Search - M Ward :: End of Amnesia

M.Ward makes ?that string buzz like it was 1989?

Stephen Haske | Savannah, GA | 07/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off - Thank God Howe Gleb has the good taste to get behind this guy. Matt Ward puts out some of the best guitar music I've heard since Michael Hedges, OR Leo Kottke (Check out "Psalm" track 11). But Ward has great pop sensibility on top of his vast technical skill.
With a scratchy voice culled from Gonzo The Great (compare Ward's wonderful "Carolina" to the classic "Someday") and all the latent emotion and urgency that entails, Matt Ward sings from the edge of everything important. Even if it is just a high school reunion ("So Much Water" track 4). I'm not sure how much of a hand Gleb had in the sculpting of this album, but it is very consistent. I loved all the soft background found-recordings throughout. They were inserted with such taste that they always add to the texture and never annoy like they are apt to do in lesser hands. And just like the O'Brien of the last track (14) Matt Ward quietly and humbly "blew my mind.""