M. Ward

With the continual reemergence of the singer songwriter genre, the word troubadour is popping up everywhere. Portland, Oregon’s M.Ward, a troubadour himself, along with the help of yes, his troubadour friends – John Parrish, Jim James, Howe Gelb and Vic Chestnutt – pay a visit to the past on the fittingly named Transistor Radio.

Transistor Radio reawakens the spirit of the American landscape with ghostly numbers that stench of a time and place that only the radio can conjure. A time when people gathered around the dial for their source of prime time. With a raspy bluesy voice - part Tom Waits part Louis Armstrong - Ward’s vintage folk sounds so timeless on his fourth album, it can almost make you sneeze.

Beginning with an acoustic guitar cover of the Beach Boy’s “You Still Believe In Me” and ending with J.S. Bach's "The Well-Tempered Calvier," Ward runs the gamut through classics. The rest of Transistor Radio is anitque and filled with romantic jazz odes to country tunes and other familiar timeless sounds. On “Hi-Fi” Ward hushes suggestively, “I’m going to give it to you” with a smack of nerdy vigor. The Kris Kristofferson influenced “Fuel For Fire” is quaint Americana and “Four Hours In Washington” is Ward’s sleepy accolade to insomnia. Later the surf guitar of “Regeneration” mixes with the piano rock thumper “Big Boat,” which sounds like a jukebox selection from a dusty saloon.

Although Transistor Radio may be a come-down from Ward's prior release, the full sounding Transfiguration of Vincent, M.Ward’s short and sweet mission here is heart warming. The rustic, raw and romantic vibe is perfect enough to play again and again to make up for the lost AM melodies of times past.