Mint - The Metronomical Boy

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4...according to our Phil on Thu 10 Nov, 2011.

I've not heard Mint before but I quite like some of the Boltfish stuff so I grabbed this before anyone else could so I could have a decent listen on headphones. It's nice to hear some glitchy melodic electronica as I've not heard any in a while. It reminds me of some of the Russian stuff that was popular a while back. The styles vary from upbeat crunchy electronica coated in Lionel Glitchie to more ambient piano based classical sounding numbers but it's mainly upbeat and crunchy sounding. Remember folks like Multiplex, Verbose, Fizzarum and the like? If you were fans of those then you'd do well to check this out. It's making me feel all nostalgic! There's a nice dark synthy vibe running throughout it but overall it's just simply a strong melodic electronica album which is done really rather well and I'm currently most enjoying the track called Cypher right now!

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Mint presents an album of enchanting electronica, built around the story of The Metronomical Boy.

"The Metronomical Boy" is Mint's third studio album, and brings together a collection of cinematic, glitch and electronica tracks ranging through playful, dark, ambient and upbeat.

The album's beautiful artwork unifies the audio with an introduction to the story of The Metronomical Boy, as retold below...

"In September 1932 the Norwegian Archaeologist Tor William Gudmundsen undertook an excavation near the Kharga Oasis, Egypt. The tomb he discovered had lain undisturbed since the time of the Pharaohs, and its central burial chamber contained the sarcophagus of one of the Pharaoh’s sons. Alongside this knelt a mechanical figure, resembling a boy of the same age, clearly built as a companion for the Pharaoh’s son.

The incredibly advanced, and perfectly preserved mechanism still functioned with rhythmical precision and the automaton smiled, and slowly bowed to greet the explorer.

Confounded but delighted by the discovery, Gudmundsen dubbed him ‘The Metronomical Boy’.

He took the boy with him, and in the weeks that followed observed the boy’s gentle nature and desire to learn. Returning home on his daughter Ina’s 9th birthday, Gudmundsen introduced her to The Metronomical Boy and a lasting friendship was immediately born.

Ina took it upon herself to teach the boy whatever she could, and the pair shared many adventures from that day on."

The album itself is presented in a beautifully designed Digipak or available as a digital download.

"Mint creates some wonderfully engaging electronic music." - The Milkfactory

"The push-pull affect revealed throughout The Metronomical Boy, its polished facade, mild temper, evenly paced experiments and uplifting interior keeps Mint in top shape from start to finish. " - Igloomag

"With this release Mint has managed to work his way toward the top of the list of amazing releases thus far this year" - NowLikePhotographs

"‘The Metronomical Boy’ offers up a consistently impressive and inspired listen from start to finish." - Cyclic Defrost