Devendra Banhart, Roxy, September 25, 2007
By RICHARD BECK | October 1, 2007
Devendra Banhart and crew |
Devendra Banhart, having slowly but surely abandoned the “freak” half of the “freak-folk” movement, may have found his true calling at the Roxy last Tuesday as a small-time professional entertainer. I had always assumed that the guy was some kind of hermit artiste, emerging from his beard only once a year to hand down the latest batch of crazed, digitized incantations — the elusive, legendary art-school dropout of the Catskills.
Instead, Banhart came to please. Dressed in a snug little vest, a colorful headscarf, and many silver rings, he played a set that mostly resembled an amiable variety show. Members of his band took the lead for two of their own songs, and he even invited an audience member on stage to perform a song she had written. (The young woman from Milwaukee had a lovely voice, and her adorable, vocalized “trumpet solo” is the sort of thing that happens when an angel gets its wings.)
A hefty chunk of Banhart’s new album, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (XL), was received with enthusiasm if not rapture, though the band’s first forays into proper rock-and-roll volume levels on “Seahorse” were a great success. I could have done without a cheeky rendition of “Shabop Shalom,” an idiotic little number about puppy love and Judaism, as well as “Lover,” a Motown ripoff that smacks more of exploitative cultural appropriation than affectionate musical synthesis. Still, what good is an entertainer if he can’t cater to every sensibility in the room?
Related:
Devendra Banhart | What Will We Be, Photos: Devendra Banhart at Berklee, A band, a part, More 
- Devendra Banhart | What Will We Be
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- Photos: Devendra Banhart at Berklee
Photos of Devendra Banhart at the Berklee Performance Center.
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My lingering qualms with Devendra Banhart's new album have very little to do with its substance and more to do with its consistency, a quality that throughout What Will We Be? seems present only in its glaring absence.
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Yeah, this makes us feel a little old: The June 27 show at the Port City Music Hall will be a 20th anniversary show for TWISTED ROOTS . SUN GODS IN EXILE (fresh off a release show for their debut album) and SIDECAR RADIO open, and there's word that original TR bassist NEIL COLLINS will sit in for a few songs.
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Already digested the latest from Devendra Banhart and Animal Collective and still hungry for more new freak-folk sounds?
- Various Artists: Strange Folk
Given the hypnotic arrangements and talk of fairies, the 19 tracks compiled on Strange Folk might more accurately be termed “enchanted folk” or, more skeptically, “dippy folk.”
- Various artists
The late guitarist’s best tribute is his own legacy of recordings, but those already familiar with this troubled master of the six-string’s work may dig hearing how various indie rockers from Boston’s Cul de Sac to neo-hippie Devendra Banhart to ex-Plimsoul Peter Case interpret a baker’s dozen of Fahey’s compositions.
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These guys couldn't turn on a radio
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Young God Records is one of the country’s more prominent DIY record labels.
- CocoRosie | Grey Oceans
Freak-folk fans disappointed by the relative accessibility of recent efforts by Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom should check out CocoRosie’s latest.
- Less
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