M. Ward

[TheWarmth]

Has anyone else here checked out M. Ward? He's been getting quite a bit of acclaim here in the U.S. based on his new album, "Transistor Radio" and his last one "Transfiguration of Vincent." They're not bad, but nothing spectacular. It's fairly folky stuff with eerie production values that make the songs sound as if they were recorded in the 1920's. A friend of mine is a big fan of M. Ward, so I agreed to go see him live. Unfortunately, he played all by himself switching between guitar and piano. It was an extremely boring show. The most appealing aspects of his records for me are the full-band arrangements. Without them, the songs seemed tiresome and ridiculously dull. Anyone else have an opinion?

[Jebus Sabes]

I've got nearly all his releases, but have never seen him live. He relies a lot on overdubs / mixing to get the album sound, so perhaps that doesn't translate well in the live setting. Still, he seems a very skilled guitar player, with comparisons sometimes made to John Fahey. You can hear similarities, but Fahey had greater innovation and vision.

I prefer M Ward to other low-fi folkies like Iron&Wine and Devendra Bernhardt. Even though I've got most of Iron&Wine's releases, they do get a bit same-y after a while. At least M Ward tries different sounds and musical styles.