the elements work together. This isn't the countrified hip-hop of the Dust Brothers' collaborations with Beck, or the electronified blues of Moby's Play, in which contrasting sounds rub against each other to stoke the frisson of pop fusion. On the title cut, soft hums serve as ghost images to the melody, and then bits of reverb exaggerate the finger picking. On "Licking Ice Cream Cones", which has John Fahey's way with a lifting melody, guitar parts accumulate thanks to multitracking, veering slightly apart from one another and lending the cut the hypnotic quality of overlapping patterns. Other instrumentation on the brief set includes electric guitar, xylophone and that touchstone of dub, the melodica. Be sure to check it out, at monocromatica.com/netlabel.»
- Disquiet / April 01, 2005
«Magnifique ep de Mikel Martínez, publié par le toujours excellent netlabel Test Tube. Arrangements à la guitare se mêlent à des rythmiques minimales, à la Múm ou Sigur Rós de la grande époque. Ou bien, à un orgue-flûte toujours très mélodique. Finalement, le printemps n'est pas sur le chemin. Il est déjà là. Les quatre titres qui composent ce mini-album sont comme autant de petites histoires musicales qui se lient entre elles. Pastoral, simple et dépouillé, agréable en tout point. En fait, plus j'y pense et plus Aitânna77 me rappelle certaines productions de Jim O'Rourke, période Gastr Del Sol (qu'est ce que c'était bien, ça!!!). Ce n'est pas vraiment expérimental, ce n'est pas non plus commercial. Ce n'est ni complètement électronique, ni totalement acoustique. C'est un peu le printemps, mais à la levée du jour...»
- LaFresto / March 26, 2005 |
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Copyleft:
cover:
©2004 Mikel Martínez
©2005 aeriola::behaviour
music:
©2005 Aitänna77
©2005 test tube
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