Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Music Review: M. Ward - Hold Time

M. Ward - Hold Time Merge Records Feb. 2009

Hold Time is music from an alternate history where Chet Atkins started taking psychedelics with Tom Waits on a farm in the middle of the desert and cutting records. These are the radio broadcasts from a parallel universe where AM radio is king and vacuum tubes are driving the information revolution. It is hand crafted, natural and deeply poetic music. "One Hundred Million Years" is Ward in classic form, riding the steam train of Americana between the easy flow of the West Coast and the stomp of the Mississippi shores. This is one more in a series of fantastic albums from M. Ward and includes an appearance from Lucinda Williams on "Oh Lonesome Me", a Don Gibson Cover that showcases his ability to update a classic tune without missing the soul of a song. The album ends with an aching and heartbroken instrumental composition of starlight and lonely highway signs stretching out into the horizon, begging you to just start it all over again.

Samples available at Merge

2 comments:

Ben Meyercord said...

M. Ward is great. He seems like one of those never let you down types.

Ben Meyercord said...
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