Al Ward's Webpage

Page last updated: January 1, 2005

Other links

Pardon my indulgence while I add a few links that fall outside of the professional purview (consider it a slight personal touch). Here are my current musical recommendations (updated often).

2004

James McMurtry's (and the Heartless Bastard's -- got to love that...) first live cd, Live in Aught-Three, Loretta Lynn's stunning Van Lear Rose (produced and arranged by Jack White of White Stripes), Peter Himmelman's solid Unstoppable Forces (main disk + bonus disk = 25 songs), Patty Griffin's complex Impossible Dream, Gomez's bouyant Split the Difference, Modest Mouse's indie gem Good News For People Who Love Bad News, and Wilco's tour de force A Ghost is Born, Tom Wait's Real Gone, Nick Drake's Made to Love Magic, Morrissey's You are the Quarry, Arcade Fire's Funeral, U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, David Kilgour's Frozen Orange, Richard Buckner's Dents and Shells, Mark Knopfler's Shangri-La, Elvis Costello's The Delivery Man, The Fiery Furnaces' Blueberry Boat, Joseph Arthur's Our Shadows Will Remain, Sufjan Steven's Seven Swans, The Cure's The Cure, Keane's Hopes and Fears, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds's Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus, Patti Smith's Trampin, Cake's Pressure Chief, and Brian Wilson's Smile.

2003

Folk/Rock legend Richard Thompson's gem, The Old Kit Bag, Chris Whitley's original, stark, and blues-tinged Hotel Vast Horizon (see his 2001's Rocket House for an equally original, electronica-tinged gem). Dan Bern's insightful and rollicking Fleeting Days, Bruce Cockburn's brilliant You've Never Seen Anything, Radiohead's startling Hail to the Thief, Lucinda Williams' emotionally raw World Without Tears, Chris Smither's folksy/bluesy Train Home, Bob Dylan's eclectic soundtrack album, Masked and Anonymous, Eastmountainsouth's stellar debut Eastmountainsouth, Luka Bloom's Live Amsterdam, Neil Young's slow-burning Greendale (repeated listens won me over), Josh Rouse's beautiful 1972, the late Warren Zevon's final work, The Wind, Emmylou Harris' ethereal Stumble Into Grace, and Rodney Crowell's great Fate's Right Hand, Matthew Ryan's (new to me, but not anymore) stunning Regret Over the Wires, Damien Rice's debut O, Death Cab for Cutie's indie gem, Transatlanticism, and Cat Power's (aka, Chan Marshall) evocative You are Free. That's a wrap on 2003, I think....

2002

Irish folk singer Luka Bloom's sublime Between the Mountain and the Moon, Neil Young's Memphis-soul-tinged (includes the rockin' "Goin' Home" with Crazy Horse) Are You Passionate?, Josh Rouse's beautifully addictive Under Cold Blue Stars, Wilco's adventurous Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Norah Jones' vocally seductive Come Away with Me, compelling singer-songwriter Richard Shindell's live Courier, Gomez' inventive In Our Gun, Tom Waits' poetic and haunting Alice and Blood Money, Bruce Springsteen's lyrically moving and melodically rich The Rising, Coldplay's exquisite A Rush of Blood to the Head, and Peter Gabriel's masterful Up. Repeated listens won me over with Mark Knopfler's The Ragpicker's Dream and David Gray's A New Day At Midnight. U2's double CD The Best of 1990 - 2000 has enough new material and remixes to warrant inclusion.

Favorite Radio Stations/Programs

Fordham University's WFUV is simply the best station in the tri-state area. University of Pennsylvania's XPN is a treasure and is the home of David Dye's World Cafe, a syndicated show airing on many stations throughout the US. Sounds Eclectic offers a huge selection of archived streaming audio programs for listening while you peck away on your computer. All Songs Considered, NPR's online music show, offers a rich array of digital music. WFMU, a freeform station out of Jersey City, offers a whirlwind of innovative programming. Their signal is weak (at least for me), but you can listen online and their streaming audio archives are not to be believed.