Iron & Wine @ First Avenue 6/8/11 (Concert Review)

First, let's get this out of the way. I love Iron & Wine's new record, Kiss Each Other Clean.

Now that I've put out there, I did not love Iron & Wine's set at First Avenue last night. Hell, I barely liked it. Rather than focus on the stellar songwriting that has somehow made him a heartthrob amongst lovers of indie rock crooning, Sam Beam decided to emphasize the kookiness of his all-too-big backing band (another 10 musicians that I could see, including The Swell Season's resident woodland nymph, Marketa Irglova).

The roughly 100-minute performance saw Beam expectedly show off the deep arrangements of the new record's songs, beginning with one of the album's weaker numbers, "Rabbit Will Run." I say 'expectedly' because the audience knew what they were getting into after hearing Kiss Each Other Clean. The unexpected and, sadly, low points of the evening were when Beam fiddled with the structure of his earlier work a little too much, leaving the crowd confused as to what in the name of Leftover Salmon was happening on stage. It really seemed as if Beam was heading into jam band/prog-rock territory, and that was evidently not connecting with the crowd, as couples started to filter out only halfway through the set.

And let's talk about the saxophones for a second. I can appreciate some good sax, but Beam gave a little too much leeway to the trio of brass players/multi-instrumentalists over his left shoulder. If word bubbles were made available during the set, there would have been a handful over the horn-blowers saying "I'm gonna Tim Capello the crap out of this tenor."

There were some solid moments throughout the night, though. The new "Walking Far From Home" resonated well with the crowd, and was one of the few songs that benefited from the expansive band on stage. "In My Lady's House" was left stripped down, as it should be, with Irglova lending some gorgeous backing vocals. Those highlights, though, felt out of place given Beam's inability to let a song remain finalized/written. He got all James Blakey on us during "The Sea and the Rhythm," another song he should have just left as is. Ending the main set with "Tree By The River" seemed quite out of place as well, especially since he gave a little Hall & Oates tweak to it, something that made it curiously poppy in relation to the rest of the set. The brief one-song encore was the gorgeous "He Lays in The Reigns," which was brilliant, beautiful and welcome...and probably his best song of the night.

The Head & The Heart opened the show and made the crowd open their wallets to snatch up tickets to their upcoming gig at the Varsity in August. I swung by the Electric Fetus for their in-store earlier in the night, which was decent, but nothing ground-breaking. Their 45 minute set in the mainroom, though, was filled with folky energy and perfectly layered harmonies. All in all, I would've been content just seeing them and calling it a night.

Quick Hits 3/4/11 (News, Concerts, Free Album Streaming)

Blake Sennett misses Donkey Lips

Rilo Kiley lead guitarist Blake Sennett (aka Pinsky from "Salute Your Shorts") has played second fiddle to Jenny Lewis for many years. After Jenny embarked on her solo career (and subsequent pairing with lover Johnathan Rice), I was crossing my fingers that Sennett would return to The Elected moniker and release a follow up to 2006's excellent Sun, Sun, Sun. Well he did it, and this week Spin posted the falsetto-rich new track here. A change of pace and a welcome back. The new album, Bury Me In My Rings, hits stores on 5/17 via Vagrant Records.

The Kills, appropriately smoking

Minneapolis clubs have been announcing a ton of high-quality gigs for the late Spring / early Summer as of late. Make sure you pick up tickets to the following before it's too late:

*The Kills w/ Cold Cave - 5/5 @ First Avenue

*Iron & Wine w/ The Head and the Heart - 6/8 @ First Avenue

*Architecture in Helsinki - 6/9 @ Varsity Theater

*Okkervil River w/ Future Islands (and maybe Titus Andronicus) - 6/12 @ First Avenue

These guys are still around?

Local dude-rock station 93X has announced plans to bring back X-Fest after a 7 year hiatus, 5/28 at Midway Stadium. The macho daylong festival will feature Godsmack, Puddle of Mudd, Black Label Society and various other bands I had no idea were still making music. I've wanted the station to bring back this festival for years now (well, I'd rather have it harken back to the Edgefest days). I think it's important for the Minneapolis area to host bigger outdoor festivals again. Given this lineup, though, I'm starting to think 93X forgot it's actually 2011. Details here.

If you're looking for some new music on the cheap (aka free), you can find new albums from the following currently available at a variety of free (and legal) streaming sites:

*Rural Alberta Advantage, Middle Brother, Beady Eye, Ron Sexsmith and more at Spinner.

*R.E.M., Wye Oak, The Mountain Goats, Kurt Vile and Alexi Murdoch at NPR First Listen.

*Elbow, DeVotchKa, Julianna Barwick and a ton more at 3VOOR12.

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean (Album Review)

IRON & WINE * KISS EACH OTHER CLEAN

(Warner Bros. Records)

One of the most anticipated albums of early 2011 is also one of the most surprising in its delivery. Over their [his] first three albums, Iron & Wine [Sam Beam] has certainly created a distinct image and sound. With his fourth LP, though, Sam Beam takes us in a new direction that doesn't feel forced, doesn't feel out of place and doesn't feel like we should be hearing anything else.

Kiss Each Other Clean cannot be pigeonholed into any single genre. Beam's distinct folky delivery is heard on each track, but this time around, the accompaniments seem to be the stars. Taking a page from the Sufjan Stevens playbook, Beam fills the background of much of the new material with some crazy sound effects, unique percussion and [yes] jazz flute....oh, and some of the best saxophone you'll hear in modern music since Morphine first (and last) hit the scene.

Many of us were first introduced to Beam's new direction with "Walking Far From Home," which also kicks off Kiss Each Other Clean. Its swirling vocals and shimmering soundscapes give way to an epic crescendo centering on a perfectly distorted organ. The rest of the new tracks also display the same kind of ingenuity. "Tree By The River" exudes the best kind of yacht-rock vibe, with the female back-up vocalists ideally complementing Beam's tenor. 

Looking ahead, "Half Moon" could be the new go-to wedding song for many a young couple sick of Ray Lamontagne's overexposure. For me, though, Kiss Each Other Clean shines when Beam loses himself in "Godless Brother In Love," a beautiful ballad featuring classical guitar & harp, a simple walking piano line and Beam's spine-tingling falsetto. Unlike previous Iron & Wine albums, though, we're not presented with a similarly structured song. Instead, out comes "Big Burned Hand," a funky little number that wouldn't be out of place on a Dolemite soundtrack.

As a closer, we're given the 7-minute masterpiece, "Your Fake Name is Good Enough." Somehow, Beam manages to tie together the varying themes of the previous 9 songs to wrap up the record in a driving jam that would pump you up for a wedding as well as a funeral. A simple handful of notes from a baritone sax is the curtain closer, yet we all know that the stage is just being set for Iron & Wine's new direction.

Grade: A+