it may seem to you, gentle readers, that devendra banhart is all i talk about. you're pretty much correct, but there is reason beyond his attractiveness.
you see, devendra banhart is truly a unique voice in modern music. unlike so many of his contemporaries, he doesn't seem to be trying to be anyone else. he is simply himself (himself being a hippie child on acid, more or less). in this goal, he succeeds admirably, particularly in smokey rolls down thunder canyon which is, for lack of a better word, pretty fucking great (ok, that's three words. whatever). 
there are those who have criticized this album for being too all over the place (you know who you are, pitchfork). these are the same people who criticized cripple crow for being too long. i understand that, as an actual music journalist, one may be trying to get through an album in order to review it. but i also know, as a lover of music, that 22 songs is not so much too long as getting your damn money's worth. raise your hand if you're tired of paying $16.99 for 12 songs. that's what i thought.
anyway, back to smokey. all over the place? maybe. but then, that's devendra. if you've ever seen/heard/read him interviewed, you'd realize that hippie children on acid don't really have the attention span to stay on one subject for too long. this could be seen as a character flaw, but in devendra banhart's case, it's actually quite refreshing. he's branched out from his much-loathed "freak folk" niche to create a truly international album. from what i can tell, there are at least three languages used in his songs. not to mention a gospel choir (or part of one, anyway).
to talk about the songs individually would only detract from the work of art this album is (particularly the special edition, featuring a book of drawings, photographs, and lyrics). despite the variety, there is a certain flow to the album. the connection is there, for those willing to listen well enough to hear it. this is not an album of background music.
for your listening pleasure, here is smokey rolls down thunder canyon in its entirety. deezer, i cannot thank you enough.
enjoy, my friends. you won't be disappointed.
-jocelyn
2 comments:
Devendra is a great musician. And i think this album is, most of all, fresh air in his career, since it escapes the "guitar+voice" formula of the (exceptional) previous ones. Two thumbs up on Seahorse and for Rose (it's sung in Portuguese, my mother language).
Agreed completely. The fact that Devendra can create an album that is so stylistically different from everything he's done thusfar while still maintaining his own distinct sound speaks very highly of him as a musician.
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