did i not know how amazing he was until just this week? thoughts?

np: the transfiguration of vincent.

He's like Conor Waits.

I recently figured out I may need to investigate futher. Tell me more.

I bought his new one, and it's my favorite purchase of 2005 so far. It's got a great cover of "You still believe in me" to open it, and his guitar playing is great. The rest of the album has lots of great 2-3 minute songs, that get in and get out appropriately, and leave you witha sense of wanting more, but in a good way. I'd recommend it if you can get it

I don't really buy any anologies to conor oberst. M. Ward has a fuller voice, he sings on pitch and with depth, and this guy can play guitar, while oberst's voice has a bit of cracking, can be off pitch, and his playing tends to be less refined. Lyrically, their styles are very different (though i don't have the first one), M. Wards lyrics tend have simple, short phrasing, while oberst is a lot more personal, tends to be more poetic/metaphorical, and leans more towards the verbose side of things. Ward's voice actually reminds me more of John Mayall and Townes Van Zandt than it does Tom Waits. All in all i think he's great, and i enjoy his stuff a lot.

Yeah, that was a joke.

He emulates Waits but doesn't imitate.

He was on KCRW earlier this week. I'm fairly certain the show has already been archived and you can listen to him there.

fuel for fire is my favorite song by far this year

The Transfiguration of Vincent wound up in my top 3 for '03---I didn't buy it until '04, though.

I don't think Transistor Radio is quite as good, but still top 20 material for the year. Admittedly, I've only listened to it 3 or 4 times---we'll see.

Yes. And, Oberst is a whiney bitch.

Yeah, I've got all his albums. I'd rank them this way:

1. End of Amnesia
2. Transfiguration...
3. Transistor Radio
4. Duet for Guitars #2

Transfiguration features a great cover of David Bowie's "Let's Dance".

I tried to go see him last week, but the show was sold out. I really didn't expect that. I guess his stock is rising. (It was probably because he got a good review in Pitchfork ).

Some people might find him too boring. But, if you like mellow kind of stuff, he is definitely worth checking out.

What's the M stand for?

There's already a Matthew Ward who's done Christian rock for 35 years.

Yeah it's Matt. He's a very gracious guy.

Thanks everyone! Looks like my "to buy" list just got a little bit longer.

Matthew Ward (aka Yanni Paul Stookey)


M. Ward (aka your sophomore roommate you thought would never get laid but wound up way richer and better known than you)

he's from portland.

anyway yeah I really like the new album.

as much as malkmus is...

So where is he "really" from?

San Luis Obispo, CA. Or at least that where his band Rodriguez was from.

he resides in portland.

it's just like we say people like the decemberists are from portland, and elliott smith, and the shins, etc.

none of them are. but they sort of are.

new album hitting stores in august, people.

He's awesome. The last time I saw him he played a guitar solo for the first few minutes of his show. It's amazing that both he and Jim James have played lead guitar for Bright Eyes.

saweet, thanks for the heads up.

awesome!

i've recently become re-obsessed with this guy. end of amnesia is working it's way up my "favorite albums of all-time" list.

now what did you find out about nina nastasia, katie?

she's gone into hiding, basically. no word if there's going to be a new effort any time soon. that doesnt mean she wont, it just means her people are pretty hands off about what she's doing right now.