Martha and the Muffins‘ Mark Gane’s ‘Garden Music’ Is a Meditative Journey Through Sound, Soil, and Sonic Memory

Fri Jul 04, 2025
Mark Gane’s ‘Garden Music’

Mark Gane—co-founder of iconic Canadian band Martha and the Muffins and the mind behind international hit “Echo Beach”—has released his first solo album, Garden Music, a collection of experimental instrumental compositions inspired by plant names and imagined inner worlds. Released May 1, 2025, Garden Music is a sprawling, deeply intuitive project that took shape over decades and now arrives as an ambient, artful meditation on memory, nature, and sound.

The Toronto-based composer, visual artist, and sonic experimenter first began dreaming of Garden Music years ago, spurred by a suggestion from his partner and creative collaborator Martha Johnson. “She said I should do a solo project that combined my three great loves—music, painting, and gardening,” Gane explains. “Eventually, I started asking: If plants were people, what would their lives sound like?” That seed grew into a rich, textured album composed from over 50 years of collected studio, field, and found recordings.

Supergroup The Syncopation Rebels (Martha Johnson, Mark Gane, Chloe Kay, Alex Exists, John Orpheus) Reimagine Goldfrapp's 'Number 1'

Fri Jan 10, 2025
The Syncopation Rebels

Choosing a song to put your own signature or stamp on can be daunting. One often has to walk the line between not being a mirror image of the original but not going overboard and completely renovating the arrangement. For the highbrow pop super group known as The Syncopation Rebels, they've walked that line perfectly with a stunning cover of Goldfrapp's "Number 1." It's guaranteed to leave you putting the song in rotation if not on a loop.

Martha and the Muffins and John Orpheus As Chemical Dreams Cook Up Funky Magic on ‘Buttermilk’

Thu Nov 21 2024
Martha and the Muffins and John Orpheus

On paper, there are few team-ups less obvious than the pairing of new wave legends Martha and the Muffins with kitsch-funk revivalist John Orpheus. But they’ve hit pay dirt together before, and now they’re about to do it again. On “Buttermilk,” their second joint single in as many years, the unlikely coconspirators throw down a groove that just won’t quit—and prove the success of their ongoing part-time partnership is no fluke.

The Muffins' Martha Johnson Sets The Pace For World Parkinson's Month With 'Slow Emotion'

Thu Apr 25, 2024
Martha Johnson

They say music can be the best therapy but leave it to community-minded Canadian legend Martha Johnson to make her music a form of group therapy. Her new single, “Slow Emotion,” is a fortifying hit of emotional oxygen for those living with Parkinson’s Disease. That’s a topic relevant not just to Johnson herself—who was diagnosed with the condition nearly a quarter-century ago—but to every fellow patient she’s met or just envisioned along the way. 

Check out “Slow Emotion” on YouTube here:

Stop Hey -What’s That Sound? Martha And The Muffins Show Their Enduring “Worth” with A Bold Take On A Buffalo Springfield Classic

Thu Jan 25, 2024
Martha and the Muffins

When a band has been around for nearly half a century, you don’t necessarily expect their music to carry any particular message beyond “Yep, we’re still alive.” The legendary Martha and the Muffins are a blessed exception: Their jaw-dropping new single shows they’re less concerned with their own survival than with everybody else’s.

With their radical reworking of a certain anti-violence perennial, the venerable Toronto-based group have paid full respect to the source material while simultaneously contorting it into a bone-chilling lament that couldn’t be more pertinent to the mortal dangers of today.

Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Adds Four Ground-Breaking Songs to Music History

Fri Oct 13, 2023
Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame

INFORMER, DRINKING IN L.A., MY DEFINITION OF A BOOMBASTIC JAZZ STYLE and ECHO BEACH, redefined and reimagined music in an era of ‘no rules’

Song inductions will be honoured on November 1st in Toronto with performances during CSHF’s Legends Series, supported by the RBC Foundation through RBC Emerging Artists

The ‘80s and ‘90s ushered in a new era of music that transcended genres, introduced music experimentation and fusion, and was unapologetically rebellious. The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) is celebrating and inducting four generational and culture-defining songs co-written by Canadians, recorded by Canadians, and that have become internationally influential:

· Informer, the biggest selling reggae-rap recording in the ‘90s co-written by Darrin O’Brien aka Snow with American rapper /producer Shawn Moltke (MC Shan), Terri Moltke, and Edmond Leary

Martha and the Muffins Celebrate New Release : Marthaology: In and Outtakes

Fri Oct 15, 2021
Martha and the Muffins Celebrate New Release

Described as “one of the most innovative of their era,” iconic Canadian artists Martha and the Muffins have announced the release of their new album, Marthology: In and Outtakes set to release November 5th, 2021.

Check out the New Single "Do You Ever Wonder" here:

We caught up with Martha and Mark at their home in Ontario, Canada to talk about the release of their first album in 11 years.   I asked them both how does it feel have the name Martha and the Muffins called iconic legends and the innovative artists from the 80's punk era.

BTW This Week-Band Ladies, St. Mars, Mike Janzen, Martha and the Muffins, The Pack A.D., Ondara, Terry O’Brien

Fri Jun 05 2020
Band Ladies

This week we spotlight a location that has the unfortunate distinction of being Toronto’s oldest continuously operating food bank.

The Scott Mission 502 Spadina Ave, Toronto

Morris Zeidman, an ordained Presbyterian minister who was born in Częstochowa, Poland, and converted to Christianity from Judaism, founded The Scott Mission with his wife Anne in 1941.It was their belief that the hunger of the physical body needed to be addressed as well as the hunger of the soul.

General Inquiries 416-923-8872 ; Women and Family Food and Clothing Bank 416-923-3916 ; Donation Line 416-923-2400 info@scottmission.com

Holly Thompson, Director of Public Relations, ph:416-923-8872 ext 295.

COVID-19 -- Food bank open Mon-Fri 9 am-12 noon pick up at north end of building *takeout hot meals available Mon-Sat 10 am-12 noon, pick up at laneway window at south end of building  bag lunch available Mon-Sun 4 pm at laneway door at south end of building *Shelter Open Mon-Sun

BTW–Starring Jerry Leger, Jason Collett, A Tribe Called Red, Andria Simone, Skydiggers, Monsoon, Martha and the Muffins

Fri Dec 12 2014
Jerry Leger

After a successful summer tour from The Rockies to the Confederation Bridge supporting his latest acclaimed album Early Riser, Toronto songwriter Jerry Leger has been back on the road again with a string of dates across Ontario. The tour, which began November 7 at The Horseshoe Tavern with Doug Paisley and Jenny Whiteley, will touch down again in Toronto with a performance at The Dakota Tavern on December 12. Expect surprise guests and heartfelt mayhem. Get a taste of what to expect with the new video from Southern Souls for “One More Bad Penny”.

The Dakota gig isn’t quite the end though, as Jerry L and crew play Dec 19 at The Brownstone Cafe, Orillia, with the final wrap coming Dec 20 at The Clarkson Pub, Barrie, ON.