Selina Martin
Life Drawing Without Instruction
© 2005 Selina Martin (676868136627)
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It's a real, good, real album. Robust and true.
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It's been six years since Toronto's Selina Martin released Space Woman, a much-loved first record that earned her piles of acclaim and a cult following that included many like-minded artists. A musician's musician, Martin blew in like a breath of fresh air with a voice full of beauty and angst and a wholly unique writing sensibility that tweaks the standard love song with brushes of dark humour and spite.
She's made an amazing comeback with her latest album Life Drawing Without Instruction. It's an astounding collection of diverse, lively folk-rock songs that are tricky to pin down. Martin coos and hollers, kisses and spits, hugs and kicks depending on the song at hand, while an eclectic musical stew brews behind her.
Her new record features Martin and her bandmates Annelise Noronha, Rob Carson, Leo Valvassori and Dave Clark stretching to their multi-instrumentalist limit with the addition of accordion, tuba, glockenspiel, cello, trombone, wine glasses and musical saw. Cameos by fans and friends include Martin Tielli and Michael Phillip Wojewoda (Rheostatics), Rob Piltch, St. Dirt Elementary School, Julia Hambleton, Greg Smith (Weakerthans) and members of Wayne Omaha.
Martin's latest effort has resulted in more amazing music from a real artist, someone who flies in the face of convention and still creates great songs.
The Globe and Mail
Life Drawing Without Instruction
**** (highest rating)
Selina Martin has the voice of a thrift-shop angel and the eye of an eagle circling over its prey. She's too decent to lie, and too cruel to look away as you react to what she has to say about your shabby subterfuges, which may also be hers. Her new album is full of sneaky wisdom and good tunes that refuse to know where to draw the line. Her arrangements (made and performed with friends from the Rheostatics end of the indie scene) have a way of billowing into grand or parodic tributes to whatever folly she happens to be discussing. Her band is her Greek chorus, commenting on the action with a leer or a tear. Ideally, these songs would be performed in the seedy, comfortable cabaret whose existence they imply. But that cabaret may not exist, so you'd better just buy the record. - Robert Everett-Green
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It IS a real good album indeed...!
author: SimoneSelina Martin has created a truly impressing album that is both refreshingly innovative and a true classic. It is a blend of Eleni Mandell's retro-folk, Nellie McKay's quirkiness and Tori Amos' sensitivity. A definite must-have!!!
- author: Ottawa Xpress
"Ordinary love is not for me," muses the alternately sweet- and sharp-tongued Selina Martin right out of the gates. A moment later, she calmly takes a breath, sharpens her claws, and strikes quick, summarily slicing and dicing some feckless chump whose "fairy tale" antics are driven by the "politics from in your pants." Fortunately, "ordinary" music is not for her either. A former U of T drama grad, Martin revels in the unexpected on her tough, tender and frequently astounding sophomore effort Life Drawing Without Instruction-unflinching Brechtian pop theatrics for heartsick spirits and fiery, fed-up souls alike. Piecing together shards of placid folk, paint-peeling punk, and skittish cabaret, Martin writes strident songs to make the guilty flinch, the forlorn swoon, and the defiant swell with courage. Steve Baylin
- author: Exclaim!
The Queen Street spirit remains alive and well in this second full-length from Toronto native Martin. It’s been six years since her previous release, and the hard work in between is apparent in the album’s dense and dramatic construction, ranging from hushed acoustic musings to anthemic symphonic passages. Any fan of Jane Siberry or the Rheostatics will instantly be captivated by Martin’s impressionistic approach but her songs stand on their own, mostly through the inherent innocence of her lyrics and vocals. There’s a wide-eyed sense of playfulness on "20 Miles" and "For Love" that Hawksley Workman would do well to take note of, and Martin displays some hefty rock chops on "The Lost Man." Martin is returning to some mighty ambitious CanRock soil, but the results are never less than thrilling. -Jason Schneider