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Album Details

• Artist: Iron And Wine
• Album: The Creek Drank The Cradle
• Label: Sub Pop
• Year of Release: 2002
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2003-03-29

Iron & Wine is in fact the vehicle for singer/songwriter Sam Beam to bring his gentle tunes to the public. It’s not very often you see “All songs written, performed, recorded and produced at home by Samuel Beam in Miami, FL� in the liner notes. Sure, Mr. Elliott Smith has been known to do a home recording or two but it really isn’t a popular method, let alone powerful enough to end up on many Best Of The Year lists last year. I have heard Iron & Wine compared to Sebadoh and other Lou Barlow projects but Sam Beam is more interested in the song structure than being “punk� enough to get on the college charts. Sam and Lou’s voice are quite similar but that’s about where the comparisons end. For an album as fine and as simply stated, one can’t wonder just how much money a record exec could save if all recordings were done in the bedroom. Sure, not feasible for Metallica but bedroom recordings have a certain personal quality to them that nary a studio could imitate. I would think Iron & Wine have more in common with the Oh, Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack than anything else on the college charts today. Listen to the slide guitar and the quiet vocals on “The Rooster Moans� and get back to me. The Creek Drank The Cradle is not only an amazing debut album but marks a new high in bedroom recordings and I challenge Elliott Smith to go back to the bedroom for his next album to top Iron & Wine.

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