PRESS
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Devendra Banhart
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Rockpile #105 | by MAGGIE SEROTA Rejoicing in the HandsLately, it has become rather difficult to pick up a music magazine and not find Devendra Banhart's handsome, artfully disheveled mug somewhere within the pages. Since the release of his 2002 debut, Oh Me, Oh My, critics have been beside themselves over his unique brand of gritty, soulful, folk music. In addition to his lyrical complexity and agile acoustic plucking, his work resonates with the strained, aching vibrato of his vocal style. Imagine the plucking of a tight violin string crossed with the warbled moaning of a 60-year-old woman and you have some idea. „I try to imitate the raping of a weasel," Banhart quips between sips of carrot juice. „Or the sodomizing of a chicken." That being said, the love affair among critics and fans alike continues with the release of 2004's Rejoicing in the Hands (Young God Records), and rightfully so. At barely 23 years of age, Banhart has been covered by legendary British folk singer Bridget St. John, collaborated with the equally iconic Vashti Bunyan, been featured on NPR and ultimately created a body of work belying the raw sincerity and maturity of an artist three times his......
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Experimental Folk
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Los Angeles Times | by Susan Carpenter A song and dance manMaybe it's just good, old-fashioned reactionary-ism -- the natural byproduct of a culture that's been saturated and subsequently weighed down by too much self-obsessed hip-hop and shrieking, aggressive rock. But a softer, gentler side of music is coming to the fore, one that's as traditional as it is contemporary. Call it the new folk. More of a shared sensibility than a formalized genre or movement, it's being woven together by a growing collection of young artists from strains of bluegrass and jazz, country and blues and even vaudeville into stripped-down songs that sound strangely outside the present era. Unwittingly nudged into the light by plaintive singer-songwriters like Cat Power, this new folk, or avant folk as it's sometimes called, is now being propelled by a diverse crop of artists. Singing spooky Americana with a quivering Marc Bolan spin, Devendra Banhart is often hailed as new folk's vanguard. Other male artists such as Sufjan Stevens and Iron & Wine are also getting a lot of attention for their modern takes on traditional music, but it's the lesser-known female artists who seem to be pushing folk beyond its acoustic guitar and......
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Experimental Folk
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Los Angeles Times | by Susan Carpenter A song and dance manMaybe it's just good, old-fashioned reactionary-ism -- the natural byproduct of a culture that's been saturated and subsequently weighed down by too much self-obsessed hip-hop and shrieking, aggressive rock. But a softer, gentler side of music is coming to the fore, one that's as traditional as it is contemporary. Call it the new folk. More of a shared sensibility than a formalized genre or movement, it's being woven together by a growing collection of young artists from strains of bluegrass and jazz, country and blues and even vaudeville into stripped-down songs that sound strangely outside the present era. Unwittingly nudged into the light by plaintive singer-songwriters like Cat Power, this new folk, or avant folk as it's sometimes called, is now being propelled by a diverse crop of artists. Singing spooky Americana with a quivering Marc Bolan spin, Devendra Banhart is often hailed as new folk's vanguard. Other male artists such as Sufjan Stevens and Iron & Wine are also getting a lot of attention for their modern takes on traditional music, but it's the lesser-known female artists who seem to be pushing folk beyond its acoustic guitar and......
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Devendra Banhart / Vetiver / Joanna Newsom
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Justaddnoise.comShow preview - Dallas, TX - 07/02/04So Lollapalooza got cancelled this year due to poor ticket sales despite the fact that there were some great artists on the bill including Sonic Youth, The Flaming Lips and TV On The Radio. Don't despair, spend a fraction of the ticket price and go see Devendra Banhart and the band he is also a member of, Vetiver. If that isn't enough for you, they bring with them special guest Joanna Newsom to blow the unsuspecting audience's mind with only her harp and intense, Björk-flavored vocals between their sets. Polar opposite of a two-day festival in the sun, you can see these guys in intimate settings with no viewer having to be more than 30 feet from the stage. Vetiver took the stage first at around 10pm with a stirring rendition of Oh Papa, starting the show in the same attention-demanding fashion as heard on the album. After six or seven songs performed to perfection (all sans-Banhart) in Andy Cabic's hushed vocals, Vetiver leaves the stage with a quiet reminder from Cabic that they are Vetiver from San Francisco and the question is raised of "Has Joanna played Dallas before?" Nobody seems to have......
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Devendra Banhart / Vetiver / Joanna Newsom
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Justaddnoise.comShow preview - Dallas, TX - 07/02/04So Lollapalooza got cancelled this year due to poor ticket sales despite the fact that there were some great artists on the bill including Sonic Youth, The Flaming Lips and TV On The Radio. Don't despair, spend a fraction of the ticket price and go see Devendra Banhart and the band he is also a member of, Vetiver. If that isn't enough for you, they bring with them special guest Joanna Newsom to blow the unsuspecting audience's mind with only her harp and intense, Björk-flavored vocals between their sets. Polar opposite of a two-day festival in the sun, you can see these guys in intimate settings with no viewer having to be more than 30 feet from the stage. Vetiver took the stage first at around 10pm with a stirring rendition of Oh Papa, starting the show in the same attention-demanding fashion as heard on the album. After six or seven songs performed to perfection (all sans-Banhart) in Andy Cabic's hushed vocals, Vetiver leaves the stage with a quiet reminder from Cabic that they are Vetiver from San Francisco and the question is raised of "Has Joanna played Dallas before?" Nobody seems to have......