John Martyn
Angeline
Few concepts can be as daft or as unnecessary as the 12″ single, but that of the Compact Disc single, I think makes even the 12″ seem relatively sane.
That John Martyn’s Angeline should be chosen for this dubious honour, however, is a good poke in the eye for all this New Age Music nonsense which would seem to be custom built for CDs.
A delicate, dowey floatation of a love song on spindly heron legs of what sounds like a koto, make great virtue of simplicity and clarity, like Oriental calligraphy. It’s accompanied by a confident, stylish re-working of Tight Connection To Your Heart which brings out an appeal largely absent on Bob Dylan’s original.
Andy Gill
New Musical Express
1 March 1986
