M. Ward
Transistor Radio

LA RECENSIONE

Transistor Radio is a small treasure chest where many past memories are stored.
Yellowed photos, newspaper clippings, the strong smell of burnt milk, the dampness of the basement, the scorching sun of lazy summer afternoons, the adventures along new dirt paths.
There are moments when nostalgia takes over, it's hard to understand why, yet something seems to have brought us back to the past.
In those moments Matt Ward is there waiting for us, the ideal companion to rewind thoughts while being lulled by rustic and melancholic melodies.
His songs seem to have been left on the roadside for days to gather dust, during long sunny days and endless rains.

We are welcomed by a surprising instrumental cover of You still Believe In Me by the Beach Boys, a prelude to an afternoon spent recounting past stories that feels like a reunion of old friends; Neil Young ventures onto the gramophone with Devendra Banhart, Dylan duets with Sparklehorse, and Calexico lend their frontier rhythms to Howe Gelb, while John Parish and Vic Chesnutt wait for their turn at the saloon bar.
Matt's voice is always warm and deep, often layered in two voices, sometimes venturing into skewed falsettos that strike in their fragility.
The result is anything but chaotic as it might seem; the melodies flow slowly and dustily; the acoustic guitar, Matt's indispensable companion, sometimes takes the spotlight in the more intimate and melancholic episodes (Fuel For Fire and Here Comes The Sun Again), or is accompanied by a steel guitar in Hi-Fi and Paul's Song, or by a piano as in the driving Big Boat.
Fourteen acoustic snippets for those who feel particularly melancholic today.