Iron and Wine - "Our Endless Numbered Days"

I have been truly amazed by this CD for the past couple months, and I'm trying to figure out why. It is a fairly simple CD, and most of the songs use easy open-postion chords, but something about it grabs me. The whispery lead vocalist is almost always complimented by a smooth female harmony singer(which I guess is his sister) which reminds me most of Simon & Garfunkle more than anything else. The production is what really shines on this album, the guitar tone is perfect(very nick drake-ish) while the additional instrumentation(slide, banjo, drums) keeps the album moving along.

Iron & wine unfortunately gets grouped into this neo-folk scene(or whatever they are calling it these days), but unlike any of those artists, everyone can enjoy listening to this CD. I would definately pick this album up