View Larger
Rate it!
Avg: 4.0 (1157 ratings)
- Date Released: February 17, 2009
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Merge Records
M Ward steps into the sepia-toned photograph of American music past
-
We Say...
M. Ward is a well-documented retro hound: his 2005 album, Transistor Radio, celebrated an outdated technology, while his 2008 collaboration with actress Zooey Deschanel, She & Him: Volume One, recreated the glam gal/droll studio guru dynamic of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood's '60s hits. But on Hold Time, his fifth solo album, fascination becomes total immersion. From tiny motifs like the analog church organ in "Blake's View" to the full-scale recreation of field-recording folk in "Shangri-La" (complete with tape hiss), Hold Time exudes not just a love of old records, but a near-religious belief that the comforts of the past can stave off fears of an uncertain future. Images of death abound, from the hangman knocking on the door in "Jailbird" to the missionary wanderers searching for salvation in "Shangri-La'; music, Ward suggests, can be a last defense or a bridge to the everlasting. "Epistemology" and "For Beginners" are prescriptive manuals on how to maintain innocence in a corrupt world. Covers of Buddy Holly's "Rave On" and Don Gibson's countrypolitan "Oh Lonesome Me" — Deschanel coos on the former, Lucinda Williams pours her opiate lacquer on the latter — border on fetishistic. Hold Time, like Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run and Uncle Tupelo's Anodyne, is meta-music: music about music, specifically its power to redeem, heal and stop the onslaught of time. Ward has built his own little jukebox, its fourteen songs emanating from an untethered moment that could be 50 years ago or yesterday.
-
They Say...
M. Ward's fifth proper album begins appropriately with the lyric "When you're absolute beginners, it's a panoramic view," a notion that the dusty Portland, OR-based singer/songwriter must be nostalgic for as his profile increases with each and every project. His 2008 collaboration with actress/singer/songwriter Zooey Deschanel as the producer, player, and arranger of She & Him helped to let the rest of the world in on what the low-key folk underground has been savoring since 2001's End of Amnesia. His penchant for sun-drenched West Coast vistas and timeless narratives that revel in Tom Waits-inspired Americana and non-dogmatic spirituality come full circle on Hold Time, a typical Matt Ward collection of laconic summer songs that could have safely appeared in any decade without suspicion of origin. Similar in scope to 2006's Post-War, Hold Time feels like a single performance, with songs fading out within inches of their successors, often holding true to both instrumentation and theme. Ward populates the project with a handful of guest appearances, though none gratuitous. Deschanel returns the favor on two cuts, a languid cover of the Buddy Holly classic "Rave On" and "Never Had Nobody Like You," a straight-up blues-rocker that fuses a Gary Glitter backbeat to the skeleton of Post-War nugget "Requiem"; Grandaddy mastermind Jason Lytle helps turn "To Save Me" into a lost ELO-produced Beach Boys rarity; and Lucinda Williams lends her sweetly graveled pipes to a lovely, expansive version of the Don Gibson weeper "Oh Lonesome Me." As always, Ward peppers the record with originals that sound like long-lost Hank Williams tunes ("One Hundred Million Years" and "Shangri-La") and lush ballads that sound like they crawled out of an old safe deposit box. The title track in particular brings to mind Ward's English equal, ex-Pulp guitarist and ultra-cool retro-crooner Richard Hawley -- between the two of them, they've built a bridge between indie and adult alternative rock that positively reeks of class. Hold Time will do little to entice listeners for whom Matt Ward's sepia-tone charm holds no sway, but for fans who have enjoyed the ride thus far, this looks like the sunniest stretch of road yet.
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 14 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 14 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
| 01. |  |
For Beginners |
2:47 |
|
| 02. | |
Never Had Nobody Like You (Featuring Zooey Deschanel) |
2:26 |
|
| 03. | |
Jailbird |
2:31 |
|
| 04. | |
Hold Time |
3:05 |
|
| 05. | |
Rave On (Featuring Zooey Deschanel) |
3:35 |
|
| 06. | |
To Save Me (Featuring Jason Lytle) |
3:01 |
|
| 07. | |
One Hundred Million Years |
2:11 |
|
| 08. | |
Stars of Leo |
3:18 |
|
| 09. | |
Fisher of Men |
3:12 |
|
| 10. | |
Oh Lonesome Me (Featuring Lucinda Williams) |
6:05 |
|
| 11. | |
Epistemology |
3:49 |
|
| 12. | |
Blake's View |
2:29 |
|
| 13. | |
Shangri-La |
2:20 |
|
| 14. | |
Outro (AKA: I'm a Fool to Want You) |
3:47 |
|
14 Total Tracks, 44:36 Total Length
Loading...
Playlists If you like M. Ward, check out these member playlists
Credits
- Lucinda Williams - Vocals // David Campbell - Cello // Bill Ritchie - Bass (Upright) // Eric Liljestrand - Engineer // Allison Stewart - Viola // Mike Mogis - Mandolin // Mike Mogis - Percussion // Mike Mogis - Keyboards // Mike Mogis - Bells // Mike Mogis - Engineer // Mike Mogis - Mixing // Jason Lytle - Guitar // Jason Lytle - Keyboards // Jason Lytle - Vocals // Jason Lytle - Engineer // M. Ward - Bass // M. Ward - Guitar // M. Ward - Arranger // M. Ward - Keyboards // M. Ward - Vocals // M. Ward - Producer // M. Ward - Engineer // M. Ward - Performer // M. Ward - String Arrangements // M. Ward - Concept // Than Luu - Percussion // Rachel Blumberg - Percussion // Doug Van Sloun - Mastering // Mike Coykendall - Bass // Mike Coykendall - Percussion // Mike Coykendall - Engineer // Tom Hagerman - Strings // Tom Hagerman - Violin // Jordan Hudson - ? // Zooey Deschanel - Vocals // Peter Broderick - Strings // Adam Selzer - Percussion // Adam Selzer - Engineer // Heather Broderick - Violin // Dana Bruington - Artwork // Dana Bruington - Layout Design
Choose from over 7 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs available for 50¢ or less
eMusic subscriptions start at just $11.99 a month for 24 downloads - that's just 50¢ per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as 42¢ per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.
© 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC