And keeping with the trend of reaching for records toward the bottom of the stack, this breezy, brisk Boston weather as we hit fall full force has been invigorating on my listening pleasure: and bringing me back to that well.

Sam Beam’s well, that is. If you haven’t already checked out Sam Beam as Iron and Wine’s collection of B-Sides and Rarities, called Around the Well, you must head for the two-disc collection and gobble gobble gobble.

Two stand out tracks come on disc 2; “Belated Promise Ring” is an excellent warbler and a definitive Sam Beam folk track. The second is quite unexpected–a New Order cover. And boy, does Beam do excellence to this by making it entirely his own in an intriguing way while maintaining the tune’s integrity. Wowsers. I see it in a whole new dimension; all fans of Iron and Wine, and ahem, New Order ones, too, should check out this track.

And the entire rest of the collection, which boasts a whopping 23 tracks never before released, out of print, or featured b-sides.

Enjoy my two favorites. Happy fall, for sure. Usher it in, with these.

[Iron and Wine – Belated Promise Ring.]
[New Order – Love Vigilantes (New Order cover).]