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devendra banhart: niño rojo
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Wackiness | by Andrewhis most accessible album to date "Hey there Mr. Happy Squid, you move so psychedelically." Now, Devendra, I love you. That's right, Devendra Banhart is back with his second album of the year, Niño Rojo. Now it's completely apparent how he almost single handedly led the 'new-folk' uprising, backed by a team of fellow flag bearers Joanna Newsom and Vetiver, among others. His competency and ability as a songwriter are amazing, and a second album in one year exemplifies how naturally making music comes to him. The songs of Niño Rojo were recorded in the same session as those of Rejoicing in the Hands, but this is far from being a "Rejoicing Pt. 2". The new album represents everything that Rejoicing didn't. It's jam packed with extra instrumentation, choir-like choruses, and most importantly, fun. Niño Rojo is as hippy of an album as any other of the recent 'new-folk' albums, full of animal, nature, and vegetarianism references. The words "Niño rojo" themselves mean "red son," and the music is imbued with a childlike spirit and every bit of energy and happiness you'd expect from a warm red sun. And, while the album at some times still touches......
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Devendra Banhart, Nino Rojo
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Mojo | by Andrew PerryThe magical folkie’s second brilliant album of 2004 4 stars out of 5That’s right, not the same record that came out in April, but a completely fresh set of 16 songs, spirited up at the same 10-day sessions as the wonderful Rejoicing in the Hands of the Golden Empress. To recap: Banhart’s a 22-year-old-weird-beard from San Francisco, originally discovered by (of all people) Michael Gira from Swans, who released one album of his home recordings before whisking him down to Georgia for the Rejoicing/Nino studio binge, chez erstwhile Muscle Shoals dude Lynn Bridges. Incredibly (or, to drooly converts, perhaps not), Nino Rojo is no mere best-of-the-rest affair, but a sibling piece of equal intimacy and inspiration. His voice quavering like pre-glam Bolan, Banhart casts bare yet mesmerising acoustic spells, a fullish band materialising only on the loping Be Kind and Electric Heart – all the better to lap up the lad’s outré thoughts on spiders, saying goodbye, etc....
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Devendra Banhart, Nino Rojo
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Mojo | by Andrew PerryThe magical folkie’s second brilliant album of 2004 4 stars out of 5That’s right, not the same record that came out in April, but a completely fresh set of 16 songs, spirited up at the same 10-day sessions as the wonderful Rejoicing in the Hands of the Golden Empress. To recap: Banhart’s a 22-year-old-weird-beard from San Francisco, originally discovered by (of all people) Michael Gira from Swans, who released one album of his home recordings before whisking him down to Georgia for the Rejoicing/Nino studio binge, chez erstwhile Muscle Shoals dude Lynn Bridges. Incredibly (or, to drooly converts, perhaps not), Nino Rojo is no mere best-of-the-rest affair, but a sibling piece of equal intimacy and inspiration. His voice quavering like pre-glam Bolan, Banhart casts bare yet mesmerising acoustic spells, a fullish band materialising only on the loping Be Kind and Electric Heart – all the better to lap up the lad’s outré thoughts on spiders, saying goodbye, etc....
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Devendra Banhart, Rejoicing In The Hands
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Hybrid Magazine | by Justin GlanvilleAn Appalachian folk song? A rag? Delta blues?In the booklet accompanying Devendra Banhart's Rejoicing in the Hands, ornately printed lyrics swirl around line drawings of birds and hands. The words themselves are nearly impossible to read, but they're beautiful and mysterious and occasionally a legible phrase pokes through the thicket: "Love is like golden corn." "Dogs they make up the dark." "I can take my little teeth out and show them a real good time." Huh? Never mind. Inscrutability is one of the chief pleasures of Banhart's music. It wafts by, working its delicate wiles, utterly baffling and yet always ringing vague bells. An Appalachian folk song? A rag? Delta blues? Those genres all have a home on Rejoicing, just as they did on his heralded 2002 debut, Oh Me Oh My. But there's always something off-kilter about the presentation, whether it's erratic tempos ("Tit Smoking in the Temple of Artesan Mimicry," an instrumental) or unexpectedly syncopated melodies. That and his uniquely warbling tenor, nearly a soprano in places, are enough to save Banhart from being called a mere imitator. And then there are those lyrics. Most often, you won't know what the man is......
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Michael Gira: I Am Singing to You From My Room
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Foxy Digitalis | by Nick HenniesOne of the most gifted lyricists and songwriters releasing music todayHow much pain can one endure before numbness sets in? Since the Swans called it quits and Michael Gira formed Angels of Light his music has been less focused on anger, hate, and ultra-violence and more on less abrasive, though no less intense emotions; to quote Gira, he “learned to dress his rage up in pretty clothing.†Even without the anger of the Swans the Angels of Light, though not without their gentle moments, has always been an incredibly loud band. What would become of Gira’s music if you took away what is seemingly its most unifying force? Gira’s new solo album, recorded at his desk with a single microphone, proves that the primary element of his music is not force and velocity, but song. It’s so refreshing to find that even without primal drumming, piercing guitars, and guttural singing his songs are still remarkably powerful and unsettling. Much like Xiu Xiu’s "Fag Patrol," "I Am Singing to You from My Room" has an intimate and personal touch that only further emphasizes the unspeakable pain and defeat in music that is normally deafeningly loud. Gira......