Martyn Mystere

Piece by Piece was the second album recorded by Martyn after his return to Island Records after a seven year absence. During this time, his releases on other labels had seen most of any rough edges smoothed off and his guitar playing become almost non-existent. The lighter jazz/pop style which had begun on Grace and Danger had taken over. Keyboardist Foster Paterson was a prominent contributor to the songs on Piece By Piece, which are a mix of the instantly memorable and the soon forgettable.

"Martyn is the most recognizable face of the Dutch dubstep scene. He first made an impression in 2005 with a couple of singles that garnered him immediate underground applause for the way he managed to integrate both techno and jungle/drum-n-bass techniques into the then fledgling sounds of dubstep. Further singles and a relentless DJ schedule only added to his increasing profile, culminating with the release of his critically lauded debut album Great Lengths in April 2009." AMG

"Martyn is one of a cluster of producers who're associated with dubstep but refuse genrefication; he simply calls his productions 'Martyn music'. His interpretation of dubstep is utopian; drums and bass are all that are required for entry, everything else is yours." FACT Magazine, 20 Best Albums April - June 2009

The Best of the Island Years is a 4-disc digest version of last year’s, definitive 18 disc set covering John Martyn’s classic years with Island Records between 1967 and 1987. All 56 tracks on the 4-disc edition capture Martyn at the height of his creativity on the label; all of them have been chosen from the out-takes, unreleased songs and rare live recordings that were first included on The Island Years 18CD Box Set. This collection features the best of the rarities from The Island Years and creates an exceptional collection of recordings for fans who have everything but the complete box set.

John Martyn's second live release, Philentropy, is an interesting look back at his career from his transitional period in the early 1970s through 1982's Well Kept Secret. Built largely around electric guitar and synthesizers without even a trace of acoustic instruments, he continues to move even further away from the folk sound of his early days…

John Martyn's follow-up to 1973's Inside Out is a much more song-oriented, less experimental effort which concentrates on the joys of home and family. Sunday's Child skillfully blends the sensual ("You Can Discover") with the sweet ("My Baby Girl"), the modern ("Root Love") with the traditional ("Spencer the Rover"), and the tormented ("Sunday's Child") with the satisfied ("Satisfied Mind," "Call Me Crazy") while retaining its cohesiveness. The record, his sixth on his own, shows the many facets of Martyn's playing, from his effects-driven electric guitar to his signature acoustic work, which can be both aggressive ("The Message") and gentle ("Lay It All Down"). This album contains a collection of strong original songs, as well as a pair of wonderful covers: the traditional British ballad "Spencer the Rover" and the country standard "Satisfied Mind." His last recording of new material for three years, Sunday's Child is a fine farewell to this period of Martyn's ever-changing career.

Collectors of our Romantic Piano Concertos will already know the name of Sergei Bortkiewicz and just a small something of what to expect of this first recording of his two symphonies. Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Scottish played the First Symphony in a public concert the day before this recording was made. Here is what The Glasgow Herald said of the occasion: "Last night the one-man Tchaikovsky tribute band, Sergei Bortkiewicz, roared into town with his first symphony and left the BBC SSO, conductor Martyn Brabbins, and the audience, with grins as wide as the Volga fabulous orchestration, thoroughgoing craftsmanship, and an exuberant panache that raised the whole thing several storeys above mere pastiche. It's a dazzling, hugely enjoyable barnstormer with a gorgeous slow movement (containing an oboe theme to die for), and a punch line so familiar, yet so unexpected, that it's uproarious. Someone tell the London gaffer to put this in the Promsit would blow the audience clean away."

Ralph Vaughan Williams' A London Symphony, otherwise known as the Symphony No. 2 in G major, was composed between 1911 and 1913, and premiered in 1914. After the score was lost in the mail, reconstructed from the short score and orchestral parts, and revised twice, the symphony was published at last in 1920, though it was ultimately replaced by the definitive version in 1936, with cuts to the about 20 minutes of the original material. This recording by Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Symphony Orchestra presents the 1920 version, along with three short works, Sound sleep for female voices and small orchestra, Orpheus with his lute for voice and orchestra, and the Variations for brass band. The filler pieces are delightful rarities that Vaughan Williams specialists will find of some interest, though most listeners will prize this recording for the energetic and colorful performance of the symphony, which is one of the composer's most vivid and satisfying works.

A wonderful collection of songs that deserves to be heard, No Little Boy serves as a sort of greatest-hits package for John Martyn, and also makes an excellent introduction to the music of this unique performer. This album is made up of newly re-recorded versions of some of Martyn's finest material from throughout his career. With assistance from longtime fan and friend Phil Collins, and contributions from an all-star cast including vocalist Levon Helm of the Band, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, saxman Andy Sheppard, and others, Martyn delivers definitive takes on his catalog of folk- and jazz-flavored material, recorded with pristine clarity and crispness. His trademark vocal slur is in evidence here, but the enunciation is more decipherable than on earlier recordings. This is beautiful, haunting, densely atmospheric, at times funky music.