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Product Description
Review
The most exciting musician you've never heard - ***** --Mojo, April 2012
Inspiring collection from the late Scots raver - ***** --Songlines, April 2012
Inspiring collection from the late Scots raver - ***** --Songlines, April 2012
CD Description
'It s a poor, pale substitute for his still being here, but as the years pass since Martyn s untimely death, his seminal, seismic impact on our contemporary cultural landscape grows progressively more apparent. Schooled from childhood in both traditional and classical music, before diving head-first into rave culture, Martyn was the right man, in the right place and time, to make the quantum creative leap his music represents. His twin gifts of rigorous, restless intellect and profound spiritual consciousness, allied to his musical mastery and his brilliantly mischievous sense of humour enabled him to achieve a radical new synthesis of ancient and modern, local and global, rural and urban, that both embodied and advanced the fast-evolving culture he inhabited. Keenly media-savvy, in pursuit of often unworldly objectives, he crossed and transcended boundaries at many different levels, from that of image as the dreadlocked piper to those of genre, art-form and audience.
The groundbreaking influence of Martyn s work as both a Scottish and a world music artist an identity underlined by the release of his final masterwork, Grit, on Peter Gabriel s Real World label is increasingly evident today. 21st century Scotland is an undisputed world leader in the musical ethos Martyn pioneered: in music where traditional idioms flourish on a par alongside any other sound currently extant, where fruitful cross-fertilisation is merrily rife, and where technical and artistic standards are fiercely but inspiringly high. And where Scotland s cultural equity, too, has never been valued higher, both at home and abroad.
But even in his tragic absence, the ongoing role he's playing - another operative word - is ample grounds for celebration. Elegiac though his music now, in part, inescapably sounds, ultimately it triumphs in being as timeless and affirmative as this collection's title.
The groundbreaking influence of Martyn s work as both a Scottish and a world music artist an identity underlined by the release of his final masterwork, Grit, on Peter Gabriel s Real World label is increasingly evident today. 21st century Scotland is an undisputed world leader in the musical ethos Martyn pioneered: in music where traditional idioms flourish on a par alongside any other sound currently extant, where fruitful cross-fertilisation is merrily rife, and where technical and artistic standards are fiercely but inspiringly high. And where Scotland s cultural equity, too, has never been valued higher, both at home and abroad.
But even in his tragic absence, the ongoing role he's playing - another operative word - is ample grounds for celebration. Elegiac though his music now, in part, inescapably sounds, ultimately it triumphs in being as timeless and affirmative as this collection's title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The compilers of this collection have done a splendid job, all things considered. Of the eleven tracks, there are two each from three of Martyn's solo albums, and then five tracks (including from Cuillin) that you might be seriously hard pushed to find without a lot of hard work, some good fortune and perhaps spending over the odds. The original recordings were released across several different record labels, which always makes it a challenge to get necessary permissions to include everything that might be wished for. Martyn had collaborated with several other artists not represented here.
The tracks "Crackcorn" and "Paisley Spin" included here are previously unreleased. The CD booklet also lists another previously unreleased track, which is available only as a download. The CD booklet lacks a little clarity for the uninitiated in how to do such a thing. Essentially you need to be using a computer connected to the internet, and registered with i-tunes. Since I wasn't actually already registered with i-tunes myself, I needed first to download that programme to install it onto my hard-drive, agree all the terms and conditions after reading them, provide my credit card details, then search the i-tunes library. In all it took about five minutes and I'm listening to the track now as I type this. The track "Mackay's Memoirs" is over 14 minutes long and includes choirs, pipes, electronics, spoken word and more; it is extremely uplifting.
The CD itself is accompanied by a 20-page booklet that is printed in a nice matt finish on good quality paper - which contains a decent amount of information about each of the selections.
If you are already familiar with Martyn Bennett's contribution to music, you may perhaps wonder why the compilers chose the tracks they did. I guess we all have our favourites - but this set does work well in the order they've been sequenced. It's around 66 minutes of quality music, so good value for a single disc collection.
For those unfamiliar with Martyn Bennett: the man was genuinely special. He was steeped in generations of folk music traditions, and his own talent was recognised at an early age by receiving scholarships for a serious academic musical training. He was multi-talented, at home on pipes, fiddle or with studio electronics. Crucially, he was around at a time when music technology was enabling the development of new forms. Indeed, he was at the forefront. If you enjoy modern crossover acts like, let's say, Massive Attack, Leftfield, Afro Celt Sound System, or Imagined Village, then you should find this right up your street.
The legend goes something along the lines that one day Martyn went out busking with his fiddle. When he turned on his backing tape, he realised that he'd got the wrong one. Rather than go back home, he played his traditional folk tunes along to some rave type dance music - receiving an enthusiastic response from all who heard it. Realising he was onto something, he was able to use his natural talent and formal skills to hone and polish his ideas. Before long he was playing major festivals and being invited to heady institutional events as a Scottish national treasure. You can find a lot more information and the real story by visiting the website dedicated to his memory.
Highly recommended.
The tracks "Crackcorn" and "Paisley Spin" included here are previously unreleased. The CD booklet also lists another previously unreleased track, which is available only as a download. The CD booklet lacks a little clarity for the uninitiated in how to do such a thing. Essentially you need to be using a computer connected to the internet, and registered with i-tunes. Since I wasn't actually already registered with i-tunes myself, I needed first to download that programme to install it onto my hard-drive, agree all the terms and conditions after reading them, provide my credit card details, then search the i-tunes library. In all it took about five minutes and I'm listening to the track now as I type this. The track "Mackay's Memoirs" is over 14 minutes long and includes choirs, pipes, electronics, spoken word and more; it is extremely uplifting.
The CD itself is accompanied by a 20-page booklet that is printed in a nice matt finish on good quality paper - which contains a decent amount of information about each of the selections.
If you are already familiar with Martyn Bennett's contribution to music, you may perhaps wonder why the compilers chose the tracks they did. I guess we all have our favourites - but this set does work well in the order they've been sequenced. It's around 66 minutes of quality music, so good value for a single disc collection.
For those unfamiliar with Martyn Bennett: the man was genuinely special. He was steeped in generations of folk music traditions, and his own talent was recognised at an early age by receiving scholarships for a serious academic musical training. He was multi-talented, at home on pipes, fiddle or with studio electronics. Crucially, he was around at a time when music technology was enabling the development of new forms. Indeed, he was at the forefront. If you enjoy modern crossover acts like, let's say, Massive Attack, Leftfield, Afro Celt Sound System, or Imagined Village, then you should find this right up your street.
The legend goes something along the lines that one day Martyn went out busking with his fiddle. When he turned on his backing tape, he realised that he'd got the wrong one. Rather than go back home, he played his traditional folk tunes along to some rave type dance music - receiving an enthusiastic response from all who heard it. Realising he was onto something, he was able to use his natural talent and formal skills to hone and polish his ideas. Before long he was playing major festivals and being invited to heady institutional events as a Scottish national treasure. You can find a lot more information and the real story by visiting the website dedicated to his memory.
Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Just a stunningly good album. What would the Scottish music scene be like if he hadn't passed away?
Note that the CD is missing Mackay's Memoirs, recorded the day he died. You'll have to download that.
R.I.P Martyn.
Note that the CD is missing Mackay's Memoirs, recorded the day he died. You'll have to download that.
R.I.P Martyn.
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