Sounds of a City: Martyn Bennett 'Bothy Culture'

Sounds of a City: Martyn Bennett 'Bothy Culture'

Sounds of a City is a BBC Radio 6 series exploring the links between classic albums and the cities in which they were created.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy explores the city of Edinburgh. Having already delved into Sheffield through the eyes of Human League's Travelogue album, Liverpool and The Teardrop Explodes' Kilimanjaro, and Manchester with New Order's Power, Corruption and Lies, we're now heading further north to the capital city of Scotland; a city of science and engineering, home of one of the biggest events in the cultural calendar, and a city with an incredibly varied history stretching back thousands of years... Edinburgh.


We're looking at an album that links the old with the new, the traditional with the electronic, and it's Martyn Bennett's Bothy Culture. Released in 1997, Martyn's second album takes Celtic folk, Gaelic, and traditional rhythms and poems, and blended them with the ambient electronica of the day, elements of the rave scene, and drum and bass.

Bringing the traditional to an entirely new audience and generation, his can-do attitude meant he had no boundaries with which to compose and record. He unfortunately passed away in 2005 due to cancer, and never quite became the influential artist of scenes he deserved to be.

In this documentary, we ask why Martyn is so essential to the fabric of the city, we take a look at why the Edinburgh music scene is so small and insular, and how his indirect influence led to the growth of bands such as Young Fathers, Boards of Canada, Treacherous Orchestra, and even Moby.

We talk to the likes of Radio 3's Mary Ann Kennedy on his talents and legacy, members of Shooglenifty who worked with Martyn, friend and composer Greg Lawson, and font-of-knowledge and Celtic Connections artistic director Donald Shaw.

Produced by Ashley Clivery for BBC Radio 6.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy

Colleen Murphy, alias Cosmo (born August 24, 1968) is an American radio broadcaster, club DJ, music producer, remixer, record label owner and founder of Classic Album Sundays. Originally from Massachusetts, she attended New York University where she was Program Director and a DJ at the university radio station WNYU.

She cites her introduction to and friendship with David Mancuso of The Loft as a major influence. Together they produced the compilations David Mancuso presents The Loft. She co-founded the record label Bitches Brew. She records as Wild Rumpus with former Captain Beefheart guitarist Gary Lucas. She has remixed Fat Freddy's Drop, DFA's Planningtorock, for the Remixes (Phenomenal Handclap Band album) and more under the moniker Cosmodelica.

With Ashley Beedle as DarkStarr Diskotek she has remixed Candi Staton, Beardyman, The Rapture (band) and more. In 2010 she founded Classic Album Sundays, an album listening event. She is often a spokesperson about vinyl records.

https://soundcloud.com/colleen-cosmo-murphy