Iron & Wine have shown an impressive work ethic since the release of The Creek Drank the Cradle in 2002. A flood of singles, EPs, and albums, each with high levels of quality, have made Iron & Wine and Sam Beam stars in the indie rock world. Introspective, leaning toward morose, and heavily bearded stars, but glittering just the same. 2007's The Shepherd's Dog goes a long way toward validating all the attention I&W have been getting; it's their best, most diverse, and most listenable record yet, as Beam and co. take another leap away from the lo-fi, one-dude-in-a-bedroom beginnings of the group. Here Beam surrounds himself with a large cast of musicians, and they blanket the songs with a wide array of instrumentation, everything from accordions to Hammond organ, piano to backward guitars, vibraphone to bass harmonica. Nothing too strange in the everything-goes world of indie rock circa 2007, but for Iron & Wine, it's a widescreen revelation. Perhaps working with Calexico on 2005's In the Reins inspired Beam to use all the colors in the paint box. Maybe it's a natural progression. Either way it leads to an inspiringly lush album, full of imaginative and rich arrangements. Not to say Beam has cast aside the vital elements that made the band so interesting to begin with; his whispered vocals still conjure shadowy mystery, the songs are still melancholy as hell at their core, and as always there's a lingering sense of Southern gothic foreboding shrouding the proceedings. The increased production values take these elements and goose them. The recognizably I&W songs like the dark and creepy "Peace Beneath the City" or the gloomy country ballad "Resurrection Fern" sound bigger and have a different kind of impact. Take "Boy with a Coin," which in the past would have been spare, spooky, and a bit insular, but now is huge and spooky thanks to the propulsive handclaps and atmospheric backward guitars that would make Daniel Lanois jealous. Along with these pumped-up variations on the band's classic sound, there are songs you'd never imagine hearing on an Iron & Wine album. The danceable (!) "House by the Sea" has jumpy Afro-pop underpinnings and a bit of wild abandon in Beam's more passionate-than-usual vocals; "Wolves (Song of the Shepherd's Dog)" is a funky mix of David Essex's "Rock On," a backwoods-sounding Meters, and of all things, dub reggae; and most shockingly, "The Devil Never Sleeps" actually rocks with a rollicking barroom piano, a loping tempo, bongos, and lyrics about nothing on the radio, leading to a sound that's ironically perfect for the radio. By the end of the record, you may feel a few pangs for the discarded, sparse sound of early Iron & Wine, but the beauty and majesty of The Shepherd's Dog will pave right over them, and you should be able to enjoy the masterful songcraft, inspired performance, and note-perfect production with no guilt and a fair bit of awe.
Saw Iron & Wine for the first time last Monday and the tunes are still swimming in my head. What a beautiful sound Sam Beam and Co. got going!You know something special is happening when you are in a music venue in NYC, with many bars throughout, and the entire place is silent and staring at the stage for the entire show. The music definately sucked everyone in. I strongly recommend checking...
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The Iron & Wine show last night was nothing short of incredible. It was our first visit to The Palladium Ballroom in Dallas, and I really liked the venue. The space had good sound, friendly staff, multiple bars, a nice floor layout with plenty of room, and it was also easy to get to.Arthur and Yu opened, and they were a perfect compliment to Iron & Wine. I wish Sonya's vocals would have been...
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There is something rather modest about Iron & Wine. This could be a damning statement: modest might equate to boring, unadventurous, unambitious, lacking in body ... I imply none of these. _The Shepherd's Dog_ is modest because it does not seek to dazzle - and does not chase what (sorry) TS Eliot might've called an "exaggerated novelty". It's matter-of-fact, unpretentious.... And, somehow, very...
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Is it weird to like a record even though it reminds you, however faintly, of something you never liked very much? I only ask because I've been playing this new Iron & Wine record quite a lot this past couple of weeks.The past Iron & Wine albums have had a distinct touch of Simon & Garfunkel about them, I think, in their hushed minimalism, the way Sam Beam sang in a calm whisper that masked all ...
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I don't think Sam Beam can ever write a bad song. Since I first heard Bird Stealing Bread, I've been hooked. Seeing him live just cemented my love for his music. Being the huge fan that I am, I was very excited to find that a new Iron & Wine album is due to be released this coming fall, entitled The Shepherd's Dog. He's played a few of the new songs in some recent shows, one of which (from ...
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Here is my favorite off of the new album. I love it, but in the interest of full disclosure, I am blinded by bias when it comes to Sam Beam. He is on that same pedestal where I keep Jack White,Jeff Tweedy, and a handful of other songwriters...I just don't think these guys would release something that wasn't great
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A few days ago, I got into a conversation with a friend of mine about Iron & Wine. We both had been fans for years (me more than him) but for some reason he had never checked out last year's album, The Shepherd's Dog. As soon as he told me this, I told him how much I hated that album. I had listened 2 or 3 times before deciding that it just would not grow on me and promptly forgot about it...
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Check out this track off the new Iron & Wine album, The Shepherd's Dog.
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last night i put my husband on a surprise treasure hunt to find me. he did, and we ate a fine meal, and when the wine came out mid-meal, i dropped an envelope on the floor. inside were iron and wine tickets. the show at the paramount was amazing. feeling blessed to have seen such wonderful music this month: cold war kids, hold steady, band of horses, iron and wine. sustainability in its finest....
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Iron & Wine's Sam Beam will be giving the West some lovin' after Thanksgiving when he tours that side of the Continental Divide. Iron & Wine starts his mini-US tour on November 26th in Tucson, AZ and finishes up just 2.5 weeks later in his adopted home of Austin, TX on December 11th. Before and after the US stretch of shows the South Carolina-born Beam will be taking his acoustic guitar to the...
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DOWNLOAD: The Shepherd’s Dog Alternate TracksThis was a pleasant surprise (you can also file under Record Store Day news):Hello Iron & Wine Ticket Buyer,Thank you for purchasing tickets to Iron & Wine’s upcoming May tour, we’re very excited for these shows.We wanted to let you know that all ticket holders will be receiving a free [...]
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The Iron & Wine show last night was nothing short of incredible. It was our first visit to The Palladium Ballroom in Dallas, and I really liked the venue. The space had good sound, friendly staff, multiple bars, a nice floor layout with plenty of room, and it was also easy to get to.Arthur and Yu opened, and they were a perfect compliment to Iron & Wine. I wish Sonya's vocals would have been...
More >
Saw Iron & Wine for the first time last Monday and the tunes are still swimming in my head. What a beautiful sound Sam Beam and Co. got going!You know something special is happening when you are in a music venue in NYC, with many bars throughout, and the entire place is silent and staring at the stage for the entire show. The music definately sucked everyone in. I strongly recommend checking...
More >
speaking of opium. of speaking. speaking of iron. speaking of wine. of speaking. speaking of opiium. speaking of iron. of speaking. speaking of iron and wine. speaking of opium. speaking of pagans. speaking of cars. speaking of angels. speaking of wine speaking. of speaking. speaking of angels speaking of opium. speaking iron. speaking of iron pagans. speaking of wine cars. of speaking. speakin...
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There is something rather modest about Iron & Wine. This could be a damning statement: modest might equate to boring, unadventurous, unambitious, lacking in body ... I imply none of these. _The Shepherd's Dog_ is modest because it does not seek to dazzle - and does not chase what (sorry) TS Eliot might've called an "exaggerated novelty". It's matter-of-fact, unpretentious.... And, somehow, very...
More >
A dear friend forwarded me a blogsite in which the entire new Iron and Wine album can be downloaded for free. The catch. Obey the honor system. If you dig the album(and OH YEAH it's good!) erase it within 24 hours and buy it yourself. Because as my friend Ryan said, "stealing from Sam Beam will earn you a one-way ticket to HELL!!!" True that. Enjoy.http://bolachasgratis.blogspot.com (bolacha g...
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Heard Iron and Wine on XM radio last night. Great groove tunes for the next road trip.
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Is it weird to like a record even though it reminds you, however faintly, of something you never liked very much? I only ask because I've been playing this new Iron & Wine record quite a lot this past couple of weeks.The past Iron & Wine albums have had a distinct touch of Simon & Garfunkel about them, I think, in their hushed minimalism, the way Sam Beam sang in a calm whisper that masked all ...
More >
I don't think Sam Beam can ever write a bad song. Since I first heard Bird Stealing Bread, I've been hooked. Seeing him live just cemented my love for his music. Being the huge fan that I am, I was very excited to find that a new Iron & Wine album is due to be released this coming fall, entitled The Shepherd's Dog. He's played a few of the new songs in some recent shows, one of which (from ...
More >
I think most people became aware of the group Iron and Wine when they did a cover of the song "Such Great Heights" on the Garden State Soundtrack. The bearded wonder (he is only "outbearded" by Rick Rubin) that is Sam Beam has outdone himself on his new album "The Shepards Dog". While I have always loved his lyrics and voice I have found his music background to be comatose. Shephards Dog howev...
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 "The Shepherd's Dog")
