Martyn Joseph - honest and memorable

Advantages: Great guitars, honest and powerful lyrics
Disadvantages: Depends whether you like the genre

...Martyn Joseph - Martyn Joseph Just before Christmas, we went to see Martyn Joseph at Haren Church, near Brussels airport. I don't not what surprised me more, that a Welsh singer-songwriter should turn up at a small venue in cold, dark Flanders or that this was the fifth successive year he had been there. We had seen him once before, back at Spring Harvest in Minehead in 1996, and had a couple of his albums. One of these, the eponymously entitled Martyn Joseph is the subject of this review. = MARTYN JOSEPH - WHO IS HE? = Martyn Joseph was born in Penarth in 1960, and came to prominence in the 1980s, primarily among Christian circles. As he said in his self-deprecating manner at the concert, he was originally classified as a rock and pop artist, then this changed to folk, and most recently, a new category has been found...

lobourse 07.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of Martyn Joseph - Martyn Joseph

John Martyn's breakthrough

Advantages: Most of the tracks very strong. Album stands test of time
Disadvantages: Not a commercial album and needs repeated listening.

...With the recent death of John Martyn OBE announced at the age of 60, I thought I'd review his most popular and enduring album, Solid Air, regarded by many fans as his masterpiece. A Brief Background John Martyn was born in 1948 in Surrey to Scottish parents who moved back to Glasgow, when he was still a toddler..His parents soon split up and he continued to live with his father and took up the guitar at 15. He made rapid progress on the instrument developing a finger-picking style. Two years later he left home at 17, heading back to the South East, where he began to perform on the British folk circuit, eventually gaining a residency at Les Cousins, London's most prestigious folk club. Whilst still a teenager he was spotted by Chris Blackwell the founder of Island Records, who signed him up in 1967, when he cut his first album...

RippedoffPete 13.02.2009 (15.02.2009) · Read review
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Review of Solid Air - John Martyn

John Martyn's near masterpiece

Advantages: Highly original and relaxing acoustic guitar songs, superbly played
Disadvantages: Inferior bonus tracks might interfere with the mood of the album for some.

...John Martyn was a very talented British singer/songwiter/musician, who attracted a strong interest and following during the 1970s (less so in the '80s),.But he enjoyed little commercial recognition, despite his best albums selling steadily over the years. Although Martyn started out as a folk artist in the late 1960s, by the time of this release, jazz and blues influences had crept into his repertoire. By the '80s, Martyn's studio albums had changed noticeably in musical style, devoid of any folk influence, but not some might say, for the better. Bless The Weather, released in 1971 is John Martyn's fifth album, and arguably his best. It originally included ten tracks, nine songs plus one superb instrumental jam. What the original album managed to achieve is the near perfect blend of contemporary folk and jazz...

RippedoffPete 15.08.2008 (31.12.2008) · Read review
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Review of Bless The Weather - John Martyn

Martyn Pig .. OINK OINK!!

Advantages: Interesting and hard to put down
Disadvantages: Short (200) pages plus large text.

...Intro ******* I'm going to get the standard stuff out the way first ? 'The Chicken House' published the book in 2002 It was bought from WH Smiths for £9.99 as a hardback. Author Kevin Brooks was born in 1959 and has written numerous other children's books including: - The Road of the dead Candy Kissing the rain And Lucas The Main Story ***************** The main story is centred on Martyn Pig and the events in his life in the week leading to Christmas. The first chapter is entitled 'Wednesday' the book tells the story of events in that week, until next Wednesday or Christmas day. Martyn is a reasonably normal boy, however his father is a lowlife drunk. Martyn lives with his father who is a drunk 90% of the time and has to take constant repression from his father. A terrible...

THE_ELITE13 04.06.2006 · Read review
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Review of Martyn Pig - Kevin Brooks

Even for non-Bennett fans

Advantages: Will last you a long time! Entertaining, humourous, and poignant.
Disadvantages: Not a quick read.

...Alan Bennett was unknown to me before I picked up this book. All I knew was that he was a playwright. I acquired the novel from Asda at a very good price of £3.99. I was looking for an intellectual, stimulating and humourous read. I definitely got what I asked for. The book is long and the print is small so it takes a while to read. It is what it says it is though - it is a mix of journal entries and musings. Naturally, it is very well written, and is easy to follow - but it is clear that this something written for adults as the language can be quite complex. Bennett does not leave much to the imagination, it has to be said, and he reveals a lot of personal insight on his family life, and can be at times very critical of family members. So much so that as a reader I felt quite invasive, almost like an intruder, knowing so much...

jazzzza 06.09.2007 · Read review
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Review of Untold Stories - Alan Bennett

Lets Go Mental

Advantages: A Truly Outstanding Album
Disadvantages: none

...Martyn Bennett was completely unknown to me until the night I decided to tune into a radio programme to be hosted by Mike Harding. I had followed his performances for some time visiting the local theatres whenever he was in the area. He had not toured for some time and even I thought his last tour was just a best of and and was a little dissapointing, however I saw or heard the adverts for this prog ad thought I would give it a try. What I heard Completely overwhelmed me, Tracks from; Dick Gaughan (The big Muddy) The Poozies (Rocky Road to Dublin) Ladysmith Black Mambazo(Inkanyezi Nezazi) and a track by Martyn Bennett Tounges of Kali. Mike Harding described Kali as the Hindu Goddess of Death, although research gives several differing descriptions. Tounges of Kali is the first track on the album Bothy Culture its...

philmco 20.06.2005 · Read review
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Review of Bothy Culture - Martyn Bennett

Sorry Martyn but...

Advantages: Solid - has very good games sometimes
Disadvantages: Ageing compared to Wright/James, Leeds player

...Richard Wright and David James seem much better replacements. Okay, they are erratic but they are fun to watch and are younger than you. Seaman will never be between the sticks by 2002 - we hope. Not that he is bad keeper, and he used to fantastic, but personal and ageing problems have lead to his demise. N.Martyn for me is an ideal 3rd choice keeper who we use in desperation, not as our first choice keeper. I do not blame him for Romania, that was a feasible goal and difficult to save. The fluky cross, totally unpredictable. If he had gone to intercept it and someone had headered it we would have complained. I feel that he just doesn't have what it takes to be an international. I am not denying the fact that he is one mean goalkeeper who undoubtedly saved Leeds in the UEFA cup last year against Roma, but he needs to play...

fiisch 26.08.2000 · Read review
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Review of Nigel Martyn

Hard going but worth it....Blood Royal - Vanora Bennett

Advantages: Enjoyable read
Disadvantages: Its a long book

......

jinxyjo 12.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Blood Royal - Vanora Bennett

Wait to go, Bennett and Royle!

Advantages: Makes academic debates appealing to a wider readership
Disadvantages: Its conciseness means you're left wanting more!

...I may sound a little swotty, enjoying my literary criticism so much, but let me assure you that literary theory can be cool. Bennett and Royle prove this perfectly. This wonderfully accessible book is great for anyone studying English at undergraduate level, particularly if they have any papers in Literary Theory. Also very useful if you like reading and analysing texts, thinking about contextuality and intertextuality. (I was told in the 'Will you, nil you...' review I wrote that I shouldn't explain literary terms as it could patronise some review readers, so I won't explain that intertextuality means writers' references to other works of literature in their own works... oops... I guess I had to put it in there just in case an aspiring young soul who is about to embark on a degree needed a little explanation :) Anyway, moving on...

Prof.P 23.08.2005 (24.08.2005) · Read review
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Review of Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory - Andrew Bennett, Nicholas Royle

MOVING THROUGH SOLID AIR

Advantages: Superb songwriter and gutarist
Disadvantages: Hasn't achieved his full potential

...Singer songwriters seem to be back in vogue recently, as can be seen with the huge success of David Gray and the more melodic ballad based music of groups such as Travis and Coldplay. With all the focus on the new acts it easy to forget the long tradition that Britain has for producing great singer/songwriters. People like Nick Drake are just now being re-discovered by a new generation and in the same way I think it’s time that the music of one of our most talented songwriters and performers should also be re-evaluated. John Martyn was born in England in 1948 to a Scottish father and English mother, he was brought up in Scotland living in Glasgow and has considered himself Scottish ever since. His career started early when in 1964 at the age of 16 he started learning his trade under the tutelage of the legendary Scottish folk...

Mauri 10.01.2003 (13.01.2003) · Read review
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Review of John Martyn