Originally released in 1999,
M. Ward's debut is a sparse, mostly live affair recorded with pal and engineer
Adam Selzer of
Norfolk & Western at
Type Foundry Studio in Portland, OR. Listeners who are already accustomed to
Ward's breathy, conversational vocal delivery and soft-picked, West Coast
Americana melodies will find much to love here, while those looking for good entry point should probably start with one of his later albums.
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 that transcends the often bare-bones production. For the most part, it sound like most takes were done live with two microphones, with the occasional overdub, and that style suits
Ward's dreamy tales of molasses-slow teenage summers (
"Beautiful Car") and oddball parables like
"Fishing Boat Sons." It's also interesting to hear him shedding the inflections of some of his more obvious heroes like
Neil Young (
"Who May Be Lazy") and
Bob Dylan (
"It Won't Happen Twice").
Duet for Guitars #2 sounds like a debut. It's got some filler and it tips to the
lo-fi end of the scale more often than not, but it's brimming over with promise and timelessness. ~ James Christopher Monger