{"product_id":"m-ward-for-beginners-the-best-of-m-ward","title":"M. WARD - For Beginners: The Best of M. Ward","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #ff0000;\" mce-data-marked=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLP - Black Vinyl.  \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFor Beginners: The Best of M. Ward\u003c\/em\u003e is a collection for \u003cstrong\u003eM. Ward\u003c\/strong\u003e fans of any vintage. Gathering together 14 tracks from across his Merge Records discography, including the newly recorded song “\u003cem\u003eCry\u003c\/em\u003e,” \u003cem\u003eFor Beginners\u003c\/em\u003e is both a primer and a mixtape of favorites sequenced in a way that gives them new life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeginning with “\u003cem\u003eChinese Translation\u003c\/em\u003e” and “\u003cem\u003ePoison Cup\u003c\/em\u003e” from 2006’s \u003cem\u003ePost War\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFor Beginners\u003c\/em\u003e drops in on Ward as he expands his prowess in the studio.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis singular cover of \u003cstrong\u003eDavid Bowie\u003c\/strong\u003e’s “\u003cem\u003eLet’s Dance\u003c\/em\u003e,” from 2003’s \u003cem\u003eTransfiguration of Vincent\u003c\/em\u003e, breaks out into the exuberant “\u003cem\u003eNever Had Nobody Like You\u003c\/em\u003e” from 2009’s \u003cem\u003eHold Time\u003c\/em\u003e. Rather than the neat evolutionary line suggested by a chronological arrangement, what holds \u003cem\u003eFor Beginners\u003c\/em\u003e together is Ward’s impeccable skill as a songwriter, which remains in focus as his sound expands from low-fi home recordings to electric, radio-ready \u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003estompers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSerendipitously timed for release during \u003cstrong\u003eMerge Records\u003c\/strong\u003e’ 35-year anniversary, this celebration of one of the label’s most beloved artists includes “\u003cem\u003eCry\u003c\/em\u003e” his first new recording on Merge since 2018 a stripped-down cover of the \u003cstrong\u003eGodley \u0026amp; Creme\u003c\/strong\u003e pop classic featuring Melbourne, Australia’s \u003cstrong\u003eFolk Bitch Trio\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eM. Ward on “Cry”:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eCry\u003c\/em\u003e” was recorded in a Tasmanian modern art museum called MONA. I sat at the end of a long hallway a few feet away from Anselm Kiefer’s sculpture of a 20-foot-high stack of lead books, and standing to my left and right around a single microphone were Melbourne’s Folk Bitch Trio; we rehearsed and recorded “Cry” in about 30 minutes. A pleasure to add this song to a collection of some of my favorite memories of music-making during the first decade of record-creating with my friends at Merge.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe song is the perfect capstone for a collection of this nature, summing up much of Ward’s power as a musician: the richness he’s capable of achieving in sparse recordings, his knack for collaboration, and his ability to see through to the soul of a meticulously crafted pop song as much a means of looking forward to what’s to come of his own work as it is a callback to his past.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Merge Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Vinyl","offer_id":49003979014489,"sku":"SDZ-22032","price":28.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0588\/3455\/0945\/files\/M_Ward_-_For_Beginners__The_Best_Of__-_LP_Vinyl_-_2024.jpg?v=1721750156","url":"https:\/\/spindizzyrecords.com\/products\/m-ward-for-beginners-the-best-of-m-ward","provider":"Spindizzy Dublin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}