I like what there is, but you are only getting 27 minutes on this CD.

This album could be so much better. To deny Joey Burns his vocal gift is to...well, deny the best of music and the best of Calexico. Sam is a little too breathy, sensitive and emasculated for my tastes. "History of Lovers" is probably the best tune on the album. I saw Calexico + Sam at a Calexico show at Castle Clinton over the summer and, sadly, when Sam stepped onto the stage, an otherwise rollicking show was brought to a screeching halt for about five tunes.

Like Calexico's appearence on "Los Super 7", it's a waste to make them a backing band. They're superb at providing support but why waste them as a group of studio musicians? They're so much better operating as Calexico.

This EP is short, weighing in at just over half an hour. And it's not perfect. Try though I might, I can't remember a blessed thing about the song "16, Maybe Less," if that gives you a hint. But it is very, very good.

Sam Beam, who basically is the still point around which Iron & Wine rotates, wrote all seven songs on this EP. He also provides the vocals, in his usual breathy style. I normally don't like breathy singers, but the sound is perfect for the intimate, introspective songs Beam writes. And hearing his voice backed by Calexico's lush instrumentation is an interesting turn.

For the most part it works. Particularly on tracks like "He Lays In the Reins," "Burn That Broken Bed," and "Prison on Route 41," the vocals sound like they're nestled in a sonic womb. On the track "History of Lovers" and others Beam's vocals need to be bolstered by a second singer to avoid sounding lost, so the merger of sounds isn't entirely perfect. But the EP format, which seems to be Beam's natural environment, is perfect for these choices--before you have time to get tired of the sound the disc is over.

On the whole the CD is worth the fairly slender price. It might be better if it had been fleshed out with more songs, particularly some that owed a little less to Sam Beam and a little more to Calexico's John Convertino and Joey Burns. Still, it rings well, the songs are sufficiently differentiated, and the choices are mostly strong. A good album for fans and initiates alike, this EP is one that will stay near the head of your rack and get played often.

Let this be known before I speak of the album.

1, I fell in love with Calexico half a decade ago, due to pretty apparent reasons.

2, I have been to many concerts featuring both Calexico and I&W.

3, I remain generally unimpressed with I&W.

As a whole, this album is pretty damn good. It's powerful enough to make it impossible not to sway, but generally doesn't force an artificial strength.

Honestly, the addition of Beam to the Calexico crew was welcoming and fulfilling, but he CERTAINLY shouldn't try to be dominant. His voice is pleasing when harmonizing (especially with his fox), but he simply shouldn't take Joey Burns' mic when someone with such a filling and lush voice can project it to the fans.

Before you disregard with this, yes--I'm slightly bitter in that I&W scored a Garden State spot, leaving Cax behind a few years; though I'm grateful they still tour together. Beam is a talented artist, but is much too generic on his own for my tastes.

Final thoughts?
Pretty good for Calexico.
The best you'll ever hear from I&W.

1. Convict Pool EP (Cax)
2. In the Reins (I&W w/ Cax)
3. Feast of Wire (Cax)

Get em now, thank me later.

This collaboration from Iron & Wine and Calexico is easily one of my favorite releases of 2005. It's somewhat different from the previous Iron & Wine albums, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Not long before In the Reins, Sam Beam (the songwriter also known as Iron & Wine) came out with another EP, Woman King. That offering had a much fuller sound instrumentally than his previous work, and this one is another step in a new direction.

It sounds to me like this is really an Iron & Wine record with Calexico as merely a backing band. However, Calexico's Tex-Mex sound adds greatly to the overall feel to the music. Beam sings his original songs; Calexico's instrumentals add twang. Some have complained about Iron & Wine's sound being too sparse, but on this EP the songs are as good as ever and the backing tracks are full-sounding like never before. In my opinion, every song is as solid as the next. Of the seven tracks, none of them are "skippable". My personal favorites are the upbeat, folky "A History of Lovers" and the precious "Sixteen, Maybe Less". Overall, very enjoyable. Essential for Iron & Wine fans.

The songs here are gorgeous. I'm enjoying this even more than the Woman King EP. If you've never heard Iron & Wine before, his latest LP, Our Endless Numbered Days, may be a better introduction, but reguardless, this is a very enjoyable record. Highly recommended.

I'm a fan of both Calexico and Iron and Wine. On "In the Reins", there is a lovely mix of both. "He Lays in the Reins" is powerful and uses the vocal talent of Salvador Duran to great effect. The EP's "weakest link" is "Prison on Route 41", although the song is stronger when performed live. "History of Lovers" is melodic and deftly blends the styles of Calexico and Sam Beam. "Red Dust" is well done. The powerhouse of the EP to me is "16, Maybe Less". This song just tugs at the strings of the heart and brings back memories of love long past and yet to come. The blending of Sam Beam and Joey Burns' voices is amazing and has the capacity to bring on the chills. "Burn that Bed" and "Dead Man's Will" are both excellently done. This is a terrific outing by both Iron and Wine and Calexico and is actually a good introduction to both. Listening to this makes me want to listen to more Calexico and more Iron and Wine, and I was already a huge fan of both to begin with!

I love Calexico and I love Iron & Wine. I have seen Calexico live at a relatively small place although they could have captivated the audience at a much larger venue. I saw Iron & Wine at maybe the largest venue in Atlanta, when he should have played in a tiny, intimate place. This is because Beam and family stopped after every song to tune their instruments.The two bands together do the greater injustice to Sam Beam (Iron..) His voice is just better with his own eccentric music. Nor is it my favorite of Calexico; I like them in full force of their Tex-Mex sound. I mean I know they actually back up tons of people in the studio but they usually don't take a big billing on the album like this one, or tour with the band (that I know of, anyway).
If this is your first exposure to Calexico, and you like track one 'He lays in the Reins' because this has the spanish singer in it, check out some of the other Calexico stuff. Like track 13 on Feast of Wire-'Guero Canelo' or under the name of Los Supero 7, a lot of the CD 'Heard It on the X' should satisfy you.

Sam Beam of Iron and Wine and Calexico got together on this EP, and it is absolutely incredible. This really turned me on to Iron and Wine, having come into the CD as a Calexico fan. Now I love both bands even more than I had before. Calexico lends their southwestern feeling to the album as expected, but it seems that this album is something more than just wo bands getting together.

Most of the time, projects like this are doomed. Supergroups are usually best left to the fans of the original group grasping at the last vestiges of their beloved band (See: Velvet Revolver, Audioslave). With a couple of notable exceptions (See: Foo Fighters), supergroups generally suck. Maybe its because they did this album as a collaboration rather than mashing toghether their bans in some junky little side project dealie, but this album really defies the expectation that comes with collaborative albums. The two bands mesh perfectly, especially on songs like "History of Lovers", where the horn arrangements work utterly perfectly with the steel guitar and the soft voice of Sam Beam.

This album is great, and buying it (or any other Calexico album, which you should, as well) will add a few points to your Music Snob rating. That should be a point of pride, just so you know. Buy it, for sure.

Za postovaoce benda Iron and Wine ovo ce biti pravo uzivanje, za nas koji volimo Calexico manje vise. Ustvari kada bolje razmislim ne znam ni zasto je bend Calexico potpisan na albumu In The Reins. Sve u svemu od sedam pesama koliko se nalazi na ovom izdanju izdvajaju se dve: A History Of Lovers i Burn That Broken Bed.

A walloping set of sweeping sincerity and musical brilliance that shines like a beacon in the storm of irony & artiface that is todays often disposable music scene.

When I listen to Iron and Wine, I love the intimate folk element, Beam's vocals and guitar are classically erotic and raw. Calexico is one of the tightest, closest knit bands to ever grace the indie scene. Honestly, I could not have hoped for a better blend of the two. However, Calexico, certainly took a few blind stabs in the dark. I do commend them for their daring musical integrity with the opera singer on the first track, but that doesn't mean that it was a load of crap. Buy this album and fast forward through that part.

Make no mistake about it: although Calexico is listed first, this is very much an Iron and Wine (i.e., Sam Beam) album. All of the songs were written by Beam, he does the majority of the singing, and his guitar is central throughout. Moreover, the arrangements feel like extensions of his other albums. So, since this is primarily a Sam Beam album, I'm primarily going to discuss it from that point. Essentially, Calexico here functions as a backup band, one that very self-effacingly adapts itself to Beam's compositions. I do intend to revise this review in December after I've been able to see Beam and Calexico live in Chicago at the Congress Theater. My guess is that both will do separate as well as joint sets.

Sam Beam has been one of the leading lo-fi performers in the US for the past two or three years with the gradual addition of back up musicians on each ensuing album. While part of me is nostalgic for the minimalism of THE CREEK DRANK THE CRADLE, originally demo tapes that consisted of Beam alone with his guitar, another part has been encouraged by how superb his work has been with the addition of other performers. The conversion isn't like Dylan going from acoustic to back up band, in which the music itself seemed to change; Beam's work with other musicians seems a natural extension of his previous work. That being said, I'm not sure that the songwriting here represents a similar leap forward. I thought the songs on the WOMAN KING EP, released earlier this year, even stronger than his previous work. Here all the songs are exquisite, but I can't point to a single one and marvel at how brilliant it is. In short, this is a very fine collection of Sam Beam compositions, but he has done better in the past, and I believe he will do better in the future. The songs here in generally do not show the lyrically complexity of some of his other work. For instance, nothing here shows the astonishing virtuosity of "Jezebel" from WOMAN KING, which updated the Biblical story by apparently viewing Jezebel not just the abomination of the Old Testament, but imbuing her with some of the qualities of the Sirens. The lyrics are always satisfying here, but unlike previous albums, I am never stunned by his remarkable skills as a lyricist.

The first two numbers on the disc are "He Lays the Reins" and "Prison on Route 41." Both are quiet songs with the feel of a traditional folk song. You can almost imagine Johnny Cash deciding to cover either of them. I especially like "Prison on Route 41," a gentle waltz praising Virginia, the woman who has saved the singer from the life of crime and imprisonment that is the fate of his other. "A History of Lovers" is my favorite song on the album, with a much more forceful beat and involvement by the band, a song about a man who kills another man over the love of a woman with in inconstant heart, perhaps even a prostitute, though that is all left a bit vague. "Red Dust" is one of the less compelling numbers on the disc. The final three numbers are all fine, though I especially like "Dead Man's Will," with wonderful yet simple lyrics.

I've said elsewhere that I believe Sam Beam is one of the most intriguing talents in American music, probably the most gifted lyricist working today, and the crafter of a score of utterly marvelous songs. It will be fascinating to see what direction his efforts will lead next. Will he go back to solo work or will he work more with back up bands like he has here with Calexico? So far his work has been thoroughly satisfying either way and I very much hope that he will do both. I'm not sure how fans of Calexico would respond to this album. They are very definitely in the background here. Fans of Sam Beam, however, should find this to be a thoroughly satisfying EP, and will definitely want to get it. Although Beam has not in 2005 released a full length album, he has released two superb EPs. Of the two I would recommend WOMAN KING a tad more strongly than IN THE REINS, only because I think the songwriting is a bit stronger on the former, but both are extremely fine albums.

Sam Beam/Iron & Wine often sounds eerily like his fellow Floridian Jim White. That's true in several songs on this record as well. Calexico and Giant Sand have long been mining the same magical realism territory that Jim White does, albeit from opposite sides of the continent. It seems only natural that Sam Beam and Calexico would hook up. Now, if they could just hook up with Jim White, we'd have a veritable southern/southwestern gothic supergroup. What's a real disgrace is that neither Sam Beam or Calexico, etc. has more talent than Jim White, yet due to the cruel vagaries of the music business, Iron & Wine and Calexico seem to get more radio play and attention. As the title of this review suggests, if you like this and don't already know about Jim White, I'm 99.9% sure you won't regret exploring his music as well. So check it out.

As I've never heard (or heard of) Calexico before this album, this review mainly focuses on the incomparable (so-far) Sam Beam of Iron & Wine. Although, from their work on this album, I must say Calexico is intriguing independently of I&W.

What can I say about Sammy Beam? In all his work to this point, he has exhibited a remarkable consistency of quality and freshness, while staying close to the quirky, but sweetly smooth sound, introspective themes, and powerfully poetic lyrics that have distinguished his work. I've simply not been accustomed to "new" artists so regularly putting out enjoyable, and relevant new material.

"In The Reins" is no different; Beam remains fresh and yet reliable. While I can't say this is the best material I've ever heard from him, it's certainly as enjoyable as any previous efforts.

The songs on this album seem more narratively structured, in general, and less characteristic of the highly personal "glimpses" into lives and thoughts of his previous work. While the material remains intimate, it loses some of the abstract feeling of songs like "Passing Afternoon" and "The Trapeze Artist".

This is especially true of "He Lays In Reins", a wonderfully western-sounding lyric, and the odd "Prison on Route 41". These two songs vie for the honor of "Most Different" from anything he's done before, but are both excellent lyrically and beautifully performed.

"History of Lovers" is a cheerfully presented, and somehow-strangely-feel-good tragic theme, again more concretely structured than earlier efforts. It's one of my favorite tracks on the album - it makes a guy feel okay about a shredded heart.

"Red Dust" may be my least favorite tune on the album, if I actually had to pick one. I've always had trouble with Beam's more "bluesy" stuff. It's simply never rung as true with me as his more straightforward tunes (if any I&W tune can be called straightforward). A major selling aspect of I&W's work for me is the deep and undeniable honesty of the music and lyrics. That all said, the body of this track offers a simply incredible groove - I defy a living body not to move while listening to it.

"Burn That Broken Bed" features a sultry trumpet, and sensual, edgy lyrics. And that's all I have to say about that.

"16, Maybe Less" and "Dead Man's Will" are the songs that most remind me of I&W's earlier work, and are the easiest for me to listen to. Both of them are nostalgic, and quite introspective - hallmarks of Beam at his best lyrically.

To me, music is about connecting at the level of the soul, and exploring our fundamental humanness. The music of Iron & Wine is the kind that really forges that link for me. It is as if I am listening to Sam confessing feelings and memories to me, and they are the same as my own - which is perhaps a strange way of looking at it, but it is the kind of intimate connection that Beam invites us to make with the disarming honesty and charm of his music.

I have fastly accepted Iron and Wine as one of my favorite new artists in the last couple years, and its not hard to figure out why. Sam Beam continues to write songs from his heart and soul and his gentle intensiveness in music and in words produces some of the greatest refreshing folky/bluesy/rock low-fi music I have ever heard. And now along comes Calexico, an extremely talented multi-faceted band to collaborate with Iron and Wine. The result is that Calexico has added another layer that fulfills and expands the great sound of Iron and Wine already.

A great treat to have these two working together!

Just when you think Sam Beam can't top himself he just keeps getting better. If you like Iron and Wine you need to purchase this.

When The Creek Drank The Cradle was released, many, including myself, were extremely curious about the musical gifts that Iron & Wine had to offer. His whispery, lo-fi sound was vaguely familiar and yet completely original. Since his first release, Sam Beam has no problem churning up new music for us all to enjoy. With every release, Beam has shown growth, both musically and lyrically.

Now, on In The Reins, Iron & Wine has gone somewhere they never have before; straight up rock infused with country and (yes, I'm serious) jazz. The sound is refreshing, completely catchy and most importantly, a new step for Sam Beam. His teaming up with Calexico has worked wonders. This CD is an absolute treat. I can't wait to see where Sam Beam decides to go next. And until then, I'll just continue rocking out to In The Reins.

Like the above reviewer I was a little worried about this one but for the opposite reason. I love Calexico and had never heard Iron and Wine so I was concerned the band was taking some new direction from the stuff I have really grown to love. I have since been listening to some Iron and Wine and realy like it as well. This EP is fantastic and sounds like they have bee together for a long time, not just as a novelty. Can't wait for the concert!

I was a little worried about this release with Calexico added to the mix. Boy I was wrong! I am a long time listener to Iron & Wine and this cd is just as good as the rest of em. This EP added to the new release of the live stuff from Bonnaroo will make for a great week of Iron & Wine listening for me! Get this album if you are a fan, you will not be disappointed