The Shepherd's Dog

The Shepherd's Dog
- New Store Stock
Following a one-record hiatus to collaborate with Tucson collective Calexico on 2005's In The Reins, Iron & Wine (Sam Beam, that is) recoils to the earnestness and intimacy that embodied his first two records, his cerebral words and phrases tunneled beneath an orchestra of guitar, banjo, keyboards, and strings. More definitive than ever, the rhythm and percussion complement Beam's voice, a lulling, almost eerie tone that occasionally recalls John Lennon's early solo work, especially on delicate tracks like the bluesy "Wolves (Songs of the Shepherd's Dog" and "Carousel," with its veiled references to Iraq. Those raised on the lo-fi routine of Beam's earlier work will find rawness and sanctity in the more upbeat selections: The CSN folk-rock of "House by the Sea" and "Boy with a Coin" and the atmospheric beauty of "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car" and Shepherd's best song, "Lovesong of the Buzzard." With an organ swirling about and a slide guitar adding gentle flourishes, Beam concedes that "no one is the savior they would like to be," without realizing that, when it comes to fluent music and pristine storytelling, perhaps he is. --Scott Holter
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Country USA
Brand Sub Pop
Manufacturer Sub Pop
Binding Audio CD
ItemPartNumber 3034710
Model 3379000
ReleaseDate 2007-09-25
UnitCount 1
UPCs 098787071023
EANs 0098787071023

Country	USA
Brand	Sub Pop
Manufacturer	Sub Pop
Binding	Audio CD
ItemPartNumber	3034710
Model	3379000
ReleaseDate	2007-09-25
UnitCount	1
UPCs	098787071023
EANs	0098787071023

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