JANUARY, 2006

Hello All,
We thought we would start off the new year by wishing everyone the best in 2006 and revisiting some of the highlights of 2005 with a special thanks to Graham Stairs at Popguru for all his hard work in getting MatM back onstage!

FEBRUARY 19/05 INTIMATE FLOOR SHOW AT THE DRAKE, TORONTO
Martha and Mark performed "slenderized" reinterpretations as a duo, covering 28 years of the MatM songbook. This was the first time in 17 years they had performed a full set of the band's songs since MatM played its last show at Toronto's Diamond Club in 1987. With a sold-out venue, the show was streamed live to the Internet and simultaneously recorded via webcam and the board mix for future release as a DVD. Fans from Paris to Los Angeles tuned in as Martha and Mark received accolades and encouragement via scores of emails from around the world the next day.

Photo credit: Marcus Vichert


MARCH 2/05 MARTHA AND THE MUFFINS HONOURED AT CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK, TORONTO
After performing a live version of Echo Beach at the 2005 Canadian Independent Music Awards, the CBC's Jian Ghomeshi inducted Martha and the Muffins into the Indies Hall of Fame in recognition of the band's groundbreaking role as alternative music pioneers in Canada and for their continuing popularity with fans around the world. Musicians backing Martha and Mark for the evening included The Gardens Faithful keyboardist/front man Andrew Ennals, Stirling drummer Michael Broadley and Beautiful 2000 bassist Michael Dilauro.


Photo credit: Canadian Music Week


MARCH 26/05 ECHO BEACH MAKES THE CBC'S 50 MOST ESSENTIAL CANADIAN POP MUSIC
TRACKS LIST
50 Tracks: The Canadian Version aired on CBC Radio One and hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, was a competition to determine the 50 most essential songs in Canadian pop music history. The list unfolded over ten weeks, with five songs added each week for eight weeks. A further ten songs were added by listener input in the ninth week. After the 50 songs were chosen by a panel of critics, artists and others, a listener vote was held to rank them. On March 26th, the songs were counted down in their final chart order with Echo Beach at # 35.

APRIL 12/05 "THIS IS THE ICE AGE" RELEASED BY EMI MUSIC CANADA
The most requested MatM album finally got reissued 24 years after its 1981 vinyl debut. After languishing in Virgin Record UK's vaults for almost a quarter of a century, This Is The Ice Age was reissued on C.D. by EMI Music Canada as part of its commitment to reissue as much of the Martha and the Muffins back catalogue as possible. For Martha and Mark, this was perhaps the major accomplishment of the year. Many thanks to Warren Stewart, Shan Kelley and Deane Cameron at EMI Music Canada for making this happen.
The first of three ground-breaking MatM collaborations with the now legendary producer Daniel Lanois, This Is The Ice Age marked the beginning of his sister Jocelyne Lanois' association as bass player with the band. The combination of the various band members' backgrounds in experimental and pop music, came into full play on Ice Age, resulting in a richly textured, complex set piece that many fans and critics consider to be the best album the band made.

"This was a great time of innovation for the Muffins and me." - Daniel Lanois July 2004

" The great lost New Wave album - moody, detached, heartbroken. I finally figured out how to digitize my old vinyl records this year and "Ice Age" was the first, and best, to jump the divide. Virgin, release this on CD or I'll start burning copies for all of Boston." - Ty Burr The Best CDs of 2003/The Boston Globe

"Swimming", which breaks us into the album is not only some kind of ambiguous masterpiece but says as much as any one track can about the overall tone of the album. It's a beautifully slippery mood piece, set to a straggling syncopation, which bursts into carnal brilliance with the dank, liguid croon of Mark Gane. Impossibly catholic in form, the record's unifying thread is its strange, modern melancholy." - Dave Hill, NME, January 9, 1982

"There is no other band which emerged from Canada's fledgling punk scene of a few years ago which matters. With the release of their third album Martha and the Muffins not only prove themselves superior in their native land but reveal a musical and intellectual depth that is rare in rock'n'roll the world over. "This Is The Ice Age" is not only a brilliant musical work but stands on par with the music of artists like Peter Gabriel, Roxy Music and David Bowie." - James Muretich, The Calgary Sun, October 18, 1981

MAY 14 /05 MARTHA AND THE MUFFINS & THE PARACHUTE CLUB AT HUGH'S ROOM, TORONTO
This show was an experiment to see whether the two bands could share common players and perhaps take the show out on the road as a co-headliner. MatM's line-up included Martha and Mark, with Leo Valvassori on bass and cello, Eric Paul on drums and percussion and keyboardist Ashley Wey. Lorraine Segato of The Parachute Club remarks:

"Over the years, Martha & Mark and I would often bump into each other, finding ourselves sharing common experiences and stories. In the mid-80s, our musical styles sometimes overlapped, we were both signed to the same music labels and we both came up from the Queen Street West milieu, plus we shared what we consider to be our best early records with producer Daniel Lanois at the helm.

We would talk about how loyal our fan base is and how we'd get asked why we weren't playing anymore. We thought it would be great to play a show together, to revitalize the songs that continue to live in the hearts of our fans."

While the evening was a success for both bands, neither group could ultimately decide on the best way to pool their human resources without making the "hybrid" band too unwieldy for the economic realities of touring, so the co-headlining idea has been put on hold indefinitely. Nevertheless, MatM had a great time playing with their old labelmates!


Photo credit: Marcus Vichert


SEPTEMBER 16/05 MATM APPEARS ON BRAVO! CHANNEL'S BREAKFAST TELEVISION
Early morning television viewers who had access to the BRAVO! channel were able to tune into to the Breakfast Television show on Fri. Sept. 16th at 6:00 am (local Toronto time) to see MatM perform Echo Beach and Black Stations/White Stations from the upcoming set at The Drake.

SEPTEMBER 17/05 INTIMATE FLOOR SHOW NUMBER 2 AT THE DRAKE, TORONTO
Seven months after their first duo performance/webcast, Martha and Mark were invited back to The Drake Hotel to perform more "slenderized" versions of older songs as well as some new songs including Love Began With Eve and Girl With A Microphone. This time Martha and Mark were joined by Muffins bass player Jocelyne Lanois and cellist Leo Valvassori, both of whom also played guitar and percussion that evening. Mark also heralded his return to painting with a sneak preview of his new series of photopaintings which were projected throughout the venue during the performance. Once again, the evening was recorded on DVD for future release but unfortunately, last minute technical problems prevented the show from being streamed live to the Internet as planned.

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Photo credit: Laurie Potts.................................Photo credit: Mark Gane



NOVEMBER 27/05 ECO BEACH YOUTH HOSTEL OPENS AT APOLLO BAY, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
A $3 million, architect designed youth hostel named Eco Beach, featuring passive solar design, spacious lounges, outdoor balconies and a rooftop deck was officially opened at a gala launch in Apollo Bay, Victoria, Australia by Victoria’s Deputy Premier and Minister for the Environment, The Hon John Thwaites. Julia Bojanovic, Marketing Co-ordinator for YHA Victoria had emailed MatM writing, "The staff here at YHA are all great fans of Martha and the Muffins, and are very much hoping you could honour us with the request to use Echo Beach". As the song's writer and former youth hosteler with a great interest both in architecture and solar energy, Mark Gane was very pleased to have the song associated with such a forward-looking building project, endorsing the idea with his and the band's wholehearted backing. With the permission of the song's publisher, EMI Music Pubishing UK, Echo Beach was used in the media presentation and opening ceremonies.

COMING IN 2006...
Martha's new project with The Canadian Children's Book Centre...new MatM songs in the works...rumours of solo projects for both Martha and Mark and more...