On the 20th anniversary of Martyn Bennett’s Bothy Culture album, the Martyn Bennett Trust has finally tracked down the little-known video produced for the opening track: the wildly eclectic, Punjabi flavoured Tongues of Kali.
The video is a playful, trippy homage to a 1990s club scene and fittingly surreal but hasn’t been seen much since perhaps the last millennium.
Tongues of Kali was the only Martyn Bennett track to receive the MTV treatment. It was filmed in early 1998 at the Arches in Glasgow and directed by none other than Scottish Director David Mackenzie. David has accomplished much since this early project. His 2016 film success, Hell or High Water was hailed as“the saviour of modern indie cinema”and as“a brilliant throwback to the glory years of the Hollywood New Wave.”
And fans wait in anticipation of his next epic film, Outlaw King, shot in Scotland over the past year, telling the story of another Scottish hero: Robert the Bruce.
The band Cuillin was formed to tour the Bothy Culture album – and glimpses of band members can be seen by the keen eyed: Kirsten Thomson (Bennett) on keyboards and Deirdre MacLullich (Morrison)... or her feet anyway. It is not known to us why Rory Pierce, the fourth member of Cuillin, is missing from the video… perhaps a tragic step dancing injury!
For those that are pondering what the actual track is all about...
Probably best quoting a wise wee man:
“There are lots of Punjabi folk songs about Kali that have loads of sex and sweary words, but this isn’t one of them. This is a party tune with a pile of twaddle over the top.”
Additional Bothy Culture Links
Album: Bothy Culture
Album: Bothy Culture 20 Years
Celtic Connections 2018: GRIT Orchestra - Bothy Culture and Beyond
Sounds of a City: Martyn Bennett - Bothy Culture