Iron and Wine
The Shepherd's Dog
Sub Pop (2007)
I should never set expectations when it comes to music. When was the last time an album was exactly as good or as bad or as neutral as you thought it would be prior to its release? It never works out the way you want it to. Take Iron and Wine's latest release, The Shepherd's Dog. Coming off of the minimally successful collaboration with Arizona's Calexico, 2005's In the Reins, many Sam Beam fans were expecting a return to the slow and soothing sounds of his last full-length, Our Endless Numbered Days (one of my favorite albums of the past ten years). But these fans, including myself, were pretty far off in their predictions. Iron and Wine is the brainchild of Sam Beam, who was raised in South Carolina but now resides in Miami, and is known mainly for his low-fidelity acoustic folk sound. He made multiple rough home recordings in the early 2000's, and many of those songs would make it to his first three Sub Pop releases, starting with 2002's The Creek Drank the Cradle. Most people know him for his cover of The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights," featured in the overrated film Garden State. That seems … Read more
Dusty Rhodes and The River Band
First You Live
Side One Dummy (2007)
With an Americana backbone, Dusty Rhodes and The River Band play a type of rock similar to CCR, The Nitty … Read more
High on Fire
Death is this Communion
Relapse (2007)
What else can you expect from High on Fire other than an album with a thick, punishing sound that just … Read more
