Little Music Jewel!
Dejan Kovacevic | New York, New York United States | 07/30/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sometimes in 1986, I heard "Boat To Bolivia" single by then unknowns, Martin Stephenson & The Daintees. The song had a slight world music lilt, irresistible reggae beat and nice sounding vocals. I then read a praising review in some British magazine and immediately order it from a friend traveling somwhere in Western Europe. (I was then living in Yugoslavia, there was only a limited number of titles that were released locally and, of course, these were the pre-internet times...) My disappointment with the omission of title track, i.e. the above-mentioned single, on the original vinyl album titled "Boat To Bolivia" was amply compensated by a great record. To this day I have problem defining the style of the band, other than "rootsy-folksy" label slapped on it by music press, but that should not diminish anyone's pleasure upon entering the world of Martin Stephenson. On top of having that great mellow voice, Martin is a great poet - and I think "music set to poetry" would most accurately describe what the band was doing - and was accompanied by very apt musicians whose simple arrangements brought out the best in Martin's lyrics.So, finally, someone decided to reissue the whole series of their records and that's a great news, for fans old and new alike. This particular album now includes the famous single I've been for ages searching for, plus some great extras, of value not only to the so called "completests." And I would strongly suggest not to stop here: "Salutation Road" - produced by Pete Anderson of Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked fame - is such a great record...These days, artist and records like this are all but imposssible to find. Sure sign that people in music industry really don't know what they're doing. They do deserve to be extinct."
