I first heard off Bristol born Caroline Martin through a session
she did with the late John Peel's Radion Show and was haunted
by his whispered, fragile beauty she shone with on her songs
to such a degree it took me a few years but eventually through
Caroline herself I tracked down her debut EP 'YOUNG TENDER
RABBIT MEAT' EP and was instantly a fan.
I met Caroline in person a few years later and live, her quiet,
powerful Cat Power meets Nina Nastasia songs made even
more sense which shone through on her second ep - 'MONN'
which shown to me a very Leonard Cohen lyrical influence in
places before being left speechless by her 16 track debut album
'I HAD A HUNDRED MORE REASONS TO STAY BY THE FIRE'
which had some of the most errie story telling you would ever
hear in music.
A few years passed and now Caroline has re-surfaced with a 7 track
EP 'Broken' (which actually is a 8 track EP as it includes as a hidden
track a ace Piano Version of 'My Daddy's Shotgun' from 'I HAD A
HUNDRED....' ) which I note from the notes that came with the
album this is a collection of demo songs that I decided not to take
any further, they are thoughts and feelings and they do their job
as they are... There's some distortion, a few gliches and mistakes
... this is a release I have long wanted to make'
I certainly agree there is certainly the odd glitche in the recording,
but the more you listen to this release the more these mistakes
add to the charm on even cover versions like 'How much I lied'
(which I think orginally was a Gram Parsons song) which she really
makes the song her own and on her own compositions such
as 'Before I die' and 'Last Fight' which are tracks that really sent
a shiver down my back the first time I heard but then on a second
listen meant something else altogether.
Recommended
For previews of some of the tracks please go to Caroline's
page on myspace.com
http://www.myspace.com/carolinemartinsmalldog
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