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Average: 4.5 (293 ratings)
- Date Released: August 22, 2006
- Genre: Country/Folk
- Style: Indie Rock, Contemporary Folk
- Label: Merge Records
A full-band knockout from a great Northwestern troubadour.
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We Say...
Did he leave a "d" off the end of the title? Because the fifth release by Oregon's best neo-old-timey guitarist is decidedly post-Ward: a full-band progression from his sidewalk-busker sound. But not to fear, the indie troubadour has abandoned none of his soul-piercing profundity — on "Chinese Translation," a pretty folk jangler that drifts along to the distant, train-whistle oohs of guest vocalist Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Ward asks the Big Questions: "How can a man like me remain in the light?/And if life is really as short as they say, then why is the night so long?" Then he goes all fatalistic when Neko Case, guests on a cover of Daniel Johnston’s "To Go Home," singing (twice, for emphasis), "God it's great to be alive/ Takes the skin right off my hide/ To think I'll have to give it all up/ Some day."
A record that casts a warily existential eye on the future, Post-War forges links to the past: surf-guitar instrumentals ("Neptunes Net"), bare-essentials blues ("Rollercoaster") and '60s-inspired slow-dance numbers ("Afterward/Rag"). The lyrics often touch on soldiers returning from the front, and those anachronistic accents serve to underscore the idea that Johnny-comes-marching-home romanticism is, like the genres Ward explores, a vestige of a very different time. Some may call it vintage, but there's another word for it: classic. -
They Say...
Laconic California indie minstrel M. Ward's fifth offering is a thrift shop photo album filled with histories that may or may not have been, dust bowl carnival rides, and slices of sunlit Western Americana so thick that you need a broom to sweep up the bits that fall off of the knife. Ward makes records that sound like he just wandered in off the street with a few friends and hit the record button, but what would feel lazy and unfocused in less confident hands comes off like a tutorial in old-school songwriting and performance that hearkens back to the days of Hank Williams and Leadbelly if they had had access to a modern-day studio. Post-War is not only Ward's best effort yet, it's one of the best records of the year. While his distinctive half-second-delay drawl assumes its usual position as the ghostly broadcast from a more sepia-toned time, the production is far grander than on his previous outings. Opener "Poison Cup," sounding for what it's worth like a cross between the Walker Brothers' "Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" and an outtake from Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue, kicks things off with sneaky keyboard strings that fade into the real deal, reaching elegiac heights by the diminutive track's end. A catchy cover of Daniel Johnston's "To Go Home" features guest vocalist Neko Case breathing fire into the choruses with her trademark howl, the rowdy "Requiem" sounds like a Tom Waits version of Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls," and the peerless "Magic Trick," with its brilliant refrain of "She's got one magic trick/just one and that's it/she disappears," kicks off a suite of tunes that snake their way through to the album's end like a shot of Apple Jack. Like early Pavement, Ward knows how to make sloppy sound succinct, and it's that magic mix of earnestness and apathy that makes Post-War the secret bounty that it is.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Poison Cup |
2:40 |  |
| 02. | |
To Go Home |
3:51 | |
| 03. | |
Right in the Head |
4:12 | |
| 04. | |
Post-War |
4:55 | |
| 05. | |
Requiem |
2:48 | |
| 06. | |
Chinese Translation |
3:58 | |
| 07. | |
Eyes on the Prize |
2:37 | |
| 08. | |
Magic Trick |
1:42 | |
| 09. | |
Neptune's Net |
2:06 | |
| 10. | |
Rollercoaster |
2:48 | |
| 11. | |
Today's Undertaking |
2:26 | |
| 12. | |
Afterword/Rag |
3:32 | |
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Credits
- Roger Seibel - Mastering // Neko Case - Vocals // Neko Case - Vocals // Nick Luca - Engineer // Mike Mogis - Mandolin // Mike Mogis - Chimes // Mike Mogis - Cymbals // Mike Mogis - Engineer // Mike Mogis - Tympani [Timpani] // Mike Mogis - Chamberlin // Mike Mogis - Omnichord // Mike Mogis - Mixing // Skip VonKuske - Bass // Skip VonKuske - Cello // M. Ward - Guitar // M. Ward - Chimes // M. Ward - Keyboards // M. Ward - Vocals // M. Ward - Producer // Jim James - Guitar // Jim James - Vocals // Jim James - Producer // Rachel Blumberg - Drums // Rachel Blumberg - Vocals // Mike Coykendall - Bass // Mike Coykendall - Percussion // Mike Coykendall - Drums // Mike Coykendall - Harp // Mike Coykendall - Vocals // Mike Coykendall - Engineer // Mike Coykendall - Mixing // Mike Coykendall - Assistant Producer // Jordan Hudson - Percussion // Jordan Hudson - Drums // Robert Hilburn - Author // Amanda Lawrence - Violin // Amanda Lawrence - Viola // Adam Selzer - Engineer
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