PRESS
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Devendra Banhart, Niño Rojo
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Boston Weekly | by J. BennettHis music is brilliant and mnemonicA brief recitation of the facts: This album contains 16 songs laid to tape at the same time as Banhart's Rejoicing in the Hands (released earlier this year); it sounds like it was recorded in Leadbelly's prison cell, circa 1925. Banhart may or may not have been named by an Indian mystic, but he's definitely the prodigy of ex-Swans/current Angel of Light main man Michael Gira, which makes no sense whatsoever but is nonetheless the case. Since the release of Rejoicing, Banhart has gone from a smelly homeless hippie to a smelly Manhattan-dwelling hippie with photos of his beard in everything from The New York Times to, um, Nylon. His music is brilliant and mnemonic in that sparse, Django-Reinhart-meets-Syd-Barrett, non-coffee-house folkie kind of way that is (somehow) devoid of pretension - and exposes all us glib, cocksucker critic types as the uncultured brutes we truly are. Yeah, jams like “Little Yellow Spider†and “Water May Walk†may sound suspiciously like nursery rhymes, but slagging Banhart is like beating up a retarded kid for lunch money. You'd kind of just rather give him a balloon or something....
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Beauty in a Corn Silk Mermaid
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Popmatters | by Jason ThompsonDevendra Banhart, Niño RojoI'd like to preface this review by saying that I don't get people who don't get Devendra Banhart. The man now has three exquisite albums and one EP under his belt (along with an album by group Vetiver), and for the most part all I still see are reviews by reviewers who can't seem to grasp what is going on in Banhart's world. They seem a little put off all the time by the whole sound, and usually just wind up spewing the same old facts. You know 'em by now if you're a fan, so say them along with me. 1. Devendra Banhart is a worldly guy and recorded tons of songs on various lo-fi machines, including an answering machine. 2. Michael Gira ex-Swans hears Banhart and decides to put him on his Young God label and release the recordings as-is. 3. People can't figure the dude out. What's there to figure out? Banhart writes beautiful acoustic-based semi-folk/partially-psychedelic tunes that cannot be pegged into the usual "sounds like" categories. Perhaps this is where people get frustrated. They are so used to being able to compare and contrast apples and oranges that when......
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Devendra Banhart
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The Toilet Online | by Andy 5Rejoicing in the Hands / Nino RojoWhen Devendra Banhart went into the studio to record his new album(s), it must have been apparent to everyone involved, that none of the songs he recorded could have been cut out or disregarded. At least thirty-two songs were finished when the decision came about that they all must be heard. This is how the two albums "Rejoicing In Hands" and "Nino Rojo" came to be. Not a single song on either of these albums seems rushed or appear to have been used as filler. Everything out of the twenty three year old, Devendra Banhart's mouth seems to be so completely perfect, that once his voice is heard, he will be a singer/songwriter that no one will ever overlook or disregard. His young talent only shows us that he will continue to be a musician who will stand above the rest. Many songwriters reach their prime early in their careers, but Devendra's ghostly voice that haunts and embraces these two separate, yet undeniably related albums tells us that he has only begun. The idea of releasing these two albums months apart from each other gave everyone time to......
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Devendra Banhart, Niño Rojo
()
Boston Weekly | by J. BennettHis music is brilliant and mnemonicA brief recitation of the facts: This album contains 16 songs laid to tape at the same time as Banhart's Rejoicing in the Hands (released earlier this year); it sounds like it was recorded in Leadbelly's prison cell, circa 1925. Banhart may or may not have been named by an Indian mystic, but he's definitely the prodigy of ex-Swans/current Angel of Light main man Michael Gira, which makes no sense whatsoever but is nonetheless the case. Since the release of Rejoicing, Banhart has gone from a smelly homeless hippie to a smelly Manhattan-dwelling hippie with photos of his beard in everything from The New York Times to, um, Nylon. His music is brilliant and mnemonic in that sparse, Django-Reinhart-meets-Syd-Barrett, non-coffee-house folkie kind of way that is (somehow) devoid of pretension - and exposes all us glib, cocksucker critic types as the uncultured brutes we truly are. Yeah, jams like “Little Yellow Spider†and “Water May Walk†may sound suspiciously like nursery rhymes, but slagging Banhart is like beating up a retarded kid for lunch money. You'd kind of just rather give him a balloon or something....
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Beauty in a Corn Silk Mermaid
()
Popmatters | by Jason ThompsonDevendra Banhart, Niño RojoI'd like to preface this review by saying that I don't get people who don't get Devendra Banhart. The man now has three exquisite albums and one EP under his belt (along with an album by group Vetiver), and for the most part all I still see are reviews by reviewers who can't seem to grasp what is going on in Banhart's world. They seem a little put off all the time by the whole sound, and usually just wind up spewing the same old facts. You know 'em by now if you're a fan, so say them along with me. 1. Devendra Banhart is a worldly guy and recorded tons of songs on various lo-fi machines, including an answering machine. 2. Michael Gira ex-Swans hears Banhart and decides to put him on his Young God label and release the recordings as-is. 3. People can't figure the dude out. What's there to figure out? Banhart writes beautiful acoustic-based semi-folk/partially-psychedelic tunes that cannot be pegged into the usual "sounds like" categories. Perhaps this is where people get frustrated. They are so used to being able to compare and contrast apples and oranges that when......