Duet for Guitars #2 [Extra tracks]

M. Ward

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 10, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks
• Label: Merge Records
• ASIN: B000RGSOSM
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #71,510 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This is M. Ward's first record, originally released by Co-Dependent Records in 1999, then re-released in 2000 by M's friend Howe Gelb (Giant Sand) on his Ow-Om label. It has been out of print ever since. Now Merge is offering this re-mastered version with three bonus tracks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just OK, July 19, 2007

By	Rushmore (CHICAGO, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This is an interesting CD. Unmistakably M. Ward, but not so melodic or polished. It seems funny to use that word for a guy who records in his attic, and wants his music to sound like it, but later M. Ward has a fuller sound, more instruments, and the occasional song you want to hum along to. None of that here. He seems to be channeling early Neil Young but more whispery. This would make good background music, but if I want the full M. Ward experience I am more likely to put End of Amnesia, Vincent, or Post-War on the turntable.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely love it, October 17, 2007

By	M. Janssen (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After having thoroughly familiarized myself with M. Ward's more recent albums, I happened upon this little gem from the early days of his solo musical career. Ward, with his husky voice and a musical style that evokes a certain nostaligia for lazy early evenings on a front porch, has, for a while, been one of my favorite contemporary artists. And so I overcome much embarassed hesitancy to state that this may very well be my favorite album of his.

One of the things that makes M. Ward's work distinctive as a whole is its organic raw quality; but this album is, well, rawer. Tracks like "Scene from #12" and ""He asked me to be a snake and live underground" are notably less polished than what Ward produced in his later albums, but roughness, here, indicates neither a lack of skill nor a soundness of intention. And the songs "Good news" and "It won't happen twice" are certainly as poignantly beautiful as anything found on Transistor Radio, End of Amnesia, Transfiguration of Vincent, or Post-War.

Overall, I highly recommend this album to anyone who is a fan of M. Ward's later work, or even anyone who is remotely interested in hearing a bit more of what this highly tallented artist has to offer. There isn't a single track on this album I don't like!

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ward Highway: The Wellspring, July 13, 2007

By	loujack (coos bay, oregon) - See all my reviews

If you are reading this, then you are in big, big trouble. It may mean that you have discovered M Ward and are tracing him back to his roots, to his beginnings. It further implies that you may have already heard something he did and are curious about this M Ward fellow. Either way, brace yourself because you are in for a rare musical treat. What awaits you is genius, pure unfettered genius, and you are going to find it here at the beginning (in its incipient stages) or growing stronger with "End of Amnesia" or bursting forth with "The transfiguration of Vincent" or simply exploding everywhere all over the place in "Transistor Radio". Whatever direction you are travelling on the Ward Highway, get ready to be in a big musical wreck. Nobody does anything near to music what this man does. There ought to be a law against him for making so much beauty so fast and so soon (he is only 31 and just put out his fourth CD) but who's going to vote for it? Not me, that's for sure, and pretty soon, not you either. Listen and see. After hearing this one, you have the best collection of the four waiting for you next at #2 Ward Highway. The ride on this road only gets better and better as it heads for the musical hall of fame. This man is making once in a lifetime music and you are standing at the spot from which it all began. You need to drink the Kool-Aid from the wellspring immediately and when you do you'll understand what all the fuss is about. The Ward highway is an incredibly beautiful and remote yet immediately present place laced with sounds and sights often imagined but rarely encountered