Who is Artanu'?
This is a question that no Romanian is going to ask, unless he’s 12 years or has been living under a rock. An important part in the history or Romanian Rock music, Adrian Plesca, aka Artan, the front-man and founding member of one of the most alternative band of their time, “Timpuri Noi”. He sung there from 1982 until 2001, when he founded a new band “Partizan”, which also had immense national success.
In his 40 years of career, Artan not only created two iconic bands for the Romanian music, but also released a myriad of hits, a ton of albums and played a bazillion concerts, one which I’ve attended back in 2019 (there might have been others, but I’m old and I forget).
With Timpuri Noi he released four albums, some of the best albums of all time, and two double features (Rock 11, with Contrast, in 1989; and Lucky Nights Unplugged with Vita de Vie, in 2000).
With Partizan he also released two albums, one maxi single and one EP, all received with great success. More about his musical career and records that he participated on can be discovered on his Discogs page.
Click for some Artanu' Songs
Timpuri Noi - Perfect, live in 1987
Timpuri Noi - Albele furtuni
Timpuri Noi - Victoria
Timpuri Noi - Malu Valu
What is Artanu’ X2?
The project, developed by Muzici si Faze, wants to celebrate the career of Adrian Plesca - Artan through 90’s music, through a limited edition of photographs and t-shirts, that are available to be purchased at their site. While memories of concerts can fade in time (remember what I was saying about forgetting?), memorabilia items have a “store of value” characteristic.
The box-sets come in two versions, one with a photograph printed using the VanDyke process autographed on the front by Artan and on the back by the photographer, limited to 16 units. The other version comes with a t-shirt with the image printed on it, limited to 116 units.
Both versions come with a post card, authenticity certificate, and a hand-written note from Artan himself.
One of the most interesting parts of the project is the addition of a puzzle piece, along with a code that can be entered on a website. Once all the puzzle pieces are added, an NFT will be minted.
The box itself is super nice, a nice piece of memorabilia, and fits nice in a vinyl records shelf. Shout out to Muzici si Faze, Axa Valaha Productions, Dash Film for their effort, and a big shout out to Artan, for being the legend that he is.
