The 11 Best Songs By M. Ward

Axl Rose might be one of the most polarizing figures in music.  The music world was reeling this week when Rose announced that he was snubbing the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.  For the past twenty years, fans held out hope that the original line-up of GNR might reunite for this one-night event.  Now, we realize that will never happen.  This actually wasn't too big of a surprise.  Rose also said he wouldn't attend the event.  This wasn't too surprising either.  Up until this point I just shrugged my shoulder and said typical Axl.  But what he did next actually did stand out...and it was probably the one thing he did that felt incredibly douchey.  He refused his induction into the Hall of Fame.  With the first two acts...he was just being Axl Rose...but the third thing was a statement.  Nothing changed by letting himself be inducted...but Axl didn't want to be a part of it...unless it could be exactly the way he wanted it.  Not even sure what the point of that was except to come across incredibly dickish.  One journalist supported it.  And honestly, he made a good argument.  Johnny Rotten always said the Pistols would ignore the induction...and they stuck by their guns.  Axl has refused to reunite with the original line-up for years...so that was expected. But Axl never knocked the HOF...so to do this was a bit out of left field.  One might argue that Axl is a true rock star because of this...but why?  What's his cause?  Because real rock stars don't need verification of their musical genius?  I guess that would seem like the right answer if Axl didn't complain so much when he didn't get accepted by the critics or the general public.  I agree with Axl's statement that his split was Slash was like a divorce and the dream of the parents getting back together was nothing more than a dream.  But at least good parents will both show up to their kids high school graduation...regardless if the other one is there.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By M. Ward:

1. Poison Cup (Post-War)
2. Never Had Nobody Like You (Hold Time)
3. Chinese Translation (Post-War)  
4. Epistemology (Hold Time)
5. Vincent O' Brien (Transfiguration of Vincent)
6. Post-War (Post-War)  
7. Carolina (End of Amnesia)
8. Rave On (Hold Time)
9. Eyes on The Prize (Post-War)
10. Beautiful Car (Duets For Guitars)
11. Sweethearts on Parade (Transistor Radio) 

Buy M.Ward's new album A Wasteland Companion....now!

The 11 Best Albums of 2009: 23-33 (Part 3)

As each step of this list is being unveiled, I have to say...there was a lot of music this year I really enjoyed. Whether it was scrounging to find the unreleased Beck cover album...or the return of Franz Ferdninand...or the underrated ben gibbard/farrar duet, there was a bunch of music out there to get excited about. Two newcomers to watch...Cut Off Your Hands and Cage The Elephant...I have a feeling they will be on these lists for years to come.

Here are the 11 Best Albums of 2009: 23-33 (Part 3):

23. Cut Off Your Hands - You And I (Turn Cold)
24. JJ - JJ No 2
25. Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg
26. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
27. Cage The Elephant - Cage the Elephant (Ain't No Rest)
28. M. Ward - Hold Time
29. Beck - Velvet Underground & Nico (I'll Be Your Mirror)
30. Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3.0
31. Steel Panther - Feel The Steel
32. Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream
33. Ben Gibbard & Jay Farrar - One Fast Move Or I'm Gone

The Unknown: An Evening with Conor Oberst, Jim James, and M. Ward (Part 2)

Here's part 2 to the show...

Make sure you go out and buy the indie supergroup's new album...Monsters of Folk. for this week only...$4 on my store.

And if you're not...follow us on Twitter.

Here is part 2 of An Evening with Conor Oberst, Jim James and M. Ward:

Conor Oberst's set

17. Train Under Water

18. Going For Gold

19. Soon You Will Be Leaving Your Mom

20. A Celebration Upon Completion

21. We Are Nowhere and It's Now

22. One Foot In Front Of Another

23. Lua

24. Waste of Paint

All three together

25. Seashell Tale

26. Always on My Mind

27. Laura Laurant

28. At Dawn

29. At The Bottom of Everything

30. Girl From North Country

Buy The Monsters of Folk...this week only for less than $4.

The Unknown: An Evening with Conor Oberst, Jim James, and M. Ward

In 2004, three icons of the indie rock movement (Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and M. Ward) got together and performed an intimate folk concert. Who knew that 5 years later, the three (four including Mike Mogis) would get together to put out one of the most anticipated albums of 2009? Well, today's the day that the album finally lands on our computer. To celebrate its arrival...here's part one of that show that started it all. Thanks to Captain's Dead for the original post on it...one of our favorite sites on the net.

Make sure you go out and buy the new album...Monsters of Folk. This week only, it's available for a measly $3.99 from our store.

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An Evening with Conor Oberst, Jim James, and Conor Oberst:

M. Ward's Performance

1. Fuel For Fire

2. Deut For Guitars #3

3. Let's Dance (Bowie)

4. Undertaker

5. Helocopter

6. O'Brien/O'Brien's Nocturn

7. Vincent O'Brien

8. Outta My Head

Jim James' performance

9. One in the Same

10. Unknown Song

11. I Can't Wait

12. Where To Begin

13. How Could I Know

14. The Bear

15. Bermuda Highway

16. Golden

Buy the Monsters of Folk for only $3.99 ...for this week only.

The 11 Best Albums of 2009 (so far):

I'm off on vacation for a couple of weeks...but will return. Until then...here's a snapshot of the first half of the year. These are my favorites. I can't belive I picked Morrissey at the top. But it's the album that's had the most play in my 2009 library. So...it's hard to argue with that.

The 11 Best Albums of 2009 (so far):

1. Morrissey - Years of Refusal (Black Cloud)
2. Samantha Crain - Songs in the Night
3. White Rabbits - It's Frightening
4. The Antlers - Hospice
5. Metric - Fantasies
6. Cut Off Your Hands - You & I
7. Wilco - Wilco
8. Crystal Method - Divided By The Night
9. Dangermouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul
10. M. Ward - Hold Time
11. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels

The 11 Best Songs By M. Ward

He's been called the Bob Dylan without talent, the Elliott Smith without pain, the Nick Drake without heart, the Ryan Adams without 8000 unreleased demos, the Joni Mitchell with testicles. (okay, I made up the last one). But the one thing that M.Ward is...is persistant. I'll have to be perfectly honest, I was never a fan. That is until She & Him. If someone as hot as Zooey Deschanel thinks there's something special about this guy...then he's definitely worth another listen. And so far, Hold Time is my favorite album of the year. Since then, I've gone back to do some rediscovery and this is the result.

Here are the 11 Best Songs by M. Ward:

1. Poison Cup (Post-War)

2. Chinese Translation (Post-War)

3. Vincent O'Brien (Transfiguration of Vincent)

4. Post-War (Post-War)

5. Carolina (End of Amnesia)

6. Eyes on the Prize (Post-War)

7. Beautiful Car (Duets For Guitars)

8. Outta My Head (Transfiguration of Vincent)

9. Undertaker (Transfiguration of Vincent)

10. Sweethearts on Parade (Transistor Radio)

11. Let's Dance (Transfiguration of Vincent)

Buy M. Ward's new album, Hold Time now!