[fingertipsmusic] This Week's Finds: April 12 (M. Ward, Joywave, Scott Matthew)

From: Jeremy Schlosberg <fingertipsmusic@xxxxxxxxx>
To: fingertipsmusic@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:44:09 -0400

*THIS WEEK'S FINDS <http://www.fingertipsmusic.com>*
*April 12*

[image: M. Ward]<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/ward.jpg>
**“PRIMITIVE GIRL” – M.
WARD<http://traffic.libsyn.com/threehive/02_M._Ward_-_A_Wasteland_Companion_-_Primitive_Girl.mp3>

I’m not sure what makes M. Ward so M. Ward-y. I’m also not sure I’m a
completely huge fan of M. Ward-iness; but the man without question has
something going for him, and I find myself falling for some of his songs
without completely knowing why. This is one of them.

So yeah we get those reverbed, slightly-processed, just-woke-up vocals.
That’s an important part of the M. Ward sound. You can clearly picture the
scruffy, pillow-crushed head of hair that goes along with the voice. We
also get the brisk, no-nonsense musical setting that Ward likes to offer,
in this case a percussive, immediately likable blend of keyboards and
drums. Built upon the olden-days effect of beginning and ending each verse
with the same two lines, “Primitive Girl” doesn’t aim to change the world
or blow your mind but it feels wise and it warms the heart, and there’s
something to be said for that. Note that the song wraps up within about two
minutes, after which comes a wistful, Tom Waits-ish coda that, on the
album, segues directly into the next track. As a standalone MP3, it ends
abruptly, be forewarned.
“Primitive Girl” is a song from *A Wasteland Companion*, M. Ward’s seventh
solo album, released this week on Merge Records. The album does feature She
& Him compatriot Zooey Deschanel on a couple of tracks, but this one is all
him, no she. MP3 via the good folks at 3hive <http://www.3hive.com/>.

[image: Joywave]<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/joywave.jpg>
**“TRUE GRIT” –
JOYWAVE<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/Joywave-True_Grit.mp3>

A delightful splash of retro-y synth pop, “True Grit” is slick and stylized
even as it likewise feels heartfelt and handmade. With its well-crafted
blend of electronic sounds—pulse-like, percolating, plucky; wooshy and
shimmering—the song floats in the airiest of spaces yet remains grounded
and determined. First we get a fully-developed, Eurythmics-like
instrumental melody; then comes Dan Armbruster, singing with New Romantic
aplomb, cool and hot at the same time, telling us far less with his words
than with his tone. The song appears to pivot on the melodramatic,
non-sequitur-ish “Sometimes the English countryside remembers war”; yeah,
I’m not sure what that’s about either but it glides by with marvelous ease.

The song hinges on that lyric largely because it’s one of the few lines
that emerges from Armbruster’s mouth with purposeful clarity. For most of
the song, he obfuscates with elegant panache, singing words that you can
only *almost* understand. It’s an underrated pop song trick, not unlike
pairing sad words with happy music: pairing a smooth-as-silk sound with
not-quite-intelligible lyrics. The ear is captivated and, perhaps, happier
this way than if it also has to process a storyline. Works for me, anyway.
Joywave is a quintet from Rochester that formed in 2010. “True Grit” is one
of seven songs on the band’s debut EP, *Koda Vista*, a work indirectly
inspired by the rise and fall of hometown behemoth Eastman Kodak. You an
stream the album on Joywave’s Bandcamp <http://joywave.bandcamp.com/> page,
which also offers a variety of corporate-themed purchase options, one of
which includes credit towards the purchase of Eastman Kodak Company stock.

[image: Scott
Matthew]<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/matthew.jpg>
**“SINKING” – SCOTT
MATTHEW<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/MatthewScott-Sinking.mp3>

You won’t get too far in reading about Scott Matthew without Antony
Hegarty, of Antony and the Johnsons, coming up (and I, oops, have just
added to the pile). But here’s the funny thing about that kind of RIYL
short-cutting: its inherent superficiality, typically connecting a singer
to someone else he or she sounds like, can be drastically misleading. I,
for instance, don’t much care to listen to Hegarty, despite his obvious
depth and talent. I don’t connect with his music, for whatever reason. But
Matthew—whose theatrical, husky tenor bears a passing resemblance to
Hegarty’s singular voice—is here singing a song I like a lot. Let us note
once and for all that RIYL is a defective recommendation engine.

Anyway, “Sinking”: a languid, off-center ballad, at once minimal and
luxurious, backed by piano, layered vocals, and the delicate strumming of a
ukulele I can only, and unexpectedly, describe as lovely. The song’s
unusual sense of pace is rooted in a 3/4 time signature at once deliberate
and unsteady, and amplified by the drawn-out melody line, which extends to
nine rather than the typical eight measures. And I would not want the
Antony comparisons to distract anyone from the vividness of Matthew’s own
voice, both musically and lyrically. To the extent that one can follow
them, the words he croons are striking. The song is a keeper.
Born in Australia, Matthew moved to Brooklyn in the late ’90s. He was in a
short-lived band called Elva Snow in 2002 with Morrissey compatriot Spencer
Cobrin, then wrote music for a few movie soundtracks, including John
Cameron Mitchell’s *Shortbus*. A self-titled solo debut emerged in 2008.
“Sinking” is from Mitchell’s third album, *Gallantry’s Favorite Son*, which
was released in March on Riot Bear Records<http://www.riotbearrecordingco.com/>
.

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"He took a course in sales
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He's never been the same....."
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[fingertipsmusic] This Week's Finds: April 12 (M. Ward, Joywave, Scott Matthew)

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