Ten (or so) years ago, Ward White released his debut, a double LP (no CDs) called Ward White Is the Matador. I don't usually review re-issues, but I didn't get this the first time around and I have some thoughts. Lots of thoughts!

Ward White Ward White Is the Matador (Think Like a Key Records)

As is often the case with first efforts, this album is more ambitious and wide-ranging than White's later (near-perfect) albums. His trademark falsetto is in full effect, but he uses a much broader musical palette on this early outing than he does these days. That does leave the results more uneven, but in many ways more intriguing as well.

What's stranger is that White achieved about everything he could have wanted with this debut: musical brilliance and rapt praise from a wide variety of mainstream press outlets. It was the perfect table-setter for future commercial success. Except that his blend of art-pop, 60s rock progressions, musings on life in a plastic society and, yes, that utterly unmistakable voice pretty much guarantee fervent fans, but not enough remuneration to put beans on the table on a regular basis.

If you're like me and simply adore the guy, this is a fascinating time machine. My biggest question is what was going on with him before this? Few emerge as fully-formed as White, but his background (and current whereabouts, truthfully) are relatively obscure. The man doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry (unlike White Ward, which is a Ukrainian black metal band). That self-imposed obscurity might well be part of the bit, but still.

White kinda threw it all out there on this, his first effort. He's tightened things up considerably in the years since (no 20-minute album closers, to begin with), but he's still delightfully mental. Few have stirred up so much interest while causing nary a ripple in the mainstream. This flashback is more than worth a listen or hundred. Absolutely engrossing.

Jon Worley