Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle

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Free Music Notes for The Creek Drank the Cradle

Free Music Review: Junkmedia Review - Best new artist of 2002
Hit: 5 Stars

Beam's music was brought to Sub Pop's attention by the Ugly Casanova himself, Modest Mouse frontman and lately Sub Pop's A&R guy Isaac Brock, whose taste is turning out to be the most trustworthy in indie rock. The last band he suggested the label sign was a little Albuquerque, New Mexico, band called the Shins, who, as you may recall, released Junkmedia's favorite album of 2001. So when Isaac recommends something, we all ought to lend him our collective ear.

Now, have you ever seen a big, full Pink Moon (a la Nick Drake) rising over the Mississippi Delta? Try to picture it. That's what Iron & Wine is the sonic equivalent of. With its whispered vocals, bluesy slide guitar work and beautiful vocal harmonies, The Creek Drank The Cradle sees Beam creating a minor masterpiece with extremely limited resources.

The entire record was recorded on 4-track in Beam's home in Miami, Florida, meaning that tape hiss and room noise are a constant presence throughout. But the sound is remarkably intimate and warm, like a distant radio station you have to hold your ear up to the speaker to hear. Beam's day job is teaching film to college students, and it's evident in his song arrangements: he uses sounds like a film editor uses images. A banjo here, a menacing slide guitar figure there, it all conjures up a striking mood of melancholy and reflection.

The centerpiece of the album is "Upward Over The Mountain," a long, meditative number that is at once impossibly sad and still somehow hopeful. "Mother, don't worry, I've got a coat and some friends on the corner," Beam sings in his most fragile voice. "So may the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten / Sons are like birds flying always over the mountain." Unlike most self-obsessed bedroom pop auteurs, Beam's vision manages to be both private and expansive at the same time. Listen to the celestial vocals on "Southern Anthem," another standout cut: Iron & Wine's predominant mood may be one shrouded in darkness, but some sunshine does break through the clouds.

So even if the promise shown by this debut is proved false by future releases, it doesn't matter. The Creek Drank The Cradle is a gem of an album all on its own. And Iron & Wine will still be the best new artist of 2002.

Tyler Wilcox
Junkmedia Review

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