(2021) Martha and the Muffins – Marthology: The In and Outtakes


Review:
Groundbreaking from the start, formed during the early days of Toronto’s punk new wave / art pop scene in 1977. They were the first Canadian band to sign to a UK label, recording their debut, Metro Music, at England’s The Manor Studio, and would go on to tour and receive more than three decades worth of critical acclaim worldwide. In 1978, they released their first independent single “Insect Love”. This and a demo tape recorded in June 1978 quickly garnered them a recording deal with the Dindisc offshoot of Virgin Records. The band, which eventually became a quartet (Martha Johnson, Mark Gane, Jocelyne Lanois, and Nick Kent), were then signed to Canadian indie label Current Records, distributed by RCA. 1983’s Danseparc was produced by Daniel Lanois, Gane, and Johnson. Gane, eager to drop the name “Martha and the Muffins”, proposed that the group be now called “M + M”. In a compromise, both names were used for a time, and the Danseparc album cover had both “M + M” and “Martha and the Muffins” printed on it. Since then, the band has released seven studio albums, three of which they co-produced with Daniel Lanois. The songs they worked on together included the groundbreaking singles “Women Around the World at Work”, “Danseparc”, “Black Stations White Stations”, “Come Out and Dance” and “Cooling the Medium”. Martha Johnson and Mark Gane, founding members of Martha and the Muffins, have gone into their extensive archives to select 12 rare singles, B-sides and unreleased tracks for ‘Marthology: In and Outtakes’. ‘Marthology: In and Outtakes’ spans 35 years of recordings including previously limited releases of “Summer of Song,” “Big Day,” and “Do You Ever Wonder,” as well as the 30th anniversary version of JUNO-winning single, “Echo Beach,” as well as never heard before songs and alternative versions of album cuts. For the band’s global audience as well as the uninitiated, ‘Marthology: In and Outtakes’, offers a behind the scenes glimpse of the original and diverse avenues of Martha and Mark’s songwriting which has defined Martha and the Muffins as a groundbreaking band since it’s formation. — cashboxcanada.ca

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Some of the tracks have been released as internet only songs (such as 2017’s “Summer of Song” or 2010’s “Big Day”) while others have appeared on compilations, such as “Resurrection” (originally released on their 1998 best off Then Again: A Retrospective) or the first single from Do You Ever Wonder (from the 1998 Popguru compilation The World According to Popguru). While others are unreleased versions of previously released ones, such as “Fighting the Monster”, which appears in a very different form on their 1992 album Modern Lullabies. There are even two versions of their classic “Echo Beach” — “Echo Beach (30th Anniversary Version)”  and “On a Silent Summer Evening (Echo Beach Version)”. Perhaps most interesting are the previously unreleased tracks that demonstrate the genius and creativity of Martha and The Muffins. “Talking Through My Hat” is wonderful, playful and yet dark, featuring some very fine vocals from Martha Johnson on top of a wonderfully sparse arrangement, while “Don’t Monkey with My Love” is a dance hit waiting to happen. “Delicate” is anything but delicate and features some fine guitar work from Mark Gane. Bonus track, “I Am Vertical” is perhaps the oldest track on the album. A 1988 demo, yet it sounds remarkably current and is extremely energetic. While even the previously released songs have a great deal of charm and are well worth revisiting, especially the mellow, and melancholic “Echo Beach (30th Anniversary Version)”. — spillmagazine.com





Track Listing:
01 – On a Silent Summer Evening (Echo Beach Version)
02 – Summer of Song
03 – Do You Ever Wonder
04 – Act Like a Woman
05 – Don’t Monkey with My Love
06 – Talking Through My Love
07 – Big Day
08 – There Comes a Day
09 – Fighting the Monster
10 – Resurrection
11 – Delicate
12 – Echo Beach (30th Anniversary Version)
13 – I Am Vertical! (Bonus Track)


Media Report:
Genre: art pop, new wave
Country: Canada
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits