Digging For Covers: M. Ward

M. Ward can make any song his own. He's proven that with an eclectic mix of covers that include straight ahead rockers like Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Green River," reinterpreting the dance funk of David Bowie's "Let's Dance" and wandering inside the otherworldly minds of Joanna Newsom and Daniel Johnston. Ward's prowess as a guitarist and arranger along with his darkly emotive and distinctive vocals have a way of translating any song into an incredibly intimate and hushed classic. Here are a couple old favorites that reintroduced themselves to me this morning. (Photo: Steve Gullick)

M. Ward - "Let My Love Open The Door" (Pete Townshend)
M. Ward Feat. Beth Orton- "Buckets of Rain" (Bob Dylan)
M. Ward - "Pale Blue Eyes" (The Velvet Underground)

M. Ward - "Bye Bye Love" (Everly Brothers)

Joanna

I'm in the process of writing an article on Joanna Newsom, so I though I'd post two great covers of her music by M. Ward and the Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold. Enjoy.

M. Ward - "Sadie" (Joanna Newsom cover)
Robin Pecknold - "On A Good Day" (Joanna Newsom cover)

She & Him - "Fools Rush In"

M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel of She & Him recently recorded a fun cover of the Johnny Mercer and Rube Bloom classic "Fools Rush In." The song is part of the Levi's Pioneer Session series that also features cover songs by The Shins, The Dirty Projectors and The Swell Season. You can grab the rest of the songs here.

She & Him - "Fools Rush In"

Digging For Covers: All M. Ward

M. Ward - "Let My Love Open The Door" (Pete Townshend)
M. Ward Ft. Beth Orton- "Buckets of Rain" (Bob Dylan)
M. Ward - "Pale Blue Eyes" (The Velvet Underground)

M. Ward - "Bye Bye Love" (Everly Brothers)

M. Ward - "Let's Dance" (David Bowie)

She & Him - "Thieves"

Here's another new one from She & Him titled "Thieves" (via Stereogum). M. Ward hasn't had much vocal time yet in either of the duo's records, but he lends a few notes to the chorus here. Also be sure to check out the live version, recorded earlier this month via BBC 6.

She & Him - "Thieves" (from Vol. 2)

She & Him - "Thieves" (Live from BBC 6)

Digging For Covers: All Things She & Him

She & Him - "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" (Skeeter Davis cover)

She & Him - "I Put A Spell On You" (Screamin' Jay Hawkins cover)

She & Him - "Bring It On Home To Me" (Sam Cooke cover)
She & Him - "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" (Smiths cover)

She & Him- "You Really Got A Hold On Me" (Miracles cover)
She & Him - "Magic Trick" (M. Ward cover)

New She & Him: "In The Sun"

M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel are picking up where they left off after 2008's Volume One with the follow-up Volume Two set for release on March 23rd via Merge. The first of the 13 tracks to reach the interweb is "In The Sun," which features a chorus of backing vocals from Omaha band Tilly and The Wall and a nice crescendoing guitar solo from Ward that starts at the 2:10 mark then proceeds to orbit into space. Over at Merge you can pre-order an "In The Sun" 7-inch with a B-side cover of the Phil Spector and Ronettes classic "I Can Hear Music."

She & Him - "In The Sun" (from Volume Two)

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Digging For Covers: "Pale Blue Eyes"

Recorded for the Velvet Underground's 1969 eponymous third record, "Pale Blue Eyes" is a near six-minute drifting classic Lou Reed penned after his college sweetheart, Shelly Albin. The song's been covered numerous times by everyone from Patti Smith to the Counting Crows, but the best versions add something new. In M. Ward's live cover, he adds a surprising high note to the chorus. In R.E.M.'s 1984 "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" b-side, Michael Stipe polishes off a country twang for his delivery. Alejandro Escovedo keeps his cover basic with just an acoustic guitar, but it nicely emphasizes Reed's potent vocals.

M. Ward - "Pale Blue Eyes"
R.E.M. - "Pale Blue Eyes"
Alejandro Escovedo - "Pale Blue Eyes"

10 Most Underappreciated Songs of the Decade

1.) Josh Ritter - "Thin Blue Flame" (from The Animal Years)

Nearly 10 minutes in length, Ritter's masterpiece is a "Stairway to Heaven"-caliber achievement with Jimmy Page's guitar licks exchanged for 700-plus words of poetry. Traversing a war-torn world and a host of Shakespearean, Biblical, and science-oriented images, Ritter finds solace in a ray of hope: "So I stopped looking for royal cities in the air / Only a full house gonna have a prayer."

2.) The Walkmen - "Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me is Gone" (from Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone)

With Hamiltoin Leithauser's Thom Yorke-like howls and the thick reverberations of pounding drums, organ and guitars, the Walkmen lay their claim on the world of popular music with their first post-Jonathan Fire*Eater album: mature, esoteric, and unpredictable.

3.) M. Ward - "Vincent O'Brien" (from Transfiguration Of Vincent)

It's hard to choose from M. Ward's catalogue: there's not one false step. However, this slow rollicking build-up of muted guitars, drums, and a riffing piano is one of the artist's most immediately convincing, due largely to its poetic simplicity: "He only sings when he's sad / And he's sad all the time / So he sings the whole night through / Yeah, he sings in the daytime too."

4.) Marah - "Round Eye Blues" (from Kids in Philly)

A pre-9/11 war song that escapes for moments into the imagery of a hard working James Brown and Little Richard and the rhythm of "Proud Mary" and "Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay." The Bielanko brothers have never sounded so soulful and harnessed their love of Springsteen so sincerely.

5.) Peter & The Wolf - "Safe Travels" (from Lightness)
Set by a chorus of sighing voices and the light-hearted up-stroke of an acoustic guitar, the song's tone is an otherworldly one—simultaneously eery and soothing. With the addition of Red Hunter's calm near-spoken word voice, it's also impossible to forget.

6.) Exploding Hearts - "Sleeping Aides and Razorblades" (from Guitar Romantic)
Power-pop makes its triumphant and convincing return with the debut from this tragically short-lived Portland quartet. Here, the band delivers one of the all-time great break-up songs: "Well, I felt so bad when I heard that song / You know it's been such a long long time / It's a little offbeat and it ain't in tune / You know, it's just like this heart of mine."

7.) Tangiers - "I Wanna Go Out" (from Never Bring You Pleasure)

From the furiously fast thumping of drums to the tightly delivered power chords and slurred vocals, everything about this Tangiers song screams "release!" Whether you're carving down a wave or a concrete mountain, speeding down the coast or hurriedly throwing back a few, this is the song you'll want playing.

8.) El Ten Eleven - "My Only Swerving" (from El Ten Eleven)

For an entirely instrumental duo, Los Angeles's El Ten Eleven is remarkably expressive. Never more so than this cinematic blend of tremolo-infused riffs, popping double-bass notes, synthesized arpeggios, and orchestrated crash of cymbals.

9.) The Fruit Bats - "When You Love Somebody" (from Mouthfuls)

With the constant thud of a bass drum and smile-inducing hand claps (think The Beatles' "Two of Us"), this organ-built 60s-tinged pop song is treachorously addictive and often prone to repeated listening. If there's one reason to start listening to the Fruits Bats, it's this.

10.) Martha Wainwright - "Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole" (from Martha Wainwright)
This song may be directed towards Wainwright's neglectful father—folk singer Loudon Wainwright III— but this passionate stranglehold has the strength to kick more than one ass. And ass-kicking has never sounded so righteous and brutally poetic: "I will not pretend / I will not put on a smile / I will not say I'm all right for you / When all I wanted was to be good / To do everything in truth."

To Go Home: Portland

I'm taking a hiatus from the blog for the rest of the week while I drive across country, from Washington, DC to Portland, Oregon—my new home. I thought I'd leave you with a track from my favorite Portland artist, M. Ward, who I'm seeing play with his fellow Monsters of Folk (Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, and Mike Mogis) at Portland's Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall this October. Wish me luck!

M. Ward - "To Go Home" (Daniel Johnston cover from Post-War)

First Monsters of Folk track: "Say Please"

The Monsters of Folk—the all-star, Traveling Wilbury's-style affair featuring Jim Jams, M. Ward, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis I reported on last month—shuffle along on the spirited verse-trading rocker "Say Please," the first track from their self-titled debut due out September 22nd. My only question is, who decides who gets to do the soloing? I'm hoping James and Ward duel it out on a track: giant anthemic rock riffs against John Fahey-esque finger-picked licks.

Monsters of Folk - "Say Please" (from Monsters of Folk)

Monsters of Folk: the Traveling Wilburys of the 00's

Back in 2004, indie folk/rock troubadours M. Ward, Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, and Jim James of My Morning Jacket caught lightning in a bottle when they shared a stage for the aptly-dubbed "Monsters of Folk" tour. The tour led to a series of collaborations. James, with his unworldly falsetto, provided backup vocals for Ward on Transistor Radio's "Fuel For Fire" and Post-War's "Magic Trick" and on Oberst's "At The Bottom of Everything"—the pinnacle of the Bright Eyes masterpiece I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. Ward and Oberst then sung together on the Traveling Wilbury's cover "Handle With Care" orchestrated by Jenny Lewis in 2006.

Now, after a five-year hiatus, the trio are reprising the Monsters of Folk name to release their self-titled debut album September 22nd. The band will be joined by multi-instrumentalist Mike Mogis, who has produced records in the past for Oberst, Ward, and Ward's She & Him. The Monsters of Folk aren't quite the Traveling Wilburys—who at one point were comprised of Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, George Harrison, and Jeff Lynne—but in terms of today's young class of singer/songwriters, they're pretty damn close.

Here's the track list:
1. Dear God (sincerely M.O.F.)
2. Say Please
3. Whole Lotta Losin’
4. Temazcal
5. The Right Place
6. Baby Boomer
7. Man Named Truth
8. Goodway
9. Ahead of the Curve
10. Slow Down Jo
11. Losin Yo Head
12. Magic Marker
13. Map Of The World
14. The Sandman, the Brakeman and Me
15. His Master’s Voice

Conor Oberst, Jim James & M. Ward – "Girl From The North Country" (live Bob Dylan cover)

M. Ward Ft. Jim James - "Magic Trick" (from Post-War)

Live: M. Ward at 6th and I

Review via Washingtonian:

I learned two things Saturday night at the 6th and I Synagogue. First, the Vivian Girls, who opened the show, are not very good. Lead singer Cassie Ramone’s reverb-drenched guitar and droning vocals sounded like a puddle of undecipherable mud. The trio’s banter between songs turned out to be equally as bad when, at one point, the girls giggled over whether “Obummer” or “Obomber” would be a more apt title for a failed Obama administration.

Second, M. Ward is even more captivating in person than he is on record—and that’s no easy feat. Armed with just an acoustic guitar and harmonica, the achy-voiced songwriter showed more variety in his opening song, “Fuel For Fire,” than the Vivian Girls did in their entire monotonous performance.

Ward’s set, which he played half solo and half with his five-piece band, consisted of a carefully chosen collection of obscure gems (“Undertaker”), fan favorites (“Poison Cup”), and classy covers, including “Let’s Dance” (David Bowie), “Story of An Artist” (Daniel Johnston) and “Rave On” (Buddy Holly). Ward, who recently gained attention for his collaboration with actress Zooey Deschanel, also tried out lead vocals on the She & Him penned-track “Change Is Hard.” The song, like the rest of his performance, was a roaring success.

The oft-restrained musician even revealed himself to be a bit of a showman when he finger-picked his guitar into an intricate frenzy during the John Fahey tribute, “Bean Vine Blues #2.” The maximum-capacity crowd responded with dutifully raucous and appreciative applause.

Ward saved his biggest crowd pleaser for last: the harmony-fueled sing-along “Magic Trick”—a satisfyingly bittersweet farewell.

Try out the set opener off 2005's Transistor Radio:

M. Ward - "Fuel For Fire" (mp3) (featuring Jim James of My Morning Jacket)

Buy: Amazon, Emusic, iTunes

Look Out For: M. Ward - Hold Time

M. Ward's songs chug along like an antique coal train where—if you listen—you can hear the clunk and creak of every movement. His train is worn and filled with spit and grime, but it produces a beautiful racket. On Hold Time, due out February 17, Ward greases the wheels on the tired singer-songwriter genre and produces his best and most complete work to date.

The classically-trained guitarist finger-picks, strums, and scratches his steel strings into shuffling rhythms that crackle and pop like they're playing from an old AM station. But Ward's not just banging pots and pans. The songs on Hold Time drift just as beautifully as they drive, often providing a quiet backdrop for his achy voice.

On the album’s second track, “Never Had Nobody Like You,” Ward teams with Zooey Deschanel, the other half of throwback pop-duo She & Him. The tandem's harmony on the chorus—"Now it's just like A, B, C; Life's just like 1, 2, 3"—is a warm blanket of sweet and throaty vocals paired with fuzzy distorted guitars.

Take a taste:

M. Ward - "Never Had Nobody Like You" (mp3)

Buy: Amazon