The phrase “indie supergroup” gets bandied about a fair amount these days, pretty much any time musicians from one relatively well-known band decide to get together and cut some tracks with the members of another, most likely also well-known outfit. Never mind that “indie supergroup” is more than a slight oxymoron, but the label—and the fervor of fans expecting to hear what amounts to a mash-up of their favorite artists—often obscures its true nature: Most of the time they’re just a bunch of musicians who share a similar interest, enjoy playing together (see: Monsters of Folk, Wild ...

You’ve probably heard of his other projects:  Bright Eyes, Monsters of Folk, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band… but Desparecidos?!? It’s been a while! Details on Oberst reuniting with his old punk/hardcore band for Nebraska’s Maha Music Festival this August can be found here. Today, Wilco‘s pivotal album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot celebrates its tenth Read more...

(Spunk) She & Him and Monsters Of Folk member steps up his solo career M. Ward inhabits a paradoxical space in contemporary American indie music – as he becomes more of a public figure through his high-profile collaborations (She & Him, with Zooey Deschanel, and Monsters Of Folk, with Jim James, Mike Mogis and Conor Oberst), his own solo work slips into the background. His previous album, Hold Time, is a sleepy, downtempo affair exemplified by a somnolent cover of Sonny West’s Rave On; ...

By Gareth O’Malley Matthew Stephen Ward’s been around a bit since he released his last solo album, Hold Time, in 2009. In that same year, he put out an album with Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes under the Monsters of Folk banner. The following year, in addition to releasing Volume Two, the second of his albums [...]

Filed under: Q + A Press Here M. Ward has been kicking around the indie music scene for the past several years in a largely collaborative role. Though he has six solo albums to his name, in the last three years he has released two albums as one half of the twee-pop duo She and Him and one album as one fifth of the rootsy supergroup Monsters of Folk . However, even while juggling his numerous commitments, Ward was hard at work on his seventh solo album, A Wasteland Companion . The LP, out now, runs the gamut from the wistful "The First ...

Storytellers are ancient and revered individuals since the early days of logical, linguistic humankind, passing on the tales of the elders and those before them, of gods and man and nature and everything in between, from morality tales to gargantuan legends of the creation of the known universe. Fast-forward to 2012 and we have authors, screenwriters, directors, critics, poets and, of course, musicians and songwriters. When an artist with a few stories to tell manages to put the appropriate (and well crafted) music behind their yarns, the fans will come flooding. The likes of Bon Iver, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell ...

After some promising-to-very-good early albums, M. Ward refined and focused his approach on 2006’s magnificent Post-War , which brought together all the vintage sounds Ward had been dabbling in—from ragtime to surf—and unified them through his gossamer guitar and hobo rasp. Since then, though, Ward’s appeared to stall a little. His two collaborations with Zooey Deschanel as She & Him have both been substantial hits, and 2009’s Hold Time had its bright spots (as did Ward’s contributions to the tongue-in-cheek indie-rock supergroup Monsters Of Folk ). But having built his way up steadily to Post-War , Ward was ...

If Matt Ward tends to be overlooked among indie rock's greatest talents it's because dude hangs back – behind Zooey Deschanel in She and Him behind Conor Oberst and Jim James in Monsters of Folk behind the scenes as collaborator with Jenny Lewis Neko Case and others But his own...

Wait, so people make Christmas playlists, but they don't make Easter playlists? Yeah, this never really made sense to us. If you're going to have music celebrating the birth of Jesus, shouldn’t you also have music celebrating when he resurrected himself? (That's if you believe in that stuff, of course.) PHOTOS: Sneakers For Easter 2012  So, we decided to do something about it. We wanted to make our own Easter playlist. We didn’t use any songs by Christian artists, however. That would be too easy. Instead we gathered our favorite Christian-themed songs done by our ...

I've grown so accustomed to hearing M. Ward as part of other projects ( She & Him , Monsters Of Folk ), that I've really forgotten what he sounds like on his own.  On April 10th we get his sixth studio album, A Wasteland Compilation , to help remind me. In reality, Ward on his own can at times sound like either of those side projects. The most obvious comparison to his She & Him output is "Sweetheart", a '50s vibed number featuring ooooos and handclaps, and oh right Zooey Deschanel.   The cheeky keyboard pop of "Primitive Girl" is hard to resist as well ...

With guests like Chris Walla, Ben Kweller and Rhett Miller, John Dufilho’s (Apples in Stereo) _John Singer Sergeant: The Music and Words of John Dufilho_ is notably a buzzworthy album. Before its release on April 10, Dufilho has given us a taste with the first song off of the album, featuring vocals from Will Johnson (Monsters of Folk, New Multitudes, Centro-matic).

WEEKEND VIDEO "The First Time I Ran Away" from the album A Wasteland Companion 2012 iTunes BY CHRIS KRAEMER | Jonk Music Matt Ward creates music under numerous monikers. Possibly most known as "the guy who sings with that famous girl," Ward's journey toward solo recognition takes another step with his 2012 LP release. A Wasteland Companion will not be categorized under She & Him, the name of Ward's collaboration with actress Zooey Deschanel, nor will it be credited to Monsters of Folk, the supergroup to which he belongs. Instead the album will be filed under M. Ward; add a couple of side projects amidst dozens of appearances and his solo work is often left behind. Despite the three-year M. Ward album drought, releases under other aliases have kept the public content. Fans are sure ...

Woody Guthrie Project feat. Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker and Yim Yames,  Sarah Jaffe, and Chris Cunningham @ The Showbox at the Market | 3/10  | 8pm | $22-$25 (Get Tickets) | All Ages  Will Johnson (Centro-matic, South San Gabriel), Jay Farrar (Son Volt, Gob Iron, Uncle Tupelo), Yim Yames (My Morning Jacket, Monsters of Folk), and [...]

Discover: @ M.Ward   [Song: The First Time I Ran Away ] Official Music Video Matthew Stephen Ward started off solo in Portland’s music scene. From there he collaborated with Zooey Deschanel to create She & Him ; and Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) , Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Lullaby for the Working Class) , and Jim James (My Morning Jacket) to create Monsters of Folk . After much collaboration and artist experience, his forthcoming album A Wasteland Companion is due out April 10th, 2012. For fans of AA Bondy , Andrew Bird , and Wilco S X S W Appearances  Wednesday, March 14 @ Central Presbyterian Church - [11 PM] Wednesday ...

I’ll admit it, I’m not a big fan of sad songs. Or even slow songs, for that matter. My job is essentially that of a professional cheerleader (that’s how I like to think of publicity) so most of my music listening is about getting pumped up, with the occasional rip-my-heart-out ballad thrown in when it suits the mood. I’ve always appreciated M. Ward as a songwriter, guitar player, and for his uniquely smoky voice. I have followed him through his various solo albums and collaborations (She & Him, Monsters of Folk) but ...