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BIOGRAPHY (The Lone Gunman biography, below) It was during rare moments of cool sunlight that Jeff Martin (IDAHO) was able to create his last release 'The Lone Gunman" (Talitres, 2005) amidst a trial by fire initiation into the corporate world of TV scoring. But now, with a writers' strike shutting down the industry, he is free to pursue his true love. Half way into the completion of the next release, he sees it fit to re-release the now out of print The Forbidden ep /Alas '97/'98 on one CD. These records represented an unexpected turn from Idaho's beautifully bombastic rocker "3 sheets to the wind" '96, paired down from a full size band to a duo. These 2 long out of print cd's represent a study in economy and subtlety that still sound fresh and new today. The last song "the sun is all there is" gives the listener a hint of what to follow a few months later at the millennium change with " Hearts of Palm" which was voted one of the top five releases of the year by French paper "Libération" along with Radiohead and Johnny Cash. Idaho has out-lasted practically all of its peers and has been slowly and steadily achieving no less than a cult following. With these 2 CDs Martin achieves a timeless austere beauty that overturns convention in its own unique way. He has enlisted his long time engineer Bill Sanke (bass) and on and off Idaho drummer Bryan Kertenian to hit the road again after a long hiatus to bring Idaho's plangent soliloquies down to earth for a visit. The Extra disc includes some cues Jeff wrote for the score for the film "How to make the cruelest month" in 1997 between recording 'The Forbidden e.p.' and "Alas". One of the stars of the film was John Voscamp from the band Peglegasus. While Jeff was waiting for the final cut of the movie to be ready to score and John was not needed on the set they recorded the songs also offered here….a stark contrast to Idaho's universe but another side to Jeff Martin that we rarely ever see. "Like a sunrise in the desert, Idaho's music exists in its own cinematic, if unnerving, universe" CMJ
>> THE LONE GUNMAN Started in 1992 in Los Angeles as a duo, through the mid nineties as a full band and then finally as a solo artist, the band IDAHO has become synonymous with Jeff Martin. He has been the sole thread through all of the incarnations. Known mostly for four-string guitars, low tempos, spectral feedback and production nuance, IDAHO has never bowed to the pressures of being commercial. For his trouble, IDAHO has remained the eternal underground band. By luck the band has attracted a devoted cult-like following. Idaho is like the secret club of indie music, and for this record you'll need the code words…. About: The Lone Gunman: Jeff Martin of IDAHO has never been known to be a political animal. No, on the contrary, he's a recluse. He has practically made a career out of writing hyper personal songs of an inner life. Absent for now are the four-string guitars, they have been traded in for a Wurlitzer, an old Prophet 5 and a collection of pianos. While the way he writes may not have changed, his personal landscape is shifting along with the worlds. Rigged elections, "Peak oil", Nine Eleven, and wars on resource rich nations - it's a lot to think about for one guy just trying to make a record in his living room. Martin emerges from behind this cinema screen of paranoia and distrust to put out a record filled with conspiratorial allusions, though, with a wink and a smile, and a polka. Part songs, part soundtrack, Martin travels deeper into his film score sensibilities. Occasionally "ambient rock", it is mostly on these instrumental tracks that he finds inspiration from ideas surrounding "peak oil", surveillance programs or secret military installations, but in an elegantly cartoonish way. At times Jeff displays a playful early Eno-like absurdity such as When Sunday Comes or You Flew and at other times is just happy to be in the moment. But it's a life set against a background of darker flavors on other tracks like Live today again and The Mystery. It is through this mixture of lighter moments and drifting shadows where we find his silver-lining filled peyote dream pop. With The Lone Gunman, Martin shows his unique talent for a timeless somber beauty. The Lone Gunman is Idaho's 10th full-length release. Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound NYC
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