Martin Sexton Albums (8)
What The Critics Say
Solo is the second live album in eight years from singer/songwriter Martin Sexton, and in keeping with Sexton's "less is more" performing style (and as the title would suggest), 15 of the 17 tunes here feature just his voice and guitar. Of course, Sexton has been performing as a solo act (or with just a drummer) long enough that he's become very comfortable as a one-man band, and Solo manages to sound rich and intimate at the same time. Using scatting or whistling to fill up the spaces his guitar leaves empty and mimicking instrumental solos with his voice, Sexton's solo performances lack the hollow sound of some acts when they take the stage with just an acoustic guitar for company, and he can generate a potent, funky rhythm with his six-string work -- "Happy" is that rare unplugged solo track you could dance to if you were so inclined. But Solo's best moments also speak of the direct connection between one musician and his audience, and these recordings (culled from tapes of six different shows) preserve not just the sound but the ineffable feel of the man on-stage. Sexton is a savvy showman on Solo, pulling out some unexpected covers (tackling Prince, the Beatles, and Ray Charles among others) along with a stack of his better original compositions, and just as he knows how to work the crowd on-stage, Solo gives his loyal fans a top-notch re-creation of his solo concerts they can relive in their living room. As a bonus, the album also includes two extra tracks with a full band, and a bonus DVD with Sexton playing a 50-minute solo set at a festival in Colorado; this is bound to delight Sexton loyalists and might even convert a few doubters. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
You never know just which Martin Sexton you're going to get from one track to the next on Seeds, his first studio album of new material since 2000s Wonder Bar. In a sense that's always been true of this chameleo-like singer/songwriter, but this time around the patchwork quilt of styles and sounds is even more deliberately premeditated. Citing the Beatles' interlocking song suites of Abbey Road and the impressive array of cartoon voices masterfully invented by the late Mel Blanc as his dual, if disparate, inspirations, Sexton worked hard to lay out a landscape of surprising shifts in temperament and environment for these songs. And then he worked doubly hard on the fine-tuned, last-minute touches, tossing in found sounds and a bit of this and a lot of that to dust each track with a signature. But none of that in-studio fancifulness would be worth much of anything if the songs were no good and, for the most part, they are fairly fetching. That's not immediately apparent, however: "Happy," which opens the album with tossed-off lines like "the first day of summer vacation/apple pie and relaxation," is a bit more simplistic and obvious than one has come to expect from Sexton (although the "choir," all of whose voices belong to Sexton, is pretty cool). And "Thought I Knew Ya," with its economical, acoustic-based setting and Dave Matthews-ish vocal, is hardly memorable. But by "Wild Angels," the bluesy third track, Sexton's particular gift kicks in. Establishing that "I sing because I must" and clarifying that "We are born with all this music in our hearts," Sexton's words are transparent and not exactly profound, but his honesty and forthrightness bring the song home nonetheless. Seeds' willy-nilly-ness truly grabs hold midway though, when consecutive tracks volley from homey country blues to reflective gospel and from crisply recorded, late-Beatlesque pop to good-old-fashioned sleepy, low-key country. "We're goin' where the grass is green and the people always smile," Sexton sings in "Goin' to the Country," and in "Marry Me" he keeps irony at bay to request the hand of his loved one. In other hands those simple sentiments might cause diabetes, but Sexton's clearly having a blast, tying the loose ends together while achieving his goal of creating distinctive, separate entities with each new tune. There's a highly confessional, plainspoken quality to these compositions that lends an endearing feel to the music: in "Failure," the singer admits to having been one at times, but thanks the deity for the opportunity as it all turned out all right in the end: "making the dreams that chose me come true." And in "There Go I," accompanied only by acoustic guitar and bass, Sexton, his voice particularly flexible and inspired, proclaims, "Thank you for my voice, I let it sing/Gonna raise it up, let it ring," just before slipping into a falsetto that's more false than etto. A cover of Billy Preston's "Will It Go Round in Circles" feels lost here, other than as an acknowledgement of Sexton's unquestionable debt to classic-era soul-pop. But like everything else on Seeds, he makes it work. It's the final track, though, "Keep It Simple," that's the album's real hoot: think Dr. John rapping about anything and everything that comes to mind, with a little Tuvan throat singing tossed in for laughs. "Gotta have some fun" are the last words Sexton plants on Seeds, having just proven irredeemably that he surely knows how to do that. ~ Jeff Tamarkin, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The liner notes say this collection of Christmas songs was "unproduced by Martin Sexton and Crit Harmon," and that line goes a long way toward explaining its charm. While Martin Sexton has a well-earned reputation as a performer with energy and passion to spare, Camp Holiday is a loose and relaxed acoustic session that sounds like a friendly guitar pull taking place in your living room, with a few mugs of well-spiked egg nog within easy reach and even a few relatives on hand chiming in with backing vocals (most notably Sexton's dad, who pops up on two tracks). While the bluesy force of Sexton's voice is on full display here, especially on "O Christmas Tree" and "Blue Christmas," he makes a point of not overwhelming his material (all covers except for one new number, the sly and funky "Welcome to the Camp"), and there's a homey warmth and good humor to this album that speaks of the relaxed familiarity of a good Christmas get-together. Since this is the first release from Martin Sexton in three years, some fans may have had higher hopes for Camp Holiday than just a casual collection of yuletide favorites, but while this is a very low-key album, it's also the sort of Christmas album that is likely to appeal to even the cynical -- it's short on showy piety and sentimentality and long on simple good vibes, and will still be in rotation around your house long after Kenny G. and Mannheim Steamroller have worn out their welcome. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Singer/songwriter Martin Sexton blends passion similar to Bruce Springsteen with the raucous excitement of Jeff Buckley and the abrasive wordplay of Jackson Browne and Living Colour's Corey Glover. On his sophomore effort, 2000's Wonder Bar, the Boston-bred falsetto cues up his thick, gruff vocals for a soul-slicker that is quite genuine. Again, Sexton plays with genre-specific hums of roots rock, folk, country, blues, and R&B, and the initial sound on Wonder Bar is solid. The 11-track song list soars with humorous emotions; songs such as "Hallelujah" and "Things You Do to Me" showcase such free-spirited rock & roll. Sexton, however, is a love sucker. Like his crooning counterparts (Ryan Adams, David Gray), Sexton plays into the heart of things, reaching for the deepest mystery and sweetest piece. Songs such as "Elephant's Memory" and "She Cries and Sings" reveal his once broken heart and the mending process. Part of Sexton's appeal is his natural blending of moods and Wonder Bar shines throughout many shades of feeling. It's unpretentious and the album's namesake indicates Sexton's appreciation for the simple things; most of the record's songs were written in a pizza parlor of the same name in Worcester, MA. It's as basic as that, for Sexton is one earnest individual and Wonder Bar illustrates his playful use of traditional sides of American music. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Martin Sexton's first live CD is appropriately titled Live Wide Open, but it might just as well be called "Sexton Unbound." Though the singer/songwriter gives dynamic performances on all of his albums, this freewheeling, powerhouse two-disc live set makes the studio records seem straightjacketed by comparison. Sexton is playful, rambunctious, and endlessly creative on every minute of this album. Most of these songs have, of course, appeared on his studio efforts (all four of which are well represented here), but there isn't a track on Live Wide Open that doesn't seem substantially different from prior versions. The folky "Gypsy Woman" becomes a 16-minute Middle Eastern-flavored funk-rock jam. "Hallelujah," a snappy '70s soul-pop tune from Wonder Bar, is played here with such gravity and sincerity that it almost sounds more like Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" than Martin Sexton's. "Black Sheep" begins as a soft, torchlit ballad before winding into a Sunday-go-to-meetin' gospel rendition of "This Little Light of Mine." With the exception of a swaggering blues cover of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man" that features Nils Lofgren on guitar, Sexton does all of his genre-hopping with only drummer, Joe Bonadio, to back him up. Instead, he slides a thumb up and down his guitar's low E string to create a surprisingly convincing bass sound and wails into a distorted microphone to simulate screaming electric guitar solos. It is a remarkable tour de force performance that plays to all of Sexton's strengths -- his buoyant energy, expansive vocals, and eclectic musicianship -- while rendering his weaknesses -- the relative superficiality of some of his songwriting -- virtually irrelevant. ~ Evan Cater, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Martin Sexton's aptly titled major-label debut finds the ostentatiously talented singer on a spirited, cross-country tour of nearly every genre the nation has ever produced. Folk, roots rock, grunge, country, soul, R&B, blues, and jazz -- Sexton pulls it all off with a voice that exhibits all the rangy flexibility of a ballet dancer. The American is a little more consistent than its indie label predecessor, Black Sheep, although it comes dangerously close to ruining the best song from the first record by re-imagining "Glory Bound" as a fiery rock anthem. In contrast, "Candy" is actually improved by the acid grunge treatment it gets here, acquiring a gritty bite that it lacked on Black Sheep. He also revisits two songs from the demo recording In the Journey ("Way I Am," "Love Keep Us Together"). But there's plenty of sharp new material here as well, such as the jazzy "Diggin' Me" and the country & western-flavored title track. Throughout all the genre hopping, Sexton's indefatigable vocal cords provide a constant. "My Maria" once again demonstrates the singer's preternatural ability to create astonishing simulations of musical instruments -- wailing electric guitar solo winds seemlessly into a wailing Sexton falsetto, leaving the listener to puzzle over what was live and what was Memorex. These are the kind of infectiously exuberant moments that populate Sexton's recordings, capturing an American virtuoso in love with American music. ~ Evan Cater, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Martin Sexton's acoustic singer/songwriter routine is just one of many flavors here; along with Motown-style R&B, sweeping pop ballads, gypsy fiddling, blues, and jazz, there's even a little rapping. The genre jumping works surprisingly well. Producer Crit Harmon sequences the switches with sensitivity and class, and gives the set a consistent sound -- warm, spontaneous, grounded in acoustics, deeply soulful. Vocally, Sexton handles the stylistic gymnastics with extravagant ease. He'll belt out a tune with all the velvet bombast of Wonder, retreat to a Billie Holiday warble, ascend to an Aaron Neville falsetto, then swagger his way home like Ray Charles or Johnny Popper. There is, however, a cost for his expanded palette: originality. Such soulful singing is rarely set against a sparse folk background (which is often associated with off-key eccentrics like Bob Dylan and Neil Young). As his band imitates the soul masters who influenced his vocals, his act seems less fresh, and stands against somewhat stiffer vocal competition. Sexton has told interviewers that folk music tends to speak only to his head ("like a thick novel"), while simpler pop music hits him in the gut. His songwriting seems to reflect that he edges away from the urban poetry of his Bostonian peers but toward plain old pop, and it's not bad -- his lyrics previously seemed a little overreaching -- but it does make some of the songs on Black Sheep a little less interesting than the ones on his 1991 demo tape, In the Journey. All of the diversity, though, does make the solo acoustic moments all the more gratifying, spotlighting not only Sexton's sensational singing but also his warm, bass-heavy, rhythmically slick acoustic guitar playing. ~ Darryl Cater, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Martin Sexton recorded In the Journey in a friend's attic in 1990, while he was making his living busking on the streets of Boston. He sold cassette copies out of his suitcase in remarkable volumes for a demo tape (half-a-decade later the album was finally released on CD, distributed in part by Sexton's new label, Eastern Front). The cassette's success should be no surprise to anyone who has heard him sing. The chief purpose of a demo tape is to show off the artist's talent, and Sexton enthusiastically embraces any opportunity to show off. Splitting the nine songs evenly between Bostonian contemporary folk and mostly acoustic blues and jazz, Sexton displays a vocal elasticity which would be amazing even if he weren't only 23-years-old. On "Things to Come," he gives his rangy Stevie Wonder baritone a splash of reggae spice. On the title track (a freshly produced Toad the Wet Sprocket-like folk-pop tune) he starts off in a restrained impersonation of mumbly '90s rockers, then belts out the chorus with R&B bravado. On "Hard Times," he interrupts his soulful blues performance to do a dead-on impersonation of a wah-wah trumpet. On "13 Step Reprise" he becomes the whole band, imitating not only a Motown background chorus but also a full brass section. He even does character voices, playing a froggy-voiced old man on the well-written folk narrative "The Way I Am." Sexton seems to be able to make his voice do anything he pleases without effort. The album is also very well produced by Sexton, despite the slightly schizophrenic division between the folk and the jazz. He mixes musical elements with creative assurance, incorporating mandolins, guitars, flutes, accordions, a variety of shuffling rhythms, and a plethora of vocal tracks. ~ Darryl Cater, All Music Guide
