Live At Leeds

Released

Well, if you want the best and worst in one place, it’s here in the full eighteen track version, which includes alternate shows and rehearsals. Martyn is hammered and his stage banter is self-indulgent, boring, and often embarrassing. It also goes on and on, more than once. That said, his musical resonance with Danny Thompson was as remarkable as the legend avers, and you hear it here better than anywhere else. Once Martyn shuts up and plays, he’s golden. John Stevens appears on some tracks, as does Paul Kosoff. The version of “Outside In” here is a riot of echoplex and bass, a real unwound kind of jam that confirms their explorations were not mere indulgences. The versions of “Spencer the Rover” and “Make No Mistake” are tight and immaculate, and when they swoop in together with Stevens for “Solid Air,” the bond is steely and warm. It gets no better than the best stuff here. The extra disc has some great versions of the swamp funk “Clutches” and Martyn’s Echoplex workout on Skip James “Devil Got My Woman,” which he called “I’d Rather Be The Devil.” Hard to ignore the cursing and self-conscious jokiness, but some of Martyn’s best work is here.

Sasha Frere-Jones