- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
My album of the year - whatever year it is.
-
Musically imaginative, robustly performed, and drawn from a golden well of warmth and intelligence.
-
Los Angeles TimesThere's such a casual, old-timey feel to much of the CD that it's easy to get caught up by the album's charms and forget to focus on Ward's writing, which would be a mistake. [6 Mar 2005]
-
It's a deeper, more rewarding listen, rivaling End of Amnesia for Ward's strongest release to date.
-
Ward’s only failure in his bid to create a paean to another era is Transistor Radio’s length.
-
Entertainment WeeklyWistful and bluesy. [11 Mar 2005, p.105]
-
This one is just a little tiny bit less perfectly imperfect than [Transfiguration of Vincent], but it's still got all the warmth and gentle disorganization of its predecessor-- with a few more oomphy tracks standing in for Tranfiguration's most introspective meditations.
-
Ward's voice is a slap-delayed pastiche of Ron Sexsmith's easygoing croon and Andrew Bird's closed-mouth drawl, and like his front-porch fingerpicking, it's as effortless as it is effective.
-
Texture and detail separte M. Ward from other solo singer-guitarists, but his general songwriting formula is what gets him to the peak of exceptional list in the first place.
-
He has a childlike wonderment rarely glimpsed among industry-dominated modern music, but he plays this off against a frail world-weariness.
-
UncutThis is uncluttered, radiant music with the lightest touch and muggiest of voices. [Mar 2005, p.102]
-
The hit and miss nature of Transistor Radio makes it seem more like a compilation of songs rather than a cohesive album. But in the end, the album is a winner simply due to Ward's unique voice and talent as a songwriter.
-
Q MagazineBoth melancholic and gleeful, down-home yet artful. [Mar 2005, p.104]
-
Under The RadarNo one else sounds like him, and these are the best songs he's ever played. [#9]
-
His lo-fi production values, traditional forms, and writerly sense of detail create songs that seem to recall moments from some collective past life, one that’s just barely disappeared from view.
-
Paste MagazineWard's lo-fi (and utterly charming) ditties make you long for a past you never lived. [#14, p.123]
-
Even if he isn't entirely breaking new ground, he does put together over 40 straight minutes of eminently listenable music that works as both a reminder of and an accomplishment in its tradition.
-
MojoTransistor Radio's songs do lack the shirtfront-clenching grip of Ward's Transfiguration of Vincent set. But shapeless and misty atmospherics have their shadowy power too. [Mar 2005, p.92]
-
BlenderAt once intimate and far-off... like a beautiful broadcast from a room down the hall. [Apr 2005, p.125]
-
Ward has imbibed a sense of remorse and cold-eyed mortality from country blues and Appalachian mountain music, and incorporates them into his own decidedly modern songwriting.
-
New Musical Express (NME)Another set of unassuming Americana. [19 Mar 2005, p.59]
-
Unfocused, haphazard, and a bit homogenous.
-
Alternative PressMost of Ward's quiet, contemporary folk songs are mere sketches, mediocre if not unmemorable. [Apr 2005, p.126]
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 31 out of 33
-
Mixed: 0 out of 33
-
Negative: 2 out of 33
-
jebjebitzMar 29, 2009This one is just great. So many subtle moments, it puts you in a great state of mind.
-
alecbNov 26, 2008
-
SpencerDec 1, 2006ROCKPALAST! If you're a fan of his newer album, Post-War, you should definitely check out this one!!!