Martha Wainwright

Martha Wainwright | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 12, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Zoe Records
• ASIN: B0007VZ9EE
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,660 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With her debut album appearing at the age of 28, Martha Wainwright has lived in a musical world since she was born. She posses a voice with timbres similar to her brother, Rufus, and to her mother and aunt, Kate & Anna McGarrigle. She also has a way of stretching syllables out for reasons at once musical and textual, very much like her father, Loudon Wainwright, from whom she's also inherited a bold autobiographical stance, albeit couched in her own particular poetics. A bracing confidence informs these thirteen songs, from the bright shiny pop of "G.P.T." and "The Maker" (with the unmistakable voice of Rufus on backup vocals) to the fragile balladry of "Whither Must I Wander." Martha Wainwright continues the family tradition of audacious debuts. -- David Greenberger

Product Description

Martha Wainwright comes from a family that some would call "musical royalty." She is the daughter of Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, and sister of Rufus Wainwright, yet she writes and sings with a style completely her own. After several tours as opener and band-mate for Rufus Wainwright, and appearances on albums by Rufus, the McGarrigles, Gordon Gano (Violent Femmes) and Linda Thompson, Martha made her own bold statement with the release of her EP BMFA earlier this year. The EP garnered rave reviews: The London Times called it a "tour de force" while The New York Times named it "a gorgeous teaser" to her forthcoming full-length debut. The release of that self-titled debut album takes things to a whole new level. An album of contrasts, Martha Wainwright features tracks filled with raw, fiery, passionate energy alongside unforgettable, hauntingly beautiful ballads.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best CDs of 2005, May 21, 2005

By 

Daniel Maltzman (Arlington, MA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Martha Wainwright (Audio CD)

Most of the time when I buy a CD, I listen to it a few times and then put it back on the shelf for weeks or months at a time before I give it another listen. There are occasions, however, when I buy a CD and it really grabs a hold of me. On these rare occasions, I become engrossed, almost addicted to the album. Martha Wainwright's self-titled debut has been one of these occasions.

Because of who her family is, it would be easy to immediately dismiss her as "the sister of Rufas," or "the daughter of Louden and Kate McGarrigle." This would be a mistake, because Martha Wainwright's music is distinctly unique and she is a huge talent in her own right.

Her voice is gorgeous, but not in a traditional sense. Her voice has a soulful, high-pitched, eerie beauty, like nothing I've ever heard before. In her delivery, there is a real sense of emotion and feeling that really connects with the listener. With most albums, when you are done listening, you are done. When you are finished with Martha Wainwright's album, you feel as though you had just been visited by a presence, and that feeling stays with you, long after the CD has ended.

From the opening "Far Away", the listener is immediately swept into the CD. This song is subtle, building up ever so slightly, and is slightly underwhelming, which gives the song the perfect effect. The hauntingly beautiful background vocals add a nice touch. The more upbeat "G.P.T." has an infectious, singsong verse before going into its' soulful chorus. The bluesy morose "Factory" shows a more vulnerable side to Martha Wainwright. "These Flowers" has a kind-of a dream-like lullaby atmosphere. "Ball and Chain," (not a cover of the classic Janis Joplin song) sounds somewhat Janis-Joplin like. It is here that Wainwright lets down all restraints and finally lets all that had been building up inside her explode. "Why does this always happen?" she yells, demanding an answer, yet knowing none will come. The album comes back to earth with the beautiful "Don't forget" a song about lost love. These types of songs are so cliché,' but Wainwright sounds so sincere, and this song feels so lived in, that it's impossible not to be moved. The tongue-in-cheek "This Life," tries to answer the question of whether the monotony of life in general is worth living. The light percussion over the subtle strumming of the acoustic strings creates the perfect backdrop for the song. Although it is asked whether or not suicide is the answer, this seemingly heavy-handed topic does not emotionally drain the listener the way an Alice In Chains song might. It's as though these suicidal ideas are just passing thoughts, not to be taken seriously. The catchy mid-paced "When the day is Short," keeps the momentum going. The brutally honest "Bloody Mother F***ing A** Hole" is one of the album's centerpieces. You'd expect a song with a title like that to sound like Hole or Babes In Toyland, but that's not the case at all. This acoustic song starts out very subtle, building up angst as it rolls along, as though the hurt and resentment inside had been building up a long time and now is being vented out. But when Wainwright delivers the main lines "you bloody mother f***ing A** hole," she sounds more hurt than angry. "I will not pretend, I will not put on a smile, I will not say I'm alight for you, for you, whoever you are." In other words, she is taking a stand, against anyone who would try to supress her, or not let her be herself. The explicit content sounds especially powerful because it comes out of left field. It's really unexpected. It's not like an Eminem album where every-other word is f*** this and f*** that. The bluesy easy-going "TV Show" has an engrossing stream-like lyrical flow. There's an array of strings in the background that are effective, yet subtle. The singsong "Maker" is enchanting, especially when the lush array of background vocals in the chorus kick in. The somber stripped-down acoustic "Who was I kidding" is heavyhearted, yet not overdone. The elegant piano balled "Whiter I Must Wander" is the perfect way to close out the album, ending on a whisper.

Martha Wainwright's debut is a truly wonderful listen, through and through. It's brutally honest, yet not melodramatic, confident, yet never cocky. Martha Wainwright is an amazing and very promising talent. One of the best CDs of 2005.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars McAngrigrrlle is simply stunning, April 16, 2005

By 

opentuned (Saskatchewan, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martha Wainwright (Audio CD)

As much as can be made of her genetic predisposition to brilliance, I only know of her parents' work through a couple of songs each. So, all I can base this review on is the absolute brilliance of the album. This is a recording that will stop you dead in your tracks, from beauty to rage to both simultaneously, and done flawlessly. Martha's vocal range is astonishing (I haven't been jolted by a voice so much since I was a kid and heard Kate Bush for the first time) and the songs and arrangements are so tight, so moving, it really takes you to a whole other place. Totally accessible, yet highly unpredictable. And while the McGarrigle voice and Wainwright edge are there, you also can feel the weary beauty of an artist like Lisa Germano or the ravaged nobility of Marianne Faithfull in the mix as well. Just to speculate, imagine the children of immense musical genius a tragically destructive relationship with someone like Joseph Arthur might bring. It would stagger the mind. If you like music and like your music with passion and intelligence, you MUST buy this .

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Woman Without Apologies, April 24, 2005

By 

Juan Mobili (Valley Cottage, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Martha Wainwright (Audio CD)

As I write this review "[B.M.F.A]" plays on ... again. In addition to being one the best of the best songs in this album -both lyrically and musically- this potentially controversial tune can lead you to appreciate everything that's great about Martha Wainwright's full-length debut.
To begin, it shows the impressive dramatic range she can reach wit her voice, managing to be authentically vulnerable, sincerely outraged and hopeful to reach, perhaps, who the song's about -which from reading some recent reviews may be her father Loudon, whom she has dedicated this song to in concerts. Vocal talents that are also powerfully displayed in many other songs, specially in the beautiful Pop and wrenching lyrics of "Factory," the longing of "Far Away," and the honesty of "TV Show."
In no way less important to what makes this music so moving are, of course the lyrics -penned by her except for "Whither I Must Wander"- which can go from raw confessions (No idea how it feels to be on your own / In your own home / With the f***ing phone / And the mother of gloom / In your bedroom / Standing over your head / With her hand in your head). Or her wondering in "Wild Flowers" that "they are like those children / who go off to school and don't come back / and I am like their mother / waiting around about to crack," yet accepting that "these wild flowers are coming up wild."
Praise must be given too to the arrangements and production -she co-produced- which are rather fitting for what Martha has to say, knowing when to remain understated or propel her voice further.
All in all, this is a marvelous album. The work of a young woman with nothing to apologize for and the strong intention to make war or to make peace with us, depending on what she needs to say. Caressing or jolting us as it's needed for us to listen closely.
Much is being said about her predisposition for talent, given her family's musical might -whether you think of father Loudon, her mother Anna McGarrigle, or her bro Rufus. I'm convinced that the abundant greatness in her songs is hers to claim. She's more her own voice that an extension of their genes. Her talent, the pretty and painful sides of it, is her gift and, clearly her mission to share.