When he isn’t singing duets with Zooey Deschanel or contributing to Monsters of Folk, Matthew Ward puts out some solid solo albums. For his seventh outing, his first since 2009’s Hold Time, Ward is back with some dark songs about life and a cast of friends to help him out along the way. Matter of fact, Deschanel adds some backing vocals here and there, Toby Leaman of Dr. Dog provides some bass, Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth adds percussion and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes and Monsters of Folk provides organ from time to time.
If there is one thing
Posts Tagged ‘album’
Delta Spirit, S/T, 2012
The open road is calling you and this could be your soundtrack with Matt Vasquez as your tour guide. This album marks the third from these California boys and my first foray into their catalog. With a penchant for light melodic distortion, the album feels like it was born on the road, but I’ve been listening to it at my desk for a few weeks. The band has roots in the emo movement of the early 2000’s, Noise Ratchet, and you can feel a little bit of that holding on in some of these songs.
While giving this album some
While giving this album some
Every Mother Counts, 2012
When it comes to helping a good cause, you can count me in, and when some of my favorite artists get together to help, well then I have to participate. I should tell you, Avid Reader, that you won’t find this compilation in your local record store, nope; you’ll have to venture to Starbucks. For the second year in a row, Starbucks has teamed up with Christy Turlington Burns, the face of Calvin Klein for two decades, to bring awareness about maternal mortality rates in countries that grow coffee beans. With every purchase, $8 will go toward this
Jack White, Blunderbuss, 2012
Think of a rifle from the Civil War or Revolutionary period; have you ever seen one of those rifles or handguns with a wide mouth? That is called a blunderbuss; these weapons were used by cavalrymen as they were easy to load and offered a spattering of bullets toward the enemy. If you keep that in mind we can hear how the first solo album by Jack White is a spattering of genres and ideas stretched into 13 tracks. See what I did back there? Take notes, Avid Reader; you may learn a thing or three if you
Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls, 2012
Hype can be a wonderful or terrible thing. Hype can ruin bands or send them to stratospheric heights. Sometimes you have to step back and ask if what you read is true or if it is a load of bull. For months I had been reading about this band and noticed they popped up at some notorious festivals to much acclaim. Then a single was played on the radio and something pulled me in; barring all the hype I had to give them a listen, and I’m very glad I did.
Many people believe that we all have souls but
Many people believe that we all have souls but
