M. Ward's "Post-War"

Post-War
M. Ward
Released August 22nd, 2006 (Merge)

At the joint cottaging address of David Clarke, the binary Track Three entity had a wonderful opportunity laid at his feet on a summer's eve. The cigarette smoke illumined by a lunar blue, by a porchlight yellow. Weird records half of us hadn't heard of had been on rotation all day, though we couldn't have known the breakwater hadn't yet held forth. We had come across this advance copy of a Merge Records release - POST-WAR, M. Ward 2006. The fact that it was otherwise anonymous was enough to titillate. By the time the album's title track had made its appearance we had been completely and totally disarmed by the breadth, and (almost as important) the brevity.

Christ, what do want me to say? Fuckin' Matt Ward. That's about all I can manage. Since his acclaimed self-release Duet For Guitars #2, Ward has put out quality music each year following. Honestly, this guy is in bed with EVERYONE; from Beth Orton and Neko Case to Conor Oberst and Jim James - you know, just a few names. He's been with both Matador and Merge, currently. It's not surprising of a man so steeped in indie-country and next-wave folk types to have an authorial signature so reliable and so easily identifiable.

Ward’s latest is his shortest and his tightest. It's a succinct walk-through of memories that refuse to be thrown out; the old wooden chest of sepia photographs someone's great-grandkid found one day. His voice hovers somewhere in between the ghost of a long-lost FM radio crooner and starry-eyed nostalgia for the shared loneliness of bygone, dusty-lane Americana. This guy has some of the most assured stuff in this simple genre that some will say is pointless to write in anymore.

Within twenty minutes the album is past the side-two mark, but Ward has already ranged over such diverse sounds, from a Daniel Johnston cover musing on love and death, to an electrified country-rock number. This is to say nothing of the first song, 'Poison Cup', which marks M.Ward's premiere for vocals on an album opener. This is total Ward, a direct line to the acoustically-driven pathos for simpler times right at the outset

Not as though he tries to be some relentless innovator - his albums generally sound like one another. This is in no way a detriment to his discography, however, as his albums only get more concise and a little more polished production-wise with each successive release. There is an almost orchestral air added to the basic balladry purveyed on Ward's albums - the string-and-timpani sound on 'Poison Cup', the ocean-wide rockout on 'Neptune's Net', the quiet indifference of the title track - M. Ward evokes a wandering, broke-heart wisdom that all the king's horses and men are rushing around trying to bullshit and bury. Do yourself a favor and listen.

TRACK PICKS:
'Requiem', 'Afterward/Rag' -S.M.
'Post-War', 'Eyes on the Prize' -S.V.
IDEAL LISTENING SETTING:
Fuckin' whatever, it's Matt Ward.
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT:
Devendra Banhart, Joseph Arthur, Wilco, John Fahey

Do Make Say Think's "You, You're a History in Rust"

You, You're a History in Rust
Do Make Say Think
Released February 12th, 2007 (Constellation)

It must be something else being a space rocker. Although your record cover is more likely to make it onto the cover of Rolling Stone than your face, you can sleep assured knowing that flocks of people—from punks to hippies—will come from every corner of the city to see your particular mix of sweeping instrumentals and melodic ambiance. They will absorb with a sacred appreciation scarcely seen in today’s independent music scene, standing mouth agape with eyes closed. They’ll get frustrated with your sparsely vague liner-notes and maybe even curse you, but will re-read them over and over with as much concentration as a Buddhist monk. They will treat you as though you are as wondrous as an alien.

Toronto’s acclaimed Do Make Say Think were probably coined ‘space rock’ after the first show they played. Maybe it was after the first time a friend of the band smoked a bowl and looked up at the sky while listening to ‘Goodbye Enemy Airship’. Or maybe it was when they got signed to Constellation Records. Either way, four years after their tremendous Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn, the Do Makes have returned from above with the eagerly-anticipated You, You’re a History in Rust, their most human record to date.

Although still at their textbook best, History is similar to Hymn in that the group is reaching out and attempting to be more diverse from song to song. The booming opener 'Bound to Be That Way' is more effective as the first chapter because it is complimented by the hesitant and sub-dued 'A With Living', a collaboration of sorts featuring the weary chants of Akron/Family. Although hardcore fans may be thrown askew by the vocals, they won't have long to lament before 'The Universe!', a balls-out rocker so fierce that it really does deserve the exclamation mark.

Whereas & Yet & Yet was hypnotic and compelling in a safe way, the variation in sound a mere three tracks into History in Rust shows the band focusing less on keeping the drone intact and more on changing it up. The kind-of title-track accentuates this point by initially catering to an urge for ambient feedback, only to laugh about it (literally) and shift to Ohad Benchetrit's back-yard plucking. The remainder of the album continues in this state of flux: the ironically-titled 'You, You're Awesome' grows from being a lonely electric guitar spitting out chords into a horn and slide-guitar drenched declaration of utter devotion, while 'Executioner Blues' wouldn't have been out-of-place alongside 'Fredericia' or 'Ontario Plates', as it just about does everything Do Make can do. The epilogue 'In Mind', with it's indecipherable lyrics and noisy climax is somewhat reminiscent of that other band that Charles Spearin and Benchetrit are 5% of, but hardly in a bad way. Hell I'm so done made said thought at this point it's easy to forget about everything else. What a terrific record.

TRACK PICKS:
'A With Living', 'You, You're Awesome' -S.M.
'The Universe', 'Executioner Blues' -S.V.
IDEAL LISTENING SETTING:
Wherever you are when the sun is setting.
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT:
Tortoise, Explosions in the Sky, Broken Social Scene