REVIEW: M. Ward "Transistor Radio"

Rating: 9

I heard this and immediately recommended it to a friend as "Dave Matthews for people who hate Dave Matthews."  This friend then confessed that he doesn't hate Dave Matthews as much as he knows he should in order to maintain any sort of cred.  He, the friend, is above suspicion and I'm not here to out anybody.  Hell I own "Under the Table and Dreaming" AND "Crash" so I'm clearly no hater myself.  However I haven't seen "Because of Winn-Dixie" yet.  My friend says Matthews is good in it though.

M. Ward gets away with doing what Matthews, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson and John Mayer (and even Gomez, a little) are doing but without sounding like one of the crowd.  Stylistically, yes, he's a guy busy being good at playing an acoustic guitar and singing the soft shoed jangle-blues.  But Ward leaves a few threads exposed which, when followed, trace back to deeper roots and branch across a wider spectrum.  I figured I'd find something to appreciate in "Transistor Radio" after reading all the kudos it has accumulated since its release but I was surprised to find myself genuinely touched.