A Wasteland Companion - M. Ward

I am subscribed to the She & Him email list, so I got an email that informed me about this album in an email dated 1.27.12. This is probably the same day that he made it public, like it's not anything exclusive. I did thought get an email about a week ago that said there is a website were I could stream the album in it's entirety. Well I was too lazy to do it. So when I finally decided to listen to it. This is the review I gave it. But before the review here is some background info. This is M. Ward's seventh solo studio album. It's set day for release is April 6th in New Zealand and it's release date in America is April 10th, the same day as Stacy from Eisley's solo album A Minor Bird. Now in all honestly I didn't think much of this guy. I really didn't think I would be that impressed in this song. I thought that it would get an average, probably a 6/10. Oh one last thing. I didn't listen to the album in order, because it wasn't like a... what ever. Just thought I'd bring that up.

1. Clean Slate: This song starts out with this skiffle type of feel to it. This song is a very country vibe going through it. His voice is very clear in the mix and is over everything. This song has twangs and banjos. This song is a pretty song, but it just doesn't blow me away. I think that this song might grow on me, but as for now it is not.
2. Primitive Girl: This song has this sixties up beat feel to it. I could see this song being in a movie set in the 60's. That's not really my type of movie but still.
3. Me and My Shadow: The vocals on this, in the beginning, sound like they are being played on the radio. This song is a pretty neat song, I with that this was a little better but it has parts that kill it. The instrumentation, at parts, are cool, but the whole idea of the radio/non-distorted vocals doubled hurt this song. This song is a good song, if you over look that. And another thing is the distorted guitar just sounds not good. I think that it might sound better as a live song, but not as a studio album. This is a well needed change on the album. It's faster and more exciting. This is my 2nd favorite, behind the title track. {7.4/10}
4. Sweetheart: This song reminds me of Arcade Fire. I think that this song could be on The Suburbs. It sounds like Zooey is on this track to. This also kind of sounds like it could be a She & Him song. It has all the things that are present in on of those songs. I'm not huge into them, but I'm always willing to listen to something new. I do think it fits that she's on the song though. It is called sweetheart after all.
5. I Get Ideas: This song is kind of like a Bob Dylan song that would be on Highway 61 Revisited or maybe Bringing It All Back Home. It has this electric folk feel to it. His voice even kind of sounds like Bob's voice on something off Self Portrait or Nashville Skyline. I like that this is a different feel to the album, so to say.
6. The First Time I Ran Away: This song starts out with this acoustic feel. I don't like the feel of this song. This also continues that atmospheric feel with the strings and keys and everything backing him up. The things though is. I just don't like it that much.
7. A Wasteland Companion: This song kind of starts out with the type of a feel that I would get from the acoustic songs off The legendary 1968 album known as The White Album. This song also gave me, in the beginning, a feel of For You Blue off the 1970 Let It Be album, by that same band. If you don't know what band shame on you. And go crawl in a hole and don't come out till you know who The Beatles are. In the middle of the song there is the atmospheric feel to where it sounded like people cheering, but it was just wind. This song is perfect for the title track, and for the name of the song. So it think it gets a {7.6/10}
8. Watch the Show: This song is defiantly a song that has movie feeling lyrics. I could see this being a follow up album, or at least this song,  by Jed Whedon & The Willings. This song also has that Arcade Fire lyrics that are memorable on The Suburbs.
9. There's A Key: This song reminds me of a song that would be on the radio. This son is kind of pretty, but it continues that Arcade Fire feel but in a bad way. I LOVE Funeral, I haven't really heard many songs of Neon Bible, and I only like a couple songs of The Suburbs. But I could never sit through that album front to back. It's just painful to try to stay awake. Like I want to fall asleep to that, and I don't see how this is any different.
10. Crawl After You: This is just like the rest of the song on the album. I noticed more piano on this song, I might just be crazy, but still who knows, what ever. I know that I don't really like this song and that's all that matters. I guess... This is not terrible, but it's just not very interesting to me. There is like a violin solo in the song. With songs like this I could see Ward making a really popular album with this, if this was the soundtrack to a movie.
11. Wild Goose: This song has this country feel to it. It kind of reminds me of the title track. I'm not huge on this track. I don't really like the way it sounds like. It kind of reminds me of The Suburbs, and as of yet I'm not into that album.
12. Pure Joy: This song is the ending, and would make a very good ending to a movie. I can see this playing along with the credits of a movie. This would probably be a movie I wouldn't be crazy, but I might enjoy it. It has that ending feel to it.

Overall this is the first M. Ward solo album I've heard, so it's the first one to get a 6.4/10. This was defiantly different than what I expected. I had never expected any thing that I could compare to The Beatles. FYI those Beatles are, well.... MY FAVORITE BAND OF ALL TIME. Unfortunately it didn't live up to the White Album comparisons. Like the strings and the atmosphere in this album is pretty, but I am just not really into that. I do think that this would be a good novelty soundtrack to a movie. It is in that same type of thing of History of Things Forgotten by Jed Whedon and the Willings. I reviewed that album before in February of this year. It was for my friends birthday. The production of M. Ward's album really kills this thing for me. It is just like new novelty, but in a bad way. I just have to say this would work as the soundtrack to some coming of age movie, as I said the same for Jed's album. I'm glad I got to hear it early so I don't waste my money on this album. Sorry M. nothing personal, I'm just not into novelty music so much.