M. Ward - Duet For Guitars #2

Originally released on CD in 1999, M. Ward’s debut is a sparse, understated and intimate affair, recorded with pal and engineer Adam Selzer of Norfolk & Western at Type Foundry Studio in Portland, OR. Though strikingly less 'produced' than his more recent work, fans already accustomed to Ward’s breathy, conversational vocal delivery and soft-picked, West Coast Americana melodies will also find much to love here. 
 
Duet for Guitars #2 is peppered with instrumentals in the John Fahey and Bad Timing-era Jim O’Rourke vein, and Ward’s lackadaisical picking sounds just as lazily precise here as it does on future recordings. There’s a real warmth to the sessions, emphasised by the often bare-bones production. For the most part, takes were done live with two microphones, with the occasional overdub, and that style suits Ward’s dreamy tales of molasses-slow teenage summers and oddball parables. 

TRACKLIST:

1. Duet For Guitars #2

2. Beautiful Car

3. Fishing Boat Song

4. Scene From #12

5. Good News

6. The Crooked Spine

7. Look Me Over

8. Who May Be Lazy

9. It Won’t Happen Twice

10. He Asked Me To Be A Snake And Live Underground

11. Song From Debby’s Strairs

12. It Was A Beautiful Car

13. Were You There?

14. Not A Gang

15. Duet For Guitars #1

• Limited edition reissue
• Pressed on audiophile vinyl
• Clear vinyl version exclusive to indie stores
• Comes in kraft-board sleeve

see also: 
José Medeles feat. M. Ward, Marisa Anderson & Chris Funk - Railroad Cadences & Melancholic Anthems   LP | CD