Customer Reviews

The Creek Drank The Cradle

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first heard a few cuts of "The Creek Drank the Cradle" via some MP3s a good friend sent me. Having *no* idea who "Iron & Wine" was, I was immediately taken by the lo-fi, harmonious, hushed vocals, and soft, slow, easy pacing. I swore that this had to be some lost recording from the late 1960's from some unknown progressive (for the 60's) folk/blues/country inspired band. It sounded nice, but I didn't end up listening much for a few weeks.

After getting the album and learning it was released late last year (9/2002) inspired me to give the tunes a much closer listen (on headphones, eyes closed, listening closely) early one morning at home. That experience was one of the most moving musical experiences I have had in years. I felt like I had been drained and then refilled. I was literally brought to tears listening to the Sam Beam's sorrowful lyrics of "Promising Light" and "Upward Over the Mountain" (two of the best tracks on the disk IMO). Very moving and softly powerful music & lyrics, indeed.

Since that listening (around two weeks ago), I have had "The Creek Drank the Cradle" in nearly constant play in my CD player (at work, in the car, at home). With each listen the album grows on me more. I was a bit worried I'd get burned out and stop lisetning, but not so far! I also have scoured the web for other unreleased tracks and found a few real gems as well. Word has it many tracks were recorded but only a dozen selected for this album. Hopefully the others will be released soon.

As many reviewers have noted, there is definiely elements of Nick Drake, Elliot Smith, Simon & Garfunkel, Will Oldham, etc. If you are a fan of these artists, indeed you will likely find something to enjoy here. Even after the relatively short time I have had to get to know Sam Beam's work, I feel that this album will end up being thought of in the same vein as Neil Young's "Harvest", Nick Drake's "Pink Moon", etc. It already has a high slot on my "desert island disks" list.

Check it out, but make sure to give it a *good* listen, preferably in a quiet dark room. A rainy day helps set the mood quite well. :-)

I live in a hellish, soul-less town with no sense of culture or unity and this cd just saved my life.

What a beautiful, beautiful album! It has been quite a while, with the exception of Damien Rice's and Teiturï's debuts, than a first CD offered such creative consistency. Sam Beam, the man behind Iron and Wine, has achieved a work of such unassuming depth that is impossible not to grow impatient for a second recording. Song after song, he manages to convey moods that are at once tender and full of existential pain, without ever indulging on the way too common tendency in young songwriters to put music to their private diaries, nor indulging on the kind of over-instrumentation that not-so-young performers indulge in to make up for the lack of richness in their work. I don't think there's a single weak tune here, actually some of his lesser tunes could be the jewels in CDs by most of his contemporaries. To some he might remind you of Will Oldham, a likely mentor, yet his work has already a feel of its own. This is Americana stripped from cliches, bringing together longing, sweetness and the lingering sense of someone reflecting on life without a "an ax to grind" (this is the difference between poetry and a personal journal). I was tempted to name the great songs but after typing the name of the first four, and realizing that the fifth song will be next, I deleted them. Every song is worthwhile, and adds to the hue of emotions he's so able to articulate. In some ways, it is my opinion, he may remind you of Nick Drake, in his capacity to write of sadness so beautifully that it can almost embrace you, like joy.

Okay, this isn't the kind of music I would have expected to like. Based upon the descriptions I'd read, I would have expected it to be too "country". However, after seeing a great review in CMJ, then finding likewise glowing reviews online, I decided to check out some MP3s. I'm really glad I did.

My taste tends to lean toward off-kilter, neo-prog, and "harder" bands (eg, Bright Eyes, Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Tool), so I was very surprised to find Iron & Wine so appealing. At first, I found the appeal ellusive, but after some thought, realized that it's the lyrics that sucked me in with Iron & Wine.

For me, the first thing that appeals to me (or doesn't) is the lyrics. If the lyrics are solid, thought provoking, and have something interesting to say, I'm half-way there. However, if the lyrics are the typical, mundane pop lyrics with predictable rhymes, the music just doesn't matter. Iron & Wine, like my other favorites, grab my attention, hold it, and have me still thinking about the words for sometime after the music has stopped. Iron & Wine has this quality in spades.

Apparently Sam Beam, the man behind Iron & Wine, teaches Cinematography at a university in Florida. His expertise in visuals really show through in his lyrics. The lyrics here are some of the most visual and painterly I've ever heard. While listening to Beam's words, a film unfolds in my head.

All of this blathering about the great lyrics isn't to say that the music isn't equally great. While the lyrics of music are what grab me first, the music has to equally support them. Iron & Wine does that perfectly. The folksy, mountain sound of banjos, acoustic and slide guitars is perfectly composed and just what's needed.

I would expect to see this all over stores. Unfortunately, this CD doesn't seem to be getting the exposure it deserves. No doubt, if it had the marketing it deserved, it would be a massive hit. After I was unable to find it locally, I resorted to ordering from Amazon.com (which is usually just fine, but I couldn't stand the idea of waiting). Regardless of what type of music you usually listen to, do yourself a favor and listen to some cuts from this. I bet you'll find that, like me, you can't get your hands on a copy fast enough.

This album, front to back, is complete.

Great artists have a way of creating tension in their material, and Beam accomplishes this quite masterfully. The Creek Drank the Cradle makes you feel as if you are in familiar territory, but also leaves you to wonder just what on earth is going on in Beam's world - and where that world is? Past? Future? South? North? When I first heard it, I simple couldn't place this album - lyrics, style or otherwise. For people who really like GOOD music, there is nothing like being totally amazed, as you might be with this album.

Moreover, Beam is an inspiration to the many aspiring closet-musicians who consider themselves professionals in other fields (His full time job is (was?) as a Professor). This material was recorded at his home on a basic four-track device, and he is the only musician on the album -flawlessly harmonizing with himself throughout. Sub Pop (the label) decided to leave each of these gem recordings "as is".

Great composers also understand that music is as much about what is left unsaid. Beam's music takes its time and uses the power of silence to create complex textures in ways that only a few musicians are ever lucky enough to learn and master in their lifetimes. At first blush you may dismiss it merely as out of necessity, given the minimalist nature of home recording. However, as the album plays out, this clearly is not an accident.

However, that said, if you are in a hurry or into full, obviously complex sounds that get to the point quickly, this album may not be for you.

I am very interested in seeing what direction Beam takes on his future albums. My burning concern is that he ends up being a one trick pony, ala Elliot Smith, whose initial genius seemed to never build upon the opening premise. Beam has cleared a major hurdle of delivering an album that is better than 95% of the fare. I wonder if he will be able to captivate me with a second album of material that makes me feel as totally refreshed as I do with this first effort, and not as if it is merely a retread.

In the meantime, this is a great album and suggests tremendous promise for the future.

I'm an East Coast transplant myself, but I grew up in rural areas and Iron and Wine never fails to make me nostalgic in a way almost nothing else will. It doesn't sound like the kind of music I heard there, it's not exactly country (not the modern kind, anyway), and it's not exactly western, but it manages to conjure up the same ghosts. The gentle singing and delicate guitar bring back to me the big sky, long straight roads, soft-spoken neighbors, bare feet and golden fields. The lyrics are so very sad to me, which is appropriate, because I came from a sad little town. Business and industry were slowly dying. Highways were breaking through the old family farms. We knew the children would all grow up to leave, or wish that they did. So that's probably why a song like "Upwards and Over the Mountain" always makes me shed a tear, even though I'm not a mother. That perpetual melancholy of the future always leaving you behind, that's very familiar to anyone from these dying places. Iron and Wine really captures something, some kind of grief, and in a way that's so beautiful that you can forgive them for it anyway. Please listen to this album.

I have been listening to this recording as well as the other two Iron and Wine releases for approximately the last month straight. This is by far my favorite. If you like overproduced POP songs with nothing but hooks and studio work, please move along now. I like the static ridden 4track recording quality. I believe it adds to the intimacy of the songs and reminds me what to appreciate in a good record. Inspiration, thought, talent and a unique perspective. Things not often found in a studio for Top 40 hits unfortunately. Anyways, I'm rambling and I would advise you pick up this album since at some point in the near future you will be in the mood to listen to it and appreciate this artists "unique perspective".

ZzZzZzZzZz....i rushed home after i bought this cd with a friend (after shaving my head with him...sort of a renewal ritual). I put on my headphones and began the process. After the 2nd song i was fast asleep. "must be the smokable herb" i thought innately as i put the cdplayer down. Second listen the next time, the exact same thing happened. "OK" i thought, this cd is getting me fed up. Then one saterday morning i put the cd in my player and let loose, for a 3rd time. I am no longer human
I couldn't absorb the beauty quickly enough. The traveling energy came so pure, so euphorically, it took at least 5 listenings in a row to really begin to comprehend Iron and Wine's purpose. I felt like i was going through the creative process (I am a painter) jumping from one intuative junction to the next, securely fastened by the poetic hum of Sam Beam's 12 dollar guitar. Truely Unique.
I suppose he leaves traces of Elliot Smith and nick drake in his footsteps, but realistically speaking, his technique lives up to his passion, truely orginial and unheard of. If you like this, you would love Holopaw or some of Isaac Brock's soft stuff (from UC). Upward over the mountain is my personal favorite. Check it our for yourself, you won't be dissapointed.

This is a beautiful album that can be played again and again. It's relaxing and mellow, but never tame, and never boring. It sounds like being lost in the Deep South, or like finding a whiskey still and its gun-toting owner: it's peaceful and natural, but mysterious and sad and just a little threatening.
"Bird Stealing Bread" is a gorgeous and muffled song about an old memory and a lost love, "Upward Over The Mountain" is a sinister lullaby with such disturbing imagery as "the night that the dog had her pups in the pantry" and killing "the last snake that lived in the creek bed"; it's the song that sold me on Iron and Wine. "Southern Anthem" and "Muddy Hymnal" are dark little stories that seem to advertise a simpler life while also sending out a warning, a threat.
The album's lo-fi/four-track feel makes all of the songs feel real and gritty and soft, like a haze or a cloud or a fuzz that you could fall into and be completely enveloped by, and it keeps the songs from ever becoming plain old folk songs. It reminds of Paul Simon if Paul Simon had indie-rock sensibilities and grew up in Weogufka, Alabama, or of Roy Montgomery if Roy Montgomery listened to folk, drank 40-oz. bottles of Cobra, and went to revivals.
This a great album, worth any of the hype it's gotten, worth buying, and worth keeping forever.

This CD had what I would call a parayzing effect on me from the first listen. Without question, I gather this was due to the music's undeniable intimate aura around nearly all the songs, one that totally captivated me. The only exception may be "The Rooster Moans"; *note: this isn't a bad song but merely is a change of pace, it provides a good breath of hope, joy.
I have to say that its consistancy overwhelmed/whelms me. It is this consistancy that makes it appealing over and over again. There is no need to skip a track atall; a problem with 'Our Endless Numbered Days' I think. basically, this is more focused and all the songs seem to be treated with teh same delicatecy.
The real greatness of the record though is obviously found in the songs and all their parts. The melodies are subtle and simple to the greatest extent. The strumming and layering is faultless. The lyrics are my personal favorite part... I say that casually but I must say that these words affect me more so than most from similar artists. They are all about struggle and pain but are sung in a bright light most often. They possibly do that because Beam's voise appears to be the perfect medium for the stories.
Without a doubt, this is a technically beautiful record as well even though the production is minimalistic.

Whether or not Iron and Wine's soothing sound suits you, I cannot say. I can, however, suggest that this should not dissappoint as long as you give it a chance, enter with an open mind. Sometimes the quiet things speak the loudest...