2008 Woodie Awards
CD Review: Iron and Wine
Andrew Beam
Issue date: 10/12/07 Section: Fuse
Originally published: 10/11/07 at 11:16 PM EST
Last update: 10/11/07 at 11:15 PM EST
- Page 1 of 1
Holy instrumentation Batman!
Those are the words that may come to mind when listening to Iron and Wine's latest effort.
Since his 2005 EP "Woman King," singer-songwriter Sam Beam has upped the ante with "Shepherd's Dog" adding an eclectic mix of instruments.
The album starts off with "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car." In this beginning, the music is incredibly overwhelming with an orgy of sounds caused by all of the different instruments coming at you all at once.
As the album goes on, it becomes a different story because you realize that those instruments need to be there or else the music would be empty.
A lot of the songs are very low tempo, very low key and relaxing.
"Carousel" is one of those very lucid tracks where Beam harmonizes with a Leslie-organ effect on his voice.
The song starts out very softly with just an acoustic guitar, piano and some clean electric guitar.
To prove the large array of instrumentation true, "White Tooth Man" gives a very Middle Eastern feel with a sitar along with a tambourine softly playing in the background complementing the bongo drums.
The track "House by the Sea" is a song about separation and the feeling that results from it.
The harmonica, along with a subtle harp, picks up into a very tribal feel.
Painting a picture with his lyrics, Beam makes you feel as if you are him: "Around the house by the sea/ the scent of roses and raspberry leaves/ and there is smoke in my clothes/ too much time with just smoke in my nose."
There are some faster tempo tracks, such as the track "Wolves" that has a very reggae feel brought along by the bass.
There is a great riff produced by the electric guitar playing in the background of the song.
Beam soon adds a very jazzy piano to the ending with his own steel guitar to play out the song.
This song is especially perfect for a listener with headphones.
There is a different instrument specifically located in each ear which really gives the song its character. It is truly pleasurable for the ears.
"The Devil Never Sleeps" gives people a chance to get up and dance to his music.
Rather than just a slow groove like most of the other tracks on this album, "Devil" has a fast tempo with a blues-style piano and a soloing electric guitar backed by a steel guitar.
His voice is more upbeat and is more alive than most of the tracks on this CD, going on a very refreshing two minutes.
"Peace Beneath the City" is a key track on the album. Beam's skillfully played slide guitar highlights the song as Beam's low voice gives the song its cool groove.
Beam shows off how beautiful his voice is when not under effects in the closing song "Flightless Bird, American Mouth."
His sweet and angelic falsetto sets the tone of the song.
Beam shows a lot of progress from his past albums, not just in his instrumentation but lyrically and vocally.
Those are the words that may come to mind when listening to Iron and Wine's latest effort.
Since his 2005 EP "Woman King," singer-songwriter Sam Beam has upped the ante with "Shepherd's Dog" adding an eclectic mix of instruments.
The album starts off with "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car." In this beginning, the music is incredibly overwhelming with an orgy of sounds caused by all of the different instruments coming at you all at once.
As the album goes on, it becomes a different story because you realize that those instruments need to be there or else the music would be empty.
A lot of the songs are very low tempo, very low key and relaxing.
"Carousel" is one of those very lucid tracks where Beam harmonizes with a Leslie-organ effect on his voice.
The song starts out very softly with just an acoustic guitar, piano and some clean electric guitar.
To prove the large array of instrumentation true, "White Tooth Man" gives a very Middle Eastern feel with a sitar along with a tambourine softly playing in the background complementing the bongo drums.
The track "House by the Sea" is a song about separation and the feeling that results from it.
The harmonica, along with a subtle harp, picks up into a very tribal feel.
Painting a picture with his lyrics, Beam makes you feel as if you are him: "Around the house by the sea/ the scent of roses and raspberry leaves/ and there is smoke in my clothes/ too much time with just smoke in my nose."
There are some faster tempo tracks, such as the track "Wolves" that has a very reggae feel brought along by the bass.
There is a great riff produced by the electric guitar playing in the background of the song.
Beam soon adds a very jazzy piano to the ending with his own steel guitar to play out the song.
This song is especially perfect for a listener with headphones.
There is a different instrument specifically located in each ear which really gives the song its character. It is truly pleasurable for the ears.
"The Devil Never Sleeps" gives people a chance to get up and dance to his music.
Rather than just a slow groove like most of the other tracks on this album, "Devil" has a fast tempo with a blues-style piano and a soloing electric guitar backed by a steel guitar.
His voice is more upbeat and is more alive than most of the tracks on this CD, going on a very refreshing two minutes.
"Peace Beneath the City" is a key track on the album. Beam's skillfully played slide guitar highlights the song as Beam's low voice gives the song its cool groove.
Beam shows off how beautiful his voice is when not under effects in the closing song "Flightless Bird, American Mouth."
His sweet and angelic falsetto sets the tone of the song.
Beam shows a lot of progress from his past albums, not just in his instrumentation but lyrically and vocally.
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