Devendra Banhart: Smokey Rolls It Up Into One Man, Here Compared To A Produce Stand
Nov 12, 2007
Words by Jonathan Eaton
Illustration by Abigail Bruley
When I first heard Devandra Banhart playing on a Lawrence Kansas jukebox in 2005 I made an assumption. I thought, "Wow, how did I go through a whole phase of adolescence listening to psychedelic 60's folk rock music without stumbling on this gem?" A few quick inquisitions later and I had my answer. Banhart was a 26-year-old Californian releasing these bits of folk and psychedelia in the present day. I became an instant fan, did a bit of research and started listening to his whole catalog which only just started about seven years ago.
I've found that a Devandra Banhart song is not unlike a trip to a produce stand. It is colorful, full of variety and most enjoyed with a bit of a growl in your stomach and a willingness to try new things. _Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon_ is no different. Each song has a different taste, but they are all undoubtedly from the same food group. As the record progresses, the songs change style, sounds, and even languages, but they all have the unique voice of Banhart pulling them together. It is his warbly croon floating above a conglomeration of sounds and soul that must have been difficult to capture on tape.
Perhaps an accurate place for one to file this music under would be the psych-folk category on your iTunes genre directory. Place it properly alphabetized right in there with Donovan and Vashti Bunyan and the little square of album art in the bottom corner. It can stay there, but would probably be placed best in a sandy boombox on the shore of a secluded lake being heated by a well-tended campfire, or playing through an infant's baby monitor as his or her parents get stoned in the basement and separately contemplate screwing on top of the washing machine.
Going through the tracks, there is a dynamic and variety that makes me think, "I should play this song at our next party... This one when I'm trying to relax... This one when I am putting the moves on the girl from the popshop... This one when I need to change the oil in my car." It turns on a dime like that, but then I sit back and listen to the record again and think, "Wow- all these songs sound the same, like Devandra Banhart songs." Does that make any sense? Perhaps it is the confidence echoing from the stereo speakers that leads me to think such thoughts. Devandra must be confident in himself and his music to attempt all he has attempted. I read a funny interview with the singer once regarding his decision to license a semi-protest song of his to a cheese company in the U.K. The reasoning behind it being that his friend really liked cheese. No more, no less. No discussion on the exploitation of his music, or selling out, or even defacing his grass roots image. The man just wanted to hook his friend up with a fridge full of free cheese. Such a gesture radiates confidence and a system of priorities rarely seen in the music world today. Devandra Banhart is going to continue being who he is and writing songs as they come to him in whatever way a song comes to its writer. They won't ever stray from any archetype or image of Banhart because the willingness to flutter left, then quickly dart to the right then float in another direction is a fundamental part of the archetype or image or wicker cornucopia of Devandra Banhart... That and a big ol' bushy beard.
"Devendra Banhart Official Site":http://www.devendrabanhart.com
