Iron & Wine "The Shepherd's Dog" [2007]

Here he is: the beardiest of all beard-rockers. With all the soul of Zach Galifianakis in a guest-host skit on "SNL," the whisper-singer/guitar-snoozer who calls himself Iron & Wine digs up and reanimates the corpse of Crosby, Stills & Nash (yeah, I know those guys aren't officially dead yet, but have you heard anything they've released over the past 25 years?) with highly concentrated THC weighing down his brain like an invisible albatross. The infinite-track syndrome of most white recording artists of the late Aughts/early Teens is on full display, as are all the cliched earthy campfire conceits, and of course his giant, smelly beard. Unfortunately for people seeking worthwhile musical experiences of this era, the indie industry is apparently plagued by a particular strain of ball-lessness with few signs of a pending recovery. I'm afraid until A&R reps stop searching log cabins in South Carolina for their next hit-makers, we're stuck in this Great Recession of rock. Maybe that's the point of all the hydroponic weed -- to make everyone forget how shitty this era is for new music. What's the alternative, after all -- "The fucking Voice"?