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.

Devendra Banhart Official Site