Transistor Radio

iTunes Review

If 2003’s Transfiguration of Vincent was something of a transitional effort for Ward, straddling the line between the studious antiquity of his earlier efforts and a more fully developed pop aesthetic, then Transistor Radio, an album full of unabashedly sophisticated indie-pop, sees Ward finally fulfilling the half-obscured promise of his first few albums. The beautiful, Doc Watson-invoking “One Life Away” serves as a final backward glance at the beguiling, but somewhat ersatz Americana of End of Amnesia, and Transfiguration of Vincent, and the blissed out, distortion saturated chords of “Sweethearts On Parade” announce the arrival of an entirely new side of M. Ward’s artistry. The eerie, windswept guitar textures of “Four Hours In Washington” and the gently hissing pipe organ of “Deep Dark Well” demonstrate his burgeoning mastery of the recording studio. On Transistor Radio he seems to be invoking the pastel hued productions of Kevin Shields and the dreamy pop perfection of the Go-Betweens’ Robert Forster, where he previously cribbed from Woody Guthrie and John Fahey. Transistor Radio benefits greatly from Ward’s continual willingness to broaden his sonic horizons.