Merge's reissue of M. Ward’s 2005 album Transistor Radio. The LP pressing includes a CD containing four previously unreleased recordings.
We asked music writer Jud Cost to revisit Transistor Radio for this reissue, and this is what he wrote:
If you totally lost it when you first heard the masterful CD version of the opening track, a lump-in-the-throat instrumental reworking of Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds gem “You Still Believe in Me,” wait until you feel the sun scorch your face from the ultra-warm PVC treatment. Better keep some Coppertone handy.
On the other hand, “Fuel for Fire” has enough country heartbreak it should have been covered by George Jones. And then there’s “Four Hours in Washington,” the insomniac’s nightmare, opening with a groan of Twin Peaks-like guitar chords before the tale unravels thusly: “Well, it’s one in the morning and I can’t sleep at night / I hear wolves around the doorstep, they’re circling outside / I count ’em jumping over fences and landing on the sheets / Now it’s two in the morning and I can’t fall asleep.” If you’ve been itching to drop your tonearm onto one of Transistor Radio’s 16 jackpot tracks, here’s your chance, hi-fi worshipper.
Tracklist of bonus CD included with LP:
- Just the Other Side of Nowhere (Kris Kristofferson cover)
featuring Jim James (vocal, guitar)
- Lullaby + Exile (live)
featuring Norah Jones (vocal)
- Here Comes the Sun Again (four-track)
- Paul’s Song (instrumental)
featuring Paul Brainard (pedal steel)
