PRESS
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Devendra Banhart, Nino Rojo
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Evil Sponge | by Mr PharmacistNino Rojo continues Banhart's idiot savant creative streakThe idea of the crazed, fringe artist is alive and well in our new friend Devendra Banhart. From images of trickster minstrels carved on ancient cave walls to current copies like Robyn Hitchcock, we love the idea of musicians as nutjobs. There's a bigger history to this. Crazy people are supposed to speak the truth. They see more than us normal folk, limited as we are by reality and a need for good hygiene. But, they are a cipher for realms beyond the ordinary. They are a cure for Pat Boone and boy bands. Our music eccentrics are expected to deliver the cosmic goods. What to make of the neophyte member of the oddball club, Mr. Banhart? Nino Rojo, his third release on Young God Records, provides a few answers. From the crazy album art (self conscious attempts at replicating the scribblings of a schizophrenic) to the vulnerable warble to the childlike yet cracked psychosexual musings that make up the lyrics as well as the sparse accompaniment, Banhart's third album seems a lot like the second, Rejoicing in the Hands. This isn't too surprising, since both albums are......
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Devendra Banhart review
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Bleachzine.comRead the story here:Bleachzine.com...
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Banhart hones his songwriting with 'Rojo'
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Michigan Daily | by Evan MacKinderRating: 3 and 1/2 out of 5 starsDevendra Banhart’s records have always acted as a soundtrack to the beauty of nature. His first release of 2004, the enigmatic, free-folk cornerstone Rejoicing in the Hands carried song titles like “Tit Smoking in the Temple of Artesan Mimicry,†and introduced themes of naturalism and modernity into Banhart’s canon. “Ticks Eat the Olives,†the opening track to Banhart’s first record Oh Me Oh My, introduced the singer/songwriter to the underground folk scene with a swirling, lyrically abstract song about tear-spawned olives that are devoured by ticks, which originate in the back of the human head. Banhart’s third release, Nino Rojo, continues his obtuse lyricism — which has catapulted Banhart to the peak of today’s folk scene — yet is, in many ways, unique from its predecessors. His trademarked lyrics are now juxtaposed with a welcomed shadow of instrumentaion which was introduced with his folk stylings. “Wake Up Little Sparrow†introduces Rojo as a record rooted in typical folk fashion with its sole finger-picked guitar. The album quickly builds from there as Banhart incorporates horns to play a backdrop in tracks like “Ay Mama†and “We All Know.†Banhart’s......
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Queer as Folk
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Spin | by Will HermesThey have names like Devendra, Sufjan, Kimya, and Panda Bear, and they’ve made some of the year’s strangest – and finest – records.But just because they dig acoustic instruments and sing about rabbits, spiders, and bean sprouts, that’s no reason to call them hippies. Meet the new eccentrics. “...Lording over his own eccentric kingdom, Devendra Banhart, 23, has cecome emblematic of the 21st-century folkie. He typically performs seated cross-legged atop an Oriental rug, with a bottle of wine by his side. He favors robe-like shirts, and sometimes sports a bushy mountaineer beard. He sings about pumpkin seeds, laughing trees, and (frequently) his facial hair in a warbling vibrato that he’s learning to rein in. He also enjoys playing the trickster. For a sold-out show at the Manhattan club Tonic earlier this year, he performed his usual set, left the stage, then returned in full drag–beard shorn–to sing cabaret-style piano ballads. “That wasn’t me,†he insists months later. “That was Honey Brown. She’s a hard drinker, and she’s into polygamy. She’s going through some nasty divorces, so things are tough for her.†Banhart currently kicks it with his girlfriend and her mom on a farm in the......
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DEVENDRA BANHART, "NINO ROJO"
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Brainwashed | by Jonathan Dean a joyful, magical work of unrestrained creativityJust as Rejoicing in the Hands of the Golden Empress represented the maternal principle, Nino Rojo represents the principle of the child. Following in a line of primal symbolism going back to the Egyptian deity Horus ("the crowned and conquering child"), the title depends upon that fundamental consonance between Sun and Son. The "red sun" disc of the Eye of Horus, casting the light of knowledge upon mankind; and the "red son" of Banhart's title, an "exuberant and foolish" child full of passion and curiosity. This symbolic conceit works to unite these two halves of the same generative source. Nino Rojo comprises a second volume of 16 songs from the same fruitful recording sessions that produced Rejoicing, and far from a collection of outtakes or castoffs, represents another stunning album from one of the most uniquely talented individuals currently working in this medium. As if to enforce the frolicsome exuberance suggested by the album's title, the songs here focus on energy, dynamism and the spirit of communal play. To that end, many of these tracks are more orchestrated than I'd come to expect from past albums, with guest players......