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The Tiny Bits And Pieces

by Ben Martin

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in jewel case with 8-page booklet containing a beautiful foto artwork by Christoph Haiderer

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Tiny Bits And Pieces via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      €12 EUR or more 

     

1.
The glory days of Rock'n'Roll are gone We're not supposed to have any fun and if we want to get going we need to pull the strings No big house and no cadillac Will we ever get anything back We are working statistics instead of mystics, I know I won't miss this when I'm moving on I'm working hard to just getting paid While all the others are getting laid while this sounds pathetic It's my ethics in life Whenever we talk about our jobs They're telling us to go sob we won't ever make it at least not make money we won't break the charts why not take a real job We are still on our way don't ever look around Can't ever take a detour to what we ever want Don't ever block the road to our goals anymore Don't stop us now, don't dare to try We want to win back the glory of Rock'n'Roll Ok now you say that ain't right What I am writing here just seems light Just prove me wrong and I'll carry on as you tell me I wish it all would be just a bit The way we fancied on our way to hit But in the end we'll make it I'm sure we'll break it all Just don't take away my will to make it at last
2.
When pain troubles me Comes over my body I'm in agony For days and days it's gone The very next moment it comes over me My pain stays with me as long as you're gone, you know I believe In you, my dearest of all My very last hope, I'm in agony We grow old, we grow wise There are things we despise But we sure are in love Many times we might fall Swear to god it was all We could take, then again There is no way out There is no way around The pain I once knew Took some time 'til it went away What will remain is what I know What I grow to esteem We grow old, we grow wise There are things we despise But we sure are in love Many times we might fall Swear to god it was all We could take, then again There is no way out There is no way around
3.
Matt Bianco 03:25
I love your perfect body even though you won't agree You'll tell that you think I'm mad in fact you maybe right No matter what you tell me I won't even care 'Cause that's the way I love you and I don't bother what you say I love the tiny bits and pieces that are odd I'm mad about your little imperfections To me that's the way you work for me and always did Compare it to an old LP of Matt Bianco There's ups and downs and many bumpers where I could get lost The crackles in your voice remind me of the good old days
4.
When tires collapse chaos is near you'd rather not stay inside there When gas is out don't switch the light or else you get paralized When someone aims a gun at you you'd better not call him an asshole When trains collide you are inside your chances are close to zero Almost every minute you can die Just do what you want but don't ask why When you got aches it's possible your time has come no matter how old you are When sex is intense you are inside your pump's on strike say goodbye Almost every minute you can die Just do what you want but don't ask why Almost every minute you can die Just do what you want but don't ask why When Tires Collapse (2x)
5.
Cool To You 03:38
I don’t dance, I’d rather stand in the corner I watch the teenage girls I sip my drink smiling back at you The band is playing all night through I stand there dancing with you Everyone who knows me is assured This must be love Hey, I never knew I could be cool Hey, I’m feeling better and I blame you Hey, Tonight I fuck all the rules Hey, it doesn’t matter if I’m a fool As long as I am cool to you A little chit-chat in the corner You even asked me out We didn't kiss but it had happened in our minds One night without your smile One night without the smell of your lips One night without the way you laugh One night Hey, I never knew I could be cool Hey, I’m feeling better and I blame you Hey, Tonight I fuck all the rules Hey, it doesn’t matter if I’m a fool As long as I am cool to you
6.
Listen To Me 04:41
Right now I'm on my Height now please come around Help me I'm dangerous I'm scared of my thoughts You know me better than you think Take a drink with me and ease my mind I know I can rely on you Will you just listen to me tonight Although it’s working out I'm still feeling just not right These thoughts of death are there Since I've walked two feet by You know me better than you think take a drink with me and ease my mind I know I can rely on you Will you just listen to me tonight I work on my own fears Still I am almost in tears These thoughts of death are gone Since I’ve walked right ahead You know me better than you think take a drink with me and ease my mind I know I can rely on you Thank you for listening to me tonight There's something inside of me it's telling me to move along I'm trying hard but still not sure I'm giving in since I want to grow
7.
I won't be far tonight Where our dreams collide I am with you in mind making you smile Catch all your fears before they wake you up dry all your tears tonight and cheer you up It seems like longer so don't upset I'll give you comfort you won't regret 'Cause I'm with you In all I do The day will come When we return To our life I'm sure it will turn out right 'Cause I'm with you In all I do
8.
A Year 04:36
The sun is shining on my already faded haid The silver lining on my wall reflects the light I am almost falling asleep, gently dreaming away I wake up late my head is humming like a fridge I brush my teeth I make some breakfast right away The TV's on we have some fun, like all the other days You say you have to talk to me about some things My mind is wondering, my heart starts racing off Looking somewhat guilty you tell me, you are about to leave My head starts rushing I ask when Some weeks ahead and not for long You will be back for Christman Eve you promise me I think about it and I realize it's a year You say you'd call on monday night, so I am wondering It's thursday morning and I still haven't heard your voice I am running in circles seeing you lying in some hole The other night you called, you've not even apologized You said we have to talk you've had the time to think Time has come to break up, you just want to be free My head starts rushing I ask when Some weeks ago but now you're sure You won't be back for Christman Eve as if you've promised me I think about it and I realize it's been a year
9.
Macon County 02:34
Moving in with red and blue They catch you just from falling Going out with green and white You'll see what you can get Kind of home is everywhere You'll find yourself alive Settle down and help yourself in Macon County Red and blue are wondering Why you are so concerned keep away the eee's and stuff you'll see what green will bring
10.
Shoes 04:02
No, I won't walk away now Stay with you and talk it out I know I won't be far 'til I pick up the phone and apologize I will stop when tears are falling Fight no more and bring it down Quietly we will be sitting 'Til I break the silence with a smile Since I love you, I need to Feel like I wear the right shoes When we fight I'll never be Mad at you for long Back in your arms again Dry up your tears with my sleeve Hold you so tight as if we would fight again right away
11.
Back together Come on take me Look out the window Can you see our stars It's been raining no umbrella around Look out the window can you see our sun It is warm now the heating is on again we're not cold anymore the heating is on the heating is on Under the blanket we have fun again we can't look out the window can you see our stars It is warm now the heating is on again we're not cold anymore It is warm now the heating is on again we're not cold anymore the heating is on the heating is on again
12.
In Time 03:40
I'm not lonely Never feeling sad My life's working Always go to bed in time Got a good job Always doing right Get together With my friends in time Sex is great Never getting dull I feel Like there's still More in My life I couldn't claim I don't know the way How to grow And still remain in time Down to earth While I'm moving on I feel Like there's still More in My life I think I need to calm down And give it all A little more Time Just don't lose The focus how to end up happy
13.
I Wonder Why 02:33
I grew up real save Still remember well What it was like Back with my friends in the yard We were playing games Football most of all Having laughs I recall It was all real nice Just some weeks ago Just by accident I was talking to one of the guys on the phone Cannot tell if he Recalled who I was In the end I didn't dare to reveal myself I wonder why I wonder why
14.
Days passin' by On our way home Feelin' alright with you alone here We're on a ride Looking what else is there Apart from life in inner space now We're travelling in places We want to know what else is there It can't be anything we're in now People alive more than expected, did we why don't we take a little closer look Everything's old new is what we are calling out Why don't we make a little closer step

about

This album has a mostly light and optimistic feeling to it, which I obviously wasn't aware of back in late 2005, when journalist Robert Rotifer wrote this album info based on an interview:

„Singer/Songwriter as a genre is the biggest bullshit ever“ says Ben Martin. Sounds as if a lot has happened since the release of his debut album „That State Of Mind“ in 2004. While the mp3-only album „Travelling“, that filled the intervening gap, reached even deeper into the world of acoustic guitars and delicate sounds, „The Tiny Bits And Pieces“ presents Martin as the frontman of a bona fide rock band.

Martin seems to be able to move effortlessly between writing songs in the bedroom and blowing them up to a full rock line-up, so to him this transformation might seem less radical then to most admirers of his earlier work. After all, he had played the guitar in various bands before going solo. Martin and his congenial drummer Daniel go back thirteen years. They didn't even have to shave when they first played together. Nowadays, their band is completed by bassist May Köllner as well as Georg Tran (a.k.a. Landscape Izuma) on guitar, keyboards and backing vocals.

If it's Ben Martin’s aim to „prove to people that music doesn’t necessarily have to be soft and quiet just because the singer is also the songwriter“, then „The Tiny Bits And Pieces“ serves as a convincing case in point.

„Glory Days“, Bruce Springsteen once sang, „they just pass you by / in the wink of a young girl’s eye.“ „The glory days of rock’n’roll are gone“, concludes Ben Martin twenty years later, even though the euphoric opening song of his new album, driven by energetic piano chords, would suggest rather the opposite. Thanks in no small part to the help of co-producer/engineer Lelo Brossmann, these powerful sounds were not minted in some top-end recording studio, but rather on the top floor of Daniel’s parents' house, which he shares with his 95-year-old grandmother, as well as in Ben Martin’s small Viennese flat.

Noise was a problem, not in terms of angry neighbours though, but because of a building site right next door, which put out a constant, undesirable drone that set Martin’s and Brossmann’s nerves on egde. Maybe it was Martin's anger at the sound of a jackhammer bleeding onto a vocal track that added to the previously unheard venom in his singing.

„My route to rock’n’roll has been quite untypical and – I dare say – unique“, says Martin, who actually got a diploma as a jazz guitarist from a Viennese Conservatory. „I’ve always been lagging behind, I’ve always discovered bands later than everybody else. While everyone was listening to Nirvana, Guns’n’Roses or Extreme in the early Nineties, my heroes were J.J. Cale, The Blues Brothers, Pat Metheny, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton (especially in Cream). And it went on the same way from there. I discovered Ryan Adams for myself while he had already been an old companion to many others. I found out about Billy Corgan when he was with Zwan. The list goes on forever.“

In his early childhood, Martin already got into Jazz, „but more into 70s ECM-Records than classic Swing Jazz. In this department, Gypsy-Swing Jazz was more formative for me. My CD collection is a mix of many different styles and artists, which don't go together by anybody else's standards.“ Only one piece is missing on Ben Martin’s record shelf: The very first LP by 8ts jive-popsters Matt Bianco with its many loveable inconsistencies and flaws, to which he compares his girlfriend in a catchy tune named after the band. „I’m mad about your little imperfections / Compare it to an old LP of Matt Bianco“, go the lyrics. „My Dad used to listen to the first album from Matt Bianco in our car over and over again when I was a child, which stuck in my memory. Some time ago I recalled the band and listened to it again after all these years, realizing how great it still is.“

The fact that his indie chums wouldn’t really share this notion only makes it better for Martin: „To call a song 'Badly Drawn Boy' would have been dull“, Martin argues, „I’ve always had the urge to do things that
deliberately move away from the fashionable consensus. Years ago this also used to show in the clothes I was wearing – you should have seen me in my younger days – and now it crops up in those kind of small details.“

„The Tiny Bits And Pieces“ therefore isn’t the soundtrack to the pursuit of the newest hottest shit, but a singing songwriter’s / songwriting singer’s intelligent rock album. The joyful enthusiasm of uptempo songs like „Let It All Begin“, „Cool To You“ or „The Heating Is On Again“ is highly infective, but the album also has its emotionally loaded moments, such as the beautifully arranged harmonies in „A Year“, the slide guitar and the backing vocals with a hint of Emmylou Harris in „I Am With You“ (hard to believe that Martin has never been to the US), or the two moving songs that close the album:

„In Time“ is the story of man who has all he wants but can't find satisfaction, it's „this ‚there got to be more’-feeling“, as Martin puts it. And then „I Wonder Why“, a true anecdote about an unexpected encounter by telephone with an old play-friend from his childhood: „I had been working at a phone hotline for a while when one day this guy called. I knew it was him right away. I was too insecure about him remembering me and wasn't sure if this was the right time and place to chat about the old times. After all, we'd only played football together. Thinking about it now, it was the right decision not to reveal myself. But at the time it bothered me.“

And so by the end of the album, the defiant clarion call of the opening track "The Glory Days of Rock'n'Roll" takes on a whole new, deeper, different kind of relevance. „We won’t ever make it / At least not make money / We won’t break the charts / Why not take a real job?“ For Ben Martin, there's just one possible answer: „We want to win back the glory of rock’n’roll“. Too right we do.

Robert Rotifer, Canterbury, 27.1.2006

credits

released February 17, 2006

Ben Martin - Vocals, Guitars, Lap Steel Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Glockenspiel, Bass, 2-Bar Cymbal on "I Am With You"
Georg Tran - Guitars on "Shoes" and "Cool To You", Backing Vocals on "The Heating Is On Again" And "Macon County"
Markus Köllner - Bass on "Listen To Me", "Shoes", "When Tires Collapse" and "The Heating Is On Again"
Daniel Letschka - All drums and percussions
Barbara Gruber - Backing Vocals on "I Am With You", "Macon County" and "Matt Bianco"

All songs written and produced by Ben Martin
Co-produced by Lelo Brossmann
Recorded by Ben Martin, Lelo Brossmann and Daniel Letschka
Mixed by Ben Martin, assisted by Lelo Brossmann
Mastered by Martin Scheer

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Ben Martin Sankt Pölten, Austria

I'm here to write, perform and spread music that has its roots in pop with influences from soul, jazz and folk rock. Ever since I discovered the guitar as a means to express my feelings in 1985, I'm constantly refining and clearing the channel through which I receive, digest and send out music. I recorded "The Endless Stream Of Everything" to share my love and songs with you. ... more

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