Transistor Radio

Matt Ward's luminous new CD is a faded message from a beautiful dream that begins to dissipate in our memory the moment we awake. A postcard sent from the age of innocence that reminds us of how uncorrupted we once were. Deja vu for the jaded generation living in the age of corruption, lies and Bushspeak. "Transistor Radio" is the appropriate title because it evokes the age of poplar music, when the means of listening to portable music consisted of one ear pressed against transistor radio. Long ago we could be dazzled by the beauty of song that shimmered through the static of a distant signal picked up by a transistor radio. This modern world is different and everything we do is defined by high tech digital overkill and electronic elitism. Today's commerical music is defined by the use of I-pods, headphones, and all of the attendant bells,whistles and electronic gadgetry, yet none of the music resonates with the power of those long forgotten chestnuts we heard on our transistor radios. The power of M. Ward is the his sincerity and reverence for the finely sculpted musical material and pre-digital studio techniques that many Gap generation fashionistas would regard as retrograde. Those who dismiss the charm of Ward's music, are the same folks who rely music telvision and youth targeted advertising to tell them what is hip. To his credit, M. Ward distances himself from those who buy into the megacorporate definition of "alternative" rock. Some of Ward's originals and well chosen covers (including the vintage Louis Armstrong jewel, "Sweethearts On Parade") contain a timeless quality and warm analogical fidelity of Smithsonian field recording. The rock oriented material has charming "first-take, no redos" production quality that echoes the old garage band ethic: your first take of a song will always be the most spontaneous and heartfelt take of the recording session, no matter how ragged it sounds. "Regeneration #1" has the reckless abandon of surf band gone berserk on L.S.D. "Big Boat" sounds like an outtake from a 1956 rockabilly session at Sun Records. "Paul's Song", "Radio Song" and "Here Comes the Sun Again" are the kind of winsome songs that M. Ward excels at. Ward's plaintive vocals and the sparse instrumentation are blissful. His musical command of country, blues, jazz fretwork recalls the complexity of John Fahey's self-styled "primative American guitar." The enigmatic M. Ward has been around for nearly a decade, counting his time with the trio, Rodriquez. Mainstream popularity has eluded Ward, but I doubt he entertains any illusions about the desirability of commercial success. Like many indie artists, Ward has seemed content to remain on the fringe of popular music playing to a handful of loyal fans. "Transistor Radio" may change Ward's cult hero status, whether he likes it or not. It's simply an album that is too good to escape the attention of a broader audience. If "Transistor Radio" makes a star of him, it's a good bet that M. Ward will not modify his unique talents to meet the demands of the marketplace. It's a reassuring that M. Ward may well build something like a career as a musician on his own terms. It would be a remarkable feat, in the hostile environment of today's megacorporate, Dow Jones driven pop music market, run by the Axis of Evil: the six major international music labels.

I picked up this album back in 2005 on Vinyl when I saw him play at some little club in San Diego. He was actually the one behind the fold out table selling them and I got him to sign my copy unfortunately I didn’t have a sharpie so he signed it in regular ballpoint pen and you can hardly make out that there’s a signature on it. Oh well I bought this reissue copy so I could have a back up I guess I don’t know it’s really good. I must have two copies if you’re looking for one I might,part withone of mine but not with the one that’s hard to read Pballpoint pen signature. if you’re reading this, Mr. Ward and you wanna make good on this come visit me in Hawaii and bring a sharpie you can just trace over what you wrote. I guess I could do that but my hand writing is so bad I will probably screw it up.

I read a review of M. Ward's "Transistor Radio" album in the 3/14 issue of Newsweek magazine. I was intruiged enough to hop on over to Amazon to see what more I could find out about this M. Ward, and see what my ears could hear. After getting a small taste of each track, I was compelled to purchase the album. When it arrived, I played it. And played it. And played it. I have become enchanted, entranced and mesmerized. The album title describes it best: songs deriving their essence from the station hopping of yesterday's radio. Somehow,it doesn't matter what's going on in our house, this album matches the activity. First thing in the morning, last thing at at night, driving from here to there and everywhere in between, kicking back and taking time to soak in every note, this album magically fits it all. How? I couldn't tell you. But it does. It is now several days later, and I've found myself back at Amazon, purchasing yet another copy of this album. This time for another redhotmama who enjoys true, real, musicianship with a twist of life thrown in. Be a believer. Buy the album.

This album by M.Ward is pretty solid with some standout tracks ("Hi-Fi" is my favorite, but "One Life Away", "Fuel for Fire", "Four Hours in Washington"), and some weaker ones. On the whole, Transistor Radio could have benefited from a little less attention to spacey production values and more attention to songwriting. To me, the major emphasis of the album we less the songs, and more about using a variety of Lo-Fi production values to evoke a vague, dreamy nostalgic feeling. The arrangements are by and large interesting and engaging, but often things are obscured by too much reverb, most especially M. Ward's vocals, which are laconic, breathy, and drowned in too much echo to have energy or cut through the mixes. Reverb is a taste thing, but in my opinion it distracts from the stronger songs on the album and fails to help the weaker ones. There are some songs like "I'll Be Yr Bird" and "Oh Take Me Back" that seem to rely almost entirely on Lo-Fi production values to hold the listener's interest, but fell flat. I think the energy on this album could be a bit better, and with some slightly altered production values, cut a few songs, and add in some more of M.Ward's tasteful guitar arpeggiations and some more vocal harmonies it could have been a 5 star album. I'll look forward to M.Ward's next effort, and hopefully it will be a little stronger on songs and a little weaker on reverb.

Eine CD für ruhigere und romantische Momente, mit teilweise virtuosem Gitarrenspiel, jedes Lied hörenswert und unterschiedlich. Diese Musik in eine Kategorie einzuordnen fällt mir schwer. Auf jeden Fall handelt es sich um eine melodiöse CD, die mit einer etwas schwermütigen, melancholisch wirkende Stimme von M. Ward begleitet wird. Es ist nicht meine erste CD von M. Ward. Mir scheint der Musiker ist völlig zu Unrecht relativ unbekannt. Über den Radiosender Flux FM wurde ich auf die Musik von M. Ward aufmerksam.

紛れもない最高傑作。最高のパフォーマンスを見せ付けてくれた奇跡の来日から４ヶ月、待望の新作です。目をつぶればそこは一面の麦畑。ビールとソーセージを！

Ce produit ne se trouve pas au bon endroit dans la recherche. Porte a confusion . Très déçue. Perte de temps

A fantastic album full of echoes and shadows, little secret country and midtown stories hiding in the nights or running along the highways, like Calexico met Tom Waits, Chris Isaak and Neil Young (that from the seventies or from Harvest moon) for a secret trip through obscure memories of a past, like tuning on a radio station that transmits from another era. Intimate but unreconciled, surrounded by a nightly mood and fever that makes it fascinating mysterious and yet sweet and passionate. I never heard about this guy until I watched him performing on the Letterman show many years ago. And decided to take a jump into his world.