Martha And The Muffins – This Is The Ice Age

Why is this great album so tough to find on CD - was it withdrawn soon after release in 2005 ? I mean come on - what's the story ?

This is the same release as Martha And The Muffins - This Is The Ice Age. The bottom of the back cover with the barcode is missing in the uploaded picture... That doesn't make it a release without a barcode...

Price of this is criminally low. Easily one of the best albums of this year and the entire post-punk/new-wave era. For $4 you might as well buy a few copies.

One of my favorite albums from the early eighties. Every track is wonderful. As they say, all killer, no filler. The cover photos always struck me as perfect for this album. It's exactly the same view photographed at two different times of day. The creative songwriting, vocals and musicianship are first class. I would go so far as to say this is a classic album that would easily rate in my top 10 best albums in this genre (whatever that genre is --early eighties new wave?).

my copy has a b-side in salmon (same color as the dindisc/virgin version from Canada with same cat. number).

You will of probably heard their breakthrough track & worldwide hit from 1979 'Echo Beach'. Well forget about that. This album recorded two years later is on another level. From the bleak yet mesmerizing front & rear cover of Toronto's 'First Canada Place' photographed by Mark Gane from his bedsit, to the ambient, moody funked up new wave tracks on the album this is a pure masterpiece. I Am not going to go into a full in depth review of every track except to say there are a few surprises (especially if all you know is Echo Beach). The album plays better when the bonus track from the CD is added 'Twenty Two In Cincinnati' recorded at the same time as this album but was the b-side to 'Women Around The World At Work' the albums single. Marthas voice is as always silky smooth & lets be honest if she was as good looking as Debbie Harry of Blondie the group would of been massive. Jocelyne Lanois provides some superb bass-lines as well as backing vocals & the production by her brother Daniel is crystal clear & pin sharp. Theres so much going on on this album, best listened to in the dark while wearing a pair of headphones. And again, if you do buy it set your running order to include 'Twenty-Two In Cincinnati' as the last track. 10/10, 5 stars...

The first album that Martha & The Muffins recorded with Daniel Lanois, then an unknown producer, is different from their breakthrough and their sophomore effort, and funny enough, very similar to Brian Eno produced albums (though it will be the later "Danseparc" the album that could be part of the Talking Heads discography). More than that: it's a masterpiece of mostly ambient pop, with a couple of uplifting singles ("Women around the world at work" and "You sold the cottage") and lots of studio trickery that came from the minds of the entire group and Lanois himself: noise from the instruments, layers and layers of melody, the wonderful baritone voice of Mark in "Swimming", a certain lack of structure that makes it loose and refreshing... and the most powerful ballad they have recorded, "One day in Paris". A fan's favourite, reissued a couple of times and sadly dissapeared after one month of the reissue, and one of the new wave best ones.