Record Review: M. Ward - Hold Time (A+)

M. Ward - Hold Time

Merge Records
2/17/2009

Sure it's been ten months since the last Tweak The Eq record review, and if for no other reason that should be enough for you to rush out and buy this record. Hold Time, M. Ward's latest effort isn't just another great indie-folk record from the Jenny Watson / Bright Eyes set. This one takes Ward's willingness to experiment with alternative beat structures, instrumentation, and production techniques and creates an experience in sound. The production is much busier than on Ward's Post War, and one is reminded of the Phil Spector wall of sound technique, but this wall is grungy, and a little distorted, which is why it seems so strange that the overall effect is so calming and happy. Zooey Deschanel returns in a couple places on this album, this time as backup, and there are a few other featured backup singers as well. Ward holds sway, however, and each song is his song. I was a little surprised at the religious themes of some of the tracks, but there was certainly nothing threatening about it. It may even help to find a wider audience. Click-through purchasing is down right now (a victim of the ten-month sabbatical) but you can find the album here.

Record Review: She and Him - Volume One (A)

Volume One

Merge Records
03/18/2008

Just when I thought I'd heard the best record I'd hear all week, I happened across M. Ward's newest project. Arising after he and collaborator Zooey Deschanel were brought together to cover a Richard and Linda Thompson tune for the movie The Go-Getter, She and Him - Volume One is an instant classic. It combines Ward's haunting arrangements with the smooth, beautiful voice of Zooey Deschanel. On first listen I began to wonder if I wasn't listening to Jenny Lewis. Famous as an actress, Deschanel carries the vocal weight here, and reportedly wrote most of the lyrics. Matt occasionally gets a few words in, but its his musicianship that pulls it together. If you like Jenny Lewis mostly for her voice, or for that matter if you like Patsy Cline at all, you should buy this album right now. If you're just dying to hear M. Ward craft and sing another lyrical masterpiece, you'll have to wait a bit longer, but to give an update, his backup lyrics on "You Really Got a Hold on Me" are perfect.

Record Review: Billy Joe Shaver - Everybody's Brother (B)

Billy Joe Shaver’s Everybody’s Brother (September 2007) can be described as the affirmation of faith by an aging and beaten-up honkeytonker. That classic honkeytonk twang is still the centerpiece of his vocal repertoire. Shaver’s ode to Jesus, this album features duets with many major stars including John Anderson, Marty Stuart, Tanya Tucker, and even Johnny Cash. The first duet with John Anderson, “Get Thee Behind Me Satan,” enjoys frequent play on GAC’s The Edge of Country. Standouts on the album include “When I Get My Wings,” which captures the intensity of the best parts of Tramp on Your Street (August 1993), and the Tanya Tucker duet “Played the Game Too Long.” Tanya’s voice sounds as perfectly reedy as it ever has.

Unfortunately the intensity of “When I Get My Wings” is lacking in most of the other tracks. One gets the feeling that Shaver’s own music isn’t so much about catharsis as much as it is about escape. Many of the slower tracks blend into each other a little bit, not providing distinctly memorable experiences. None of the tracks are painful to listen to, however, and when played in the background comfort the soul with their warm fuzziness.

A few of the songs get a little preachy. In fact, the most interesting song musically speaking, the title track, “Everybody’s Brother,” is essentially a song of invitation for a new age. It includes the line “With blind faith you will hit the mark, and seldom will you miss.” That aspect aside, the album is still good news, in that one of America’s great songwriters is still going strong and practicing his craft.

The fine treat of the whole record is the last track, the duet with Johnny Cash, recorded in 1970, “You Just Can’t Beat Jesus Christ.” Providing the inspiration for the name of the album, and presumably the name for the title track, this song is nostalgic of the very best of the collaboration between Cash and Jennings, and serves as a reminder that those glory years probably owed a great deal to the songwriting of Shaver. This one track is worth the price of the record.