Ward, M

Ward, M

For Beginners: The Best of M. Ward

Merge

***For Beginners: The Best of M. Ward 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” (a cover of the Godley & Creme track featuring guest vocals by Melbourne's Folk Bitch Trio), For Beginners is both a primer and a mixtape of favorites sequenced in a way that gives them new life. Includes guest contributions from Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Zooey Deschanel (She & Him), Mike Mogis (Monsters of Folk, Bright Eyes), and Ward's version of Bowie's "Let's Dance."

Ward, M

Duets For Guitars # 2

Merge

***REISSUED!!! Duet for Guitars #2 introduced 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. More than an origin story, Duet for Guitars #2 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.

Ward, M

Transfiguration of Vincent

Merge

***REISSUED!!! In 2003, everything broke open for M. Ward with the release of Transfiguration of Vincent. 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 Transfiguration of Vincent, 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, Transfiguration of Vin- cent 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.

Ward, M

Post-war

Merge

***Gifted songsmith M. WARD returns with his fifth full album. Recorded in his Portland attic over the past two years, Post-War exists in its own special time and place, and is filled with enticing nooks and crannies. Twelve songs of life, love and human kindness featuring guest appearances from NEKO CASE, MIKE MOGIS, and JIM JAMES (MY MORNING JACKET).