DANSEPARC review in Canadian Musician (1983)

Current Records Wave 1 Recorded at: Grant Ave. Studio, Hamilton, Ont. Producer: Daniel Lanois with Mark Gone and Martha Johnson Engineer: Daniel Lanois

Martha and The Muffins, after a period of inner conflict, appear to have resolved their personnel problems and have produced their best album yet.

With Danseparc they have aligned themselves in the forefront of contem- porary popular music with bands like the Talking Heads. The result is an album of dense urban funk, jam-packed with rhythm. It is the thinking person's dance music.

Mark Gane has developed a driving, hard rhythmic guitar and Martha Johnson's vocals continue to grow in depth and shading. The addition of Jocelyne Lanois and Nick Kent, on bass and drums respectively, has provided a solid, inventive underpinning for the Muffins' sound. It culminates in, and encourages, an angular awkwardness that constantly wrestles with the basic pulse.

The lyrics explore a number of topics and moods and are often witty and effective but occasionally seem affected and contrived. The word play on "What People do For Fun" with the phrase "I am using you. Am I amusing you ?" tends to become tiresome and cute.

Essentially, the album is a thoughtful evocative piece of work. The atten- tion to detail found in the odd atonal excursion, Pygmy chants and Ron Allen's catchy sax riffs all contribute to the overall sound.