m. ward

The B List: Top Six Of The Last Six

As we continue our year end house cleaning around these parts, I thought I’d chime in once again with a list of my own. As has become the half yearly tradition around these parts, in lieu of a traditional top ten list we opt to do something a little different with our Top 6 of both halves of the year.

While my Top 6 Of The First 6 seemed to have some pretty obvious choices, the second half of the year’s list is mostly dominated by debut records – so let’s get on with it…

6. FanfarloReservoir

Fanfarlo-Reservoir

I’ve had Fanfarlo’s debut album for so long, that I almost forgot that it officially got released this September. Loaded with orchestral folk-rock that has become all the rage in recent years, the album features everything from saws and clarinets to cellos and ukuleles to melodicas and thermins that all combine with lead singers Simon Balthazar’s booming vocals to produce a cacophony of melodic noise that doesn’t fall far from the Neutral Milk Hotel/Arcade Fire tree.

READ ON for the rest of my Top 6 Of The Last 6…

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Video: Monsters Of Folk – Say Please

On their recently wrapped world tour, indie-rock supergroup Monsters Of Folk treated fans to three-hour, 30+ song shows mixing material from their self-titled debut with selections from the members various

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Bloggy Goodness: Peace Out

Believe it or not, legendary singer-songwriters and avid activists Joni Mitchell and James Taylor were responsible for getting Greenpeace off the ground. Back in 1970, the duo played the Amchitka

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Monsters of Folk: Monsters of Folk

"Cross Collaboration,” “Super Group,” call it whatever, Monsters of Folk simply sound good…real good.  Conor Oberst, Jim James (Yim Yames), Mike Mogis and M. Ward have all established themselves as artists to reckon with in this new millennium and they gathered back in 2004 to start tossing ideas around. Their self-titled album was released this month; it is an enchanting mix of guitar strums, wonderin’ blues and flat out gorgeous vocals.

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Tour Dates: Back To School

Every fall for the last 20+ years legendary singer-songwriter Neil Young has assembled an all-star roster of musicians for a charity concert to benefit the Bridge School – which assists

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Announcing: Monsters Of Folk Tour

It’s shaping up to be a big week of news coming from the Monsters Of Folk camp. Earlier this week we got our first taste of  the super-group’s self-titled debut

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The B List: Top 6 Of The First 6

With the first six months of 2009 beginning to feel like a distant memory, figured it was time to continue with a tradition we started last year around this time, by taking a look at my favorite albums from the first half of the year with a little something we’ve dubbed Top 6 Of The First 6.


Maybe I’m getting old, but this list is dominated by mainly roots and Americana-tinged albums, so for those of you expecting Animal Collective somewhere here you may be sorely disappoint. So let’s get at it…

6. Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley BandOuter South

outer_south-conor_oberst_480

Outer South may technically be Conor Oberst’s second “solo” release in as many years, but it would be hard to call this record a true solo effort. While Oberst’s prolific songwriting tendencies may rival that of Mr. Mandy Moore, his latest effort with the Mystic Valley Band is a collaborative affair, with band members contributing and singing their own songs often making you forget you’re listening to a record that has the wordy, singer-songwriter’s name attached to it. The album itself is chocked full of breezy, ’70s influenced country and folk-rock, mixed with the aughts indie-sensibility making it hard to avoid giving them the tag of an updated version of the Traveling Wilburys.

READ ON for the rest of Jeff’s Top 6 Of The First 6…

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