'Beam'ing Up! - A review of In the Reins by Iron & Wine/Calexico -

At the expense of sounding like a stuck-up record, I have to reiterate - one of the most wonderful music of late (in the midst of that deluge of new music that has left me gasping) comes courtesy one Sam Beam - an American singer/songwriter who goes under the stage name of Iron & Wine. One look at his discography reveals more EPs than full length albums and I don't see how that's bad as long as there is enough good music being produced one way or the other. His 2005 collaboration with the 'alternative country' band Calexico entitled "In the Reins" can only be described as a beautifully strung concoction of moody, haunting and graceful tracks written and sung by Mr. Beam with Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico serving as the back-up band.

Come to think of it, Iron & Wine and Calexico have, in terms of genre spread and artistic capabilities, all the ingredients, if combined in right proportions and in the right manner, to deliver a sound, which is eclectic and entertaining. And they have done just that in "In the Reins". It is an intelligently thought-of and executed arrangement combining Iron & Wine's traditional melodies, poignantly sublime feel and lyrical beauties with Calexico's novel instrumental sounds and diverse orchestral support. The result is a heady mix of these 7 tracks :

1."He Lays in the Reins" – (3:43)
2."Prison on Route 41" – (4:10)
3."A History of Lovers" – (3:09)
4."Red Dust" – (3:31)
5."16, Maybe Less" – (4:49)
6."Burn That Broken Bed" – (5:06)
7."Dead Man's Will" – (3:13)


A multitude of sounds greet you in the different tracks while still preserving the essential feel of the emotionally aching mood, woven out by Iron & Wine's breathy vocals and divine harmonies. Whether it is the bluesy trumpets beginning, backing and ending (with an instrumental rampage) in "Burn that Broken Road" or the horns and the lively drum beats propelling and inspiring the vibrant sounds of "A history of lovers" (incidentally two of my favorite tracks in the EP), there are ample occasions where you can clearly see that sometimes 1 plus 1 equals 3. Complimenting styles and approaches is what makes or break a collaborative effort and both the outfits seem to have taken the strength of the other band to explore and create music that they would have been unsuccessful to do on their own. There might be a wee bit of an monotone created by the rather subdued aura of the tracks "Red Dust" and "16,maybe less" being put back to back, but they sort of grow on you and remind you that this is one of the reasons why you actually adore Iron and Wine. "Dead Man's Will" dishes out a very different and soothing vocal arrangement, which stays with you even after the record has stopped playing.

All in all, while this album has done all it can do to appease my appetite for Sam Beam's wonderful music, it has also simultaneaouly inculcated a thirst for digesting more of this man's work. As for Calexico, this album was my introduction to their world of desert/southern rock. From whatever I have heard, I would love to see how they sound minus Mr. Beam.

If you feel convinced that you should give Iron & Wine a listen, you can do here . A track called Jesus - The Mexican Boy, which is not out of "In the Reins", but is a fantastic way to discover Iron & Wine. Do drop a line to let me know what you thought of it.

To the Tune of ...."Make Some Room...(in my CD shelf)"

It's been a good past few days for me, if the album acquisitions listed below is anything to go by.

A review or two can be in store soon...But that's when I get myself hooked onto these trips...Currently I am still riding on the high of pocketing these awesome albums :)

1. Iron and Wine/Calexico - In the Reins (If you notice a pattern, Mr. Sam Beam a.k.a Iron & Wine is topping any list I have been making of late and that's no coincidence! This is his 2005 E.P along with the American band Calexico with an eclectic Southern sound )

2. The Ramones - Greatest Hits (Yeah, yeah, I know...A compilation and all..But hell, this was just the refresher I needed considering I haven't given them a listen in a loooong time)

3. Thom Yorke - The Eraser(The debut solo album of the Radiohead frontman, released recently)

4. Phoenix - It's never been like that ( Imagine my surprise finding these guys on the shelves of Planet-M..Their third and most recent studio album..)

5. Caravan - In the land of grey and pink (Well, what can I say...One of ze best prog albums EVER! I am just ecstactic that this is gracing the racks at my home now :)

(The rest of the stuff are thanks to Narendra...Thanks a heap dude! I owe you and I owe you big!)

6. Pineapple Thief - Variations on a Dream

7. Shadow Gallery
- Carved in Stone
- Legacy
- Room V
- Tyranny

8. Pain of Salvation
- Entropia
- One Hour by the Concrete Lake
- Remedy Lane
- The Perfect Element I

9 Symphony X
- The Damnation Game
- The Divine Wings of Tragedy
- The Odyssey
- Twilight in Olympus
- V - the new mythology suite
- Miscellaneous stuff

10. Fate's Warning - Misc ( I luuuurrvvvveee this band!)

11. Gentle Giant
- Acquiring the Taste
- Octopus

12. King Crimson (Hell yeah!)
- Islands
- Larks Tongues in Aspic
- Starless and Bible Black
- In the Wake of Poseidon
- Three of a Perfect Pair
- Lizard

13. Procol Harum
- Greatest Hits

14. The Moody Blues
- In search of the lost chord
- Long Distance Voyager Album
- Seventh Sojourn Album


15. Prog Stuff - Miscellaneous Singles/Tracks by Spock's Beard, the Flower Kings, Van der Graaf Generator, Pendagron etc)

16. Uriah Heep - Best of

17. Tanita Tikaram - Ancient Heart

18. The best jazz album of the world Parts 1 & 2 (Cheeky Name of a compilation..But some very enjoyable stuff)

I wonder when I will be able to give these...But then again, I do have three full days of the sun (hope, hope, hope ), the sea and the sands awaiting me at Goa!! Ray Alder, Jim Matheos and Co served with prawns and Kings Beer...Sounds like a delicacy to me !!

First Picks

A gut-wrenchingly long period without access to the Internet at work.....An absolute lack of will for setting up a network at home....a few great reads including the “The Dwarfs” by Harold Pinter, the first called "Utterly Monkey" by Nick Laird and the an old favorite,English, August....Heaven-knows-how-many packs of smokes....And yeah, lest I forget, W.O.R.K.....

I am never at loss when it comes to excuses for a hiatus....But it wasn't
all that bad as I make it sound it to be...I guess I need to shake up
things now and then, in my own initimably half assed way.....Sure, that old
rigmarole called life ain't gonna change drastically by any of these
moves...But at least I can claim I tried!


Anyway, today I was at it again! Creating a new playlist of some totally unrelated tracks bound together in my head due to some weird reason....One day, I will write about some of these playlists - The set list if someone were to conjure up
(sighhh...) a gig dedicated to me, Tracks that are remnants of
childhood/early adolescence memories, Songs that make me wanna
scream/squeal/yelp or just plain sing loudly along, Best opening tracks of
albums...Bleh!

Today's creation is entitled - First picks. It essentially is comprised of
that one song you queue up first out of an album to listen. For e.g - If I
am thinking I am in the mood to spin "Night Ride Home" by Joni Mitchell - I
probably think of ‘Everything for Nothing/The Windfall’ as the first song
option......If I were to "In the Court of the Crimson King" (What an
album!!), I would hop, skip and jump...or more appropriately just skip to
"I talk to the wind"....Or if it is "White Light/White Heat" (the album)
time, then...err...it is what it is.... "White Light/White Heat" (the
song)…

So along similar lines, here is the track list out of albums which have
been on the replay mode for the past few weeks:

"Such great heights" by Iron & Wine - part of the Original Sound Track
to Garden State - the motion picture.

Honestly, this was my first real exposure to this incredible band. I
have heard them before, of course, but as part of some online radio
casts...But never had steady access to their stuff...Actually, still
don't...Nevertheless, an amazing track almost inspiring an immediate
romanticism of subtle happiness...so much better and different from all
the hours of blatant indifference and the ever-evasive over-the-board
ecstatic joy...It has the most calming of acoustic intros so much so that
if you are still reeling from the vocal rampage that Geoff Tate unleashes
in "Take Hold of the Flame", you would settle down to this serene mood, at
the drop of the hat!! This mood continues throughout the track....Great
songwriting too - The chorus goes like this - "They will see us waving from
Such Great Heights...Come down now...They'll say.....But everything looks
perfect from faraway...Come down now...But we'll stay"

Oh yeah, somehow I can never add this track to the "Sing along"
List....Sometimes, you just want to let it be that way, I guess!


"Psychobabble" by Frou Frou - out of "Details"

Well, what can I say about Lady Heap?! The entire album is a piece of
contemporary art...And Trust me, the song title is nothing to go by! If it
is, this is one babble I wouldn't mind listening over and over again...She
weaves absolute magic with her voice and Guy Sigsworth creates a brilliant
soundscape with the song's orchestral support structure...

"Rider on the Wheel" by Nick Drake - out of "Made to Love Magic"

It is hard to miss this track on this album, notwithstanding the fact that
it is the first track of the album...Not taking away anything from the rest
of the tracks, there is something about the way that Nick Drake starts out
"Now you know my name...But I don't feel the same...But I ain't gonna
blame..the rider on the wheel" which is quite bewitching...Maybe it is just
me, or maybe you can't be without liking this man's music....

"New York State of Mind" by Billy Joel – The Essential Billy Joel Collection (originally of Turnstiles, his 1976 album)

Don't get me started on how I got around to listening to Mr. Joel out of
nowhere...But yeah, for all the known reasons, this is quite a
favorite...Somehow takes you on to that long cab ride over the Hudson River
at midnight....No, I haven't been there, done that...So it is all the more
bizarre as to how that mood comes about...In any case, the thought of Billy
Joel's music somehow takes me first to this track for me.


"Volcano - 97 demo" by Damien Rice - B sides
As I had stated in my review of the album, somehow this song is an
all-encompassing indication of the potential that Damien Rice possesses. I
haven't still able to ascertain whether I would have had the same thought
had I listened to this demo, without having listened to the version that is
part of "O". But yeah, its appeal lies in the way it is
sorta...well….naked....both in its uncut quality (or the lack of it) and
the rawness and honest emotion in Rice's voice.


Like I said, these are the tracks figure in the list of recent first picks
out of albums, mostly because I have been listening to most of these albums
of late. There is some new music that I am still getting used and I guess I
just need to keep revisiting and revising this playlist now and then...