{"title":"M Ward","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eM. Ward is a Portland, Oregon based songwriter born on October 4, 1973. He draws inspiration from various American musical traditions including folk, country, blues, and rock. With his unique blend of genres, M. Ward has captivated audiences worldwide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNot only does he have a successful solo career, but M. Ward is also part of the group She \u0026amp; Him alongside *Zooey Deschanel*. Together they create enchanting melodies that have garnered critical acclaim.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you enjoy artists such as Sparklehorse, T.V. On The Radio, Guster, Starlight Mints, Mercury Rev, Clem Snide, Eels or Daniel Johnston then you are sure to appreciate the captivating soundscapes crafted by *M. Ward*.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"hold-time","title":"Hold Time","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter his foray into '50s pop with actress-cum-songstress Zooey Deschanel on She and Him's \u003ci\u003eVolume One\u003c\/i\u003e, M Ward returns to his contemplative self with \u003ci\u003eHold Time\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlthough he's been compared to everyone from John Fahey to Tom Waits to Howe Gelb, with \u003ci\u003eHold Time\u003c\/i\u003e, it's clear that M Ward, with his brilliant guitar playing and innate sense of melody, is one of those rare and special talents who defy comparison and compartmentalisation. his deft guitar picking, bar room piano, and voice like drizzled honey make him a huge favourite of music critics and the focus of public praise from such disparate talents as Norah Jones and Oasis' Noel Gallagher.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Merge Records","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50389740421451,"sku":"309699","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50389740585291,"sku":"309698","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Hold_Time_f1423c15_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726370128"},{"product_id":"transfiguration-of-vincent-4","title":"Transfiguration of Vincent","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 2003, everything broke open for Ward with the release of \u003ci\u003eTransfiguration of Vincent\u003c\/i\u003e. Critically lauded and long beloved, Pitchfork hailed it as an album that “broadcasts timelessness and defies genre constraints,” and Slant placed it on their list of the best albums of the 2000s. On \u003ci\u003eTransfiguration of Vincent\u003c\/i\u003e, Ward’s elegant fingerpicking, evocative croon, and heartrending lyricism came into full bloom, casting a spell so powerful that even a song as universal as David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” felt not only new but irrevocably his. One of the most cherished albums in the Merge catalog, \u003ci\u003eTransfiguration of Vincent\u003c\/i\u003e is both a great place to begin your love affair with M. Ward and a deep, stunningly realized work that listeners have returned to over and over again for 20 years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Merge Records","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50396779086155,"sku":"2169217","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Gold LP","offer_id":50396779282763,"sku":"2169220","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8ae7350a-9d40-475a-3838-3958308c2e53_959872ad_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726485263"},{"product_id":"duets-for-guitar-2","title":"Duets for Guitar #2","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eDuet for Guitars #2 \u003c\/i\u003eintroduced us to M. Ward’s characteristic rasp and fingerpicking prowess. More minimal in scope than future records, the songs run the gamut from lullabies to rocking declarations of love. Released on Co-Dependent Records in 1999, one of the initial 1,000 copies found its way to Howe Gelb, who re-released it in 2000 on Ow Om. It went out of print and remained a hard-to-find piece of the M. Ward catalog until 2007, when it was reissued on Merge with three new tracks. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMore than an origin story, \u003ci\u003eDuet for Guitars #2\u003c\/i\u003e is a beautiful, assured album that is sure to make lo-fi and Americana aficionados swoon, to say nothing of M. Ward fans new and old.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Merge Records","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50396781216075,"sku":"2169211","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"White LP","offer_id":50396781871435,"sku":"2169214","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50396783673675,"sku":"2171879","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/bdf566ed-20cb-3107-0dd4-25097195b88a_bf3a4288_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726485308"},{"product_id":"post-war-3","title":"Post War","description":"\u003cp\u003ePost-War: the fifth M. Ward album. Its songs unravel their world-wearied tales of life, love, and human kindness with an innate and special grace, helped in part by the very talented friends who join him on this record, such as Neko Case and Mike Mogis, as well as old Monsters of Folk touring buddy Jim James (My Morning Jacket).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Merge Records","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50399239012683,"sku":"2175170","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Brown LP","offer_id":50399238586699,"sku":"2175155","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50399239340363,"sku":"2175191","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/M._Ward_-_Post-War_e22918fd_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726503426"},{"product_id":"transistor-radio-4","title":"Transistor Radio","description":"\u003cp\u003eTransistor Radio: the fourth M. Ward album. Listening to M. Ward's breezy ode to radio's forgotten heydays is a lot like taking in a huge breath of dust-bowl wind -- however, its charms are rooted in the hazy lemonade-sipping of summer rather than the great depression-obsession of the post-O Brother, Where Art Thou? mainstream.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Merge Records","offers":[{"title":"Green LP","offer_id":50399249662283,"sku":"2175156","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_c5f32216_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1732782898"},{"product_id":"more-rain","title":"More Rain","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis album, Ward's eighth solo affair, finds the artist picking up the tempo and volume a bit from his previous release, 2012's 'A Wasteland Companion'. Where that record introspectively looked in from the outside, 'More Rain' finds Ward on the inside, gazing out. Begun four years ago and imagined initially as a DIY doo-wop album that would feature Ward experimenting with layering his own voice, it soon branched out in different directions, a move that he credits largely to his collaborators here who include R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Neko Case, k.d. lang, The Secret Sisters, and Joey Spampinato of NRBQ. The result is a collection of upbeat, sonically ambitious yet canonically familiar songs that both propel Ward's reach and satisfy longtime fans.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Merge Records","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50402267103563,"sku":"396797","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50402267267403,"sku":"396796","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/More_Rain_6910b58b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726537746"},{"product_id":"a-wasteland-companion-1","title":"A Wasteland Companion","description":"\u003cp\u003eM Ward's sixth solo album, \u003ci\u003eA Wasteland Companion\u003c\/i\u003e. The album, consisting of 12 tracks, was made with 18 musicians and recorded in eight different studios in Portland, Omaha, New York City, Los Angeles, Austin and Bristol (uk) and features the talents of M Ward (piano, guitars, voice, production), Mike Coykendall (percussion, bass), Giant Sand's Howe Gelb (piano), John Parish (percussion, marimba), Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis (organ), Susan Sanchez (vocals), She and Him's Zooey Deschanel (vocals), ) Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley (percussion), and plenty more. The recording utilized eight engineers, including Tom Schick (Rufus Wainwright) and John Parish (PJ Harvey). \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInspired by his increasingly itinerant lifestyle ward set forth to create something of a musical travelogue. He explains, \"between now and when i made hold time there has been a lot of traveling which requires a lot of reckoning with what to leave behind and what to carry - material and otherwise - and thinking about what I want versus what I need, creatively and otherwise. I wanted to get a reflection of that on the album. It was a process of stripping away my security blanket, which is the same four walls I always record in.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Merge Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50402390376779,"sku":"348145","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50402390704459,"sku":"2180313","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/A_Wasteland_Companion_285ee162_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726543874"},{"product_id":"supernatural-thing","title":"Supernatural Thing","description":"\u003cp\u003eSeveral times, as I listened to \u003cstrong\u003eM Ward's\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eSupernatural Thing\u003c\/em\u003e, I asked myself what year it was. Was it 1952, and was I listening to a track from the Harry Smith Anthology? Was it 1972, and was I eavesdropping on the recording session for After the Gold Rush? No, it's 2023, and \u003cstrong\u003eM. Ward\u003c\/strong\u003e is one of the special contemporary artists who invite such questions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWard\u003c\/strong\u003e has clearly mastered the whole vocabulary of American popular music and made serious decisions about how to employ it for his own ends. What \u003cstrong\u003eWard\u003c\/strong\u003e shares with Harry Smith's artists and Neil Young is a context of musical and human values: authenticity and intimacy. \u003cem\u003eSupernatural Thing\u003c\/em\u003e's original songs sound freshly pulled from the ground, with a little earth sticking to them. \u003cstrong\u003eWard's\u003c\/strong\u003e lyric delivery has that slight rawness the ear loves, and his voice has quiet dignity and great tenderness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSupernatural Thing\u003c\/em\u003e is an open-hearted, inviting album. The album's guest stars - \u003cstrong\u003eFirst Aid Kit\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eShovels and Rope\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eScott McMicken\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eNeko Case\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eJim James\u003c\/strong\u003e, others - enliven the album with surprises. On \"\u003cem\u003eToo Young to Die\u003c\/em\u003e,\" the women's voices in \u003cstrong\u003eFirst Aid Kit\u003c\/strong\u003e spread a light frosting over the melody, and their Beach Boys like chorus on \"\u003cem\u003eEngine 5\u003c\/em\u003e\" makes the song sound like an instant hit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEight of the album's ten songs are \u003cstrong\u003eWard\u003c\/strong\u003e originals. There's an unusual Bowie choice, \"\u003cem\u003eI Can't Give Everything Away\u003c\/em\u003e\" from \u003cem\u003eBlackstar\u003c\/em\u003e, and a live rendition of Daniel Johnston's \"\u003cem\u003eStory of an Artist\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Anti","offers":[{"title":"Brown LP","offer_id":50441705455947,"sku":"2023715","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Clear LP","offer_id":50441706307915,"sku":"2204509","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50441704505675,"sku":"2023714","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/supernatural_thing_76e9c0fe_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726985529"},{"product_id":"think-of-spring","title":"Think Of Spring","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 2018 \u003cstrong\u003eM Ward\u003c\/strong\u003e performed a concert in LA, playing all the songs from \u003cem\u003eLady In Satin\u003c\/em\u003e as a quintet. He then began preparing guitar arrangements for the recordings compiled on this record, \u003cem\u003eThink of Spring\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe title of the album comes from a poem written in 1924 by Jane Brown-Thompson that eventually became \"\u003cem\u003eI Get Along Without You Very Well\u003c\/em\u003e\" in 1938 - the first song on the album. The concept behind \u003cem\u003eThink of Spring\u003c\/em\u003e is to filter the songs and strings from \u003cem\u003eLady In Satin\u003c\/em\u003e through a single acoustic guitar, using various alternate tunings and a minimal amount of textures and studio manipulation. Most of the songs were recorded on an analog Tascam four track.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThink of Spring\u003c\/em\u003e is inspired by artists such as Billie Holiday, Ray Ellis, J.J. Johnson, John Fahey, and Robert Johnson. Proceeds from this record will benefit Inner-City Arts \u0026amp; Donors Choose via Plus1 for Black Lives Fund.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50464295944523,"sku":"1109448","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50464296370507,"sku":"1108835","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5a0d14ce-faef-4f46-8ed1-2cf98d47883d_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727272419"},{"product_id":"migration-stories","title":"Migration Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt was in winter 18\/19 - I flew to Montreal to meet with \u003cstrong\u003eTim Kingsbury\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eRichard Reed Parry\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eCraig Silvey\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eTeddy Impakt\u003c\/strong\u003e at \u003cem\u003eLe Studio Du Arcade Fire\u003c\/em\u003e. It was a fine time with a dream team in a city I love. Winter in beautiful Quebec. Les semaines les plus froides de ma vie.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI had a bunch of demos that were inspired by migration stories I had heard from friends or read in newspapers while on tour in Europe and North America. I remember being struck by the similarities of the stories I heard from both continents and how really only the names of the powerful and the powerless had changed - thinking, \"Is this the future? Is this our future?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSome time went by, the stories wove together and I remember them now closer to characters in a dream of how people could treat each other than any kind of front-page news realism. I think music subconsciously - whether writing or listening - is a filter for me - helping to process all the bad news into something new to build from - some records to me are like self-fulfilling prophecies - visualizing change to wish something into being - those records inspired this one.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Epitaph","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50465281704267,"sku":"1091178","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50465281147211,"sku":"1091177","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/69a4e4a8-e27b-4dcc-ae4c-7db6d225a097_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727284890"},{"product_id":"what-a-wonderful-industry","title":"What a Wonderful Industry","description":"\u003cp\u003eLast June M.Ward surprised fans with the digital release of his ninth solo album, \u003ci\u003eWhat A Wonderful Industry\u003c\/i\u003e. The record finally receives a proper physical release via M.Ward Records. Over the last decade Ward has released a string of acclaimed solo albums, as well as six LPs with Zooey Deschanel in the duo She and Him. Ward is also a member of the group Monsters of Folk alongside My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, and Mike Mogis, as well as a producer on albums for\u003cbr\u003e Mavis Staples, Jenny Lewis, and Carlos Forster.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVia Ward: “This is a record inspired by people in the industry I have known - heroes and villains in equal measure. There’s some beautiful moments when you travel for a living, and I’m grateful for being part of an industry that’s taken me around the world so many times - but you quickly learn there’s a perfectly imperfect balance of cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals in the zoo. This record visits the most memorable characters. There’s a lot of very inspirational people I’ve had the pleasure to work with but there are also a few I wish I’d never met. It all tragically ends with an imaginary Griffin Mill-\u003cbr\u003e inspired murder ballad. This album is a reminder to keep your friends close, your enemies closer and don’t let the ones that just need an extra couple hours of therapy bring you down. Anyway I hope you like it. All names have been changed to protect the innocent\".\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Limited Edition Clouded Clear Vinyl. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"M Ward Records","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50498218557771,"sku":"1051703","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/c43fc98e-0079-4730-931b-24b348e3175a_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727741753"},{"product_id":"duet-for-guitars-2","title":"Duet For Guitars 2","description":"\u003cp\u003eClear vinyl reissue of 'Duet for Guitars 2' which was M Ward's first record. It was originally released by Co-dependent records in the summer of 1999 and then re-released in 2000 by M' s friend Howe Gelb (Giant Sand) on his ow-om label. It was recorded in portland by Adam Selzer who also played mandolin, dulcimer and everything percussive. M Ward wrote the songs in Chicago and enroute to Seattle, he played guitars, keys and sang. 180 gram vinyl.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jealous Butcher","offers":[{"title":"Clear | LP","offer_id":50507133649227,"sku":"1103088","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/9839b5ab-9258-4d71-8ed3-8e9d0e3c9eb0_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727838803"},{"product_id":"for-beginners-the-best-of-m-ward","title":"For Beginners: The Best of M. Ward","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eFor Beginners: The Best of M. Ward\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection for M. Ward fans of any vintage. Gathering together 14 tracks from across his Merge Records discography, including the newly recorded song “Cry,” For Beginners is both a primer and a mixtape of favorites sequenced in a way that gives them new life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeginning with “Chinese Translation” and “Poison Cup” from 2006’s Post War, For Beginners drops in on Ward as he expands his prowess in the studio.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis singular cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” from 2003’s Transfiguration of Vincent, breaks out into the exuberant “Never Had Nobody Like You” from 2009’s Hold Time. Rather than the neat evolutionary line suggested by a chronological arrangement, what holds For Beginners together is Ward’s impeccable skill as a songwriter, which remains in focus as his sound expands from low-fi home recordings to electric, radio-ready stompers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSerendipitously timed for release during Merge Records’ 35-year anniversary, this celebration of one of the label’s most beloved artists includes “Cry” his first new recording on Merge since 2018 a stripped-down cover of the Godley \u0026amp; Creme pop classic featuring Melbourne, Australia’s Folk Bitch Trio. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eM. Ward on “Cry”:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Cry” was recorded in a Tasmanian modern art museum called MONA. I sat at the end of a long hallway a few feet away from Anselm Kiefer’s sculpture of a 20-foot-high stack of lead books, and standing to my left and right around a single microphone were Melbourne’s Folk Bitch Trio; we rehearsed and recorded “Cry” in about 30 minutes. A pleasure to add this song to a collection of some of my favorite memories of music-making during the first decade of record-creating with my friends at Merge.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe song is the perfect capstone for a collection of this nature, summing up much of Ward’s power as a musician: the richness he’s capable of achieving in sparse recordings, his knack for collaboration, and his ability to see through to the soul of a meticulously crafted pop song as much a means of looking forward to what’s to come of his own work as it is a callback to his past.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Merge Records","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50532685218123,"sku":"2212527","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/M._Ward_-_For_Beginners_The_Best_of_M._Ward_4180aa1c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728126784"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/m-ward.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}