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Freak Folk's Very Own Pied Piper
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NY Times | by Alec Hanley BemisDevendra Banhart may be the most prolific, but other members of the freak-folk family are critics' darlings, too.CAMBRIDGE, MASS. ON a brisk November evening, a hundred earnest young men and women lined up outside a church just off Harvard Square. Bundled up against the brisk November cold, they did not look like a typical crowd of Boston churchgoers: many of the men wore shaggy beards, and one girl sported what looked like pigeon wings mounted to the ankles of her boots. Inside, guitar amplifiers and a drum set stood in place of the pulpit; the bibles and prayer books had been removed from the pews and stacked in neat piles to the left of the stage. By 9:30 p.m. the audience was quietly seated, ready to watch Devendra Banhart, a handsome, unshaven young man with long black hair, no fixed address and a musical style that has been described as avant-folk or freak-folk. Mr. Banhart, 23, is the most prominent of a highly idealistic pack of young musicians whose music is quiet, soothing and childlike, their lyrics fantastic, surreal and free of the slightest trace of irony. The albums released by this loosely affiliated......
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Freak Folk's Very Own Pied Piper
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NY Times | by Alec Hanley BemisDevendra Banhart may be the most prolific, but other members of the freak-folk family are critics' darlings, too.CAMBRIDGE, MASS. ON a brisk November evening, a hundred earnest young men and women lined up outside a church just off Harvard Square. Bundled up against the brisk November cold, they did not look like a typical crowd of Boston churchgoers: many of the men wore shaggy beards, and one girl sported what looked like pigeon wings mounted to the ankles of her boots. Inside, guitar amplifiers and a drum set stood in place of the pulpit; the bibles and prayer books had been removed from the pews and stacked in neat piles to the left of the stage. By 9:30 p.m. the audience was quietly seated, ready to watch Devendra Banhart, a handsome, unshaven young man with long black hair, no fixed address and a musical style that has been described as avant-folk or freak-folk. Mr. Banhart, 23, is the most prominent of a highly idealistic pack of young musicians whose music is quiet, soothing and childlike, their lyrics fantastic, surreal and free of the slightest trace of irony. The albums released by this loosely affiliated......
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Devendra Banhart
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Hercalitussayz.com"there must be all that dark for all that light, there must be balance, which is why I believe in real demons"Devendra Banhart was once a homeless psyched-out hippie hipster eccentric with nothing much to show for except a piece of paper from some obscure San Francisco art school. Life was grim in these young years as he’ll attest. Then he discovered a 4-track and it would change his life forever. And it wasn’t even his 4-track he was using, belonging rather to a friend of his onto which he would record his first crude psychedelic folk songs in his ramshackle basement. But before long Banhart was able to channel this momentum and move to New York City, hopping from guest couch to guest couch, freeing him to pursue his hipster dreams more earnestly. Roughly two short years ago Banhart’s 4-track demos finally made their way to Michael Gira of Young God Recordings, who instantly fell in love with the bohemian rocker’s unique Southern-infused quivering voice and backwoods songwriting style. Banhart was on his way. With Gira’s help Banhart is still a psyched-out hippie hipster eccentric, but now has a permanent place to call home, not to mention several impressive......
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Devendra Banhart
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Hercalitussayz.com"there must be all that dark for all that light, there must be balance, which is why I believe in real demons"Devendra Banhart was once a homeless psyched-out hippie hipster eccentric with nothing much to show for except a piece of paper from some obscure San Francisco art school. Life was grim in these young years as he’ll attest. Then he discovered a 4-track and it would change his life forever. And it wasn’t even his 4-track he was using, belonging rather to a friend of his onto which he would record his first crude psychedelic folk songs in his ramshackle basement. But before long Banhart was able to channel this momentum and move to New York City, hopping from guest couch to guest couch, freeing him to pursue his hipster dreams more earnestly. Roughly two short years ago Banhart’s 4-track demos finally made their way to Michael Gira of Young God Recordings, who instantly fell in love with the bohemian rocker’s unique Southern-infused quivering voice and backwoods songwriting style. Banhart was on his way. With Gira’s help Banhart is still a psyched-out hippie hipster eccentric, but now has a permanent place to call home, not to mention several impressive......
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Devendra Banhart
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Hercalitussayz.com"there must be all that dark for all that light, there must be balance, which is why I believe in real demons"Devendra Banhart was once a homeless psyched-out hippie hipster eccentric with nothing much to show for except a piece of paper from some obscure San Francisco art school. Life was grim in these young years as he’ll attest. Then he discovered a 4-track and it would change his life forever. And it wasn’t even his 4-track he was using, belonging rather to a friend of his onto which he would record his first crude psychedelic folk songs in his ramshackle basement. But before long Banhart was able to channel this momentum and move to New York City, hopping from guest couch to guest couch, freeing him to pursue his hipster dreams more earnestly. Roughly two short years ago Banhart’s 4-track demos finally made their way to Michael Gira of Young God Recordings, who instantly fell in love with the bohemian rocker’s unique Southern-infused quivering voice and backwoods songwriting style. Banhart was on his way. With Gira’s help Banhart is still a psyched-out hippie hipster eccentric, but now has a permanent place to call home, not to mention several impressive......