PRESS
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Devendra Banhart
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Tucson Citizen | by Polly HigginsHis outsider folk is romantic, mysterious"Hands are kind of the symbol for life and creation," Devendra Banhart says, referring to the title of his latest CD, "Rejoicing in the Hands." "When the hands are open, they are rejoicing." Devendra Banhart talks fast. Very fast when he's excited about something, such as British folk singer Vashti Bunyan. The words spill out quicker than the speed of comprehension. Here's what we gathered when speaking to the singer-songwriter last week, his van pointed toward Baltimore: Bunyan is the reason Banhart is doing music. "I sent her my music a long time ago, and she told me not to stop." It's when we ask how long ago that Banhart's two other conversational anomalies show themselves. He switches verb tense without reason, and when he doesn't want to talk about something, he suddenly retreats. "It was a secret," he says. A lot about Banhart seems to be a secret, or is at least cloaked in mystery. Part of that is encouraged by Banhart's romantic lyrics that range from playful to cryptic streams of consciousness. His songs include laughing lemon trees, aches that take their time, and "saggy flesh that sweeps......
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Devendra Banhart, Rejoicing in the Hands
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Tracks Magazine | by Joe GrossTotally hypnoticBanhart made an underground splash in 2002 with the nakedly surreal DIY collection Oh Me Oh My…, his spare, untutored warbling both raw and deeply sophisticated. On Rejoicing, he ditches the Tiny Tim-isms and expands his sound. Moving from country to Celtic and back again, he turns Elvis song titles into glossolalia on “Poughkeepsie,†gets boozy on “This Beard Is For Siobhan†and discovers strings on “A Sight To Behold.†Folkart fetishists may be bummed, but Banhart’s music is still totally hypnotic and, indeed, more powerful for the studio polishing....
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Banhart's life, music defies conventional analysis
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Nashville City Paper | by Ron Wynnshow previewIf someone decided to make a film or write a fictional novel based on singer/songwriter Devendra Banhart's real story it is doubtful anyone would believe it. But no one since the late Ted Hawkins, a 20th century troubadour discovered on the street who later became an international celebrity, has a life history as unique and diversified as Banhart. Though only in his early 20s, Banhart has already lived in Venezuela and Paris, as well as Texas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. He has attended the prestigious San Francisco Art Institute and has also lived on the streets of Paris. But what truly sets Banhart apart is his singing. His high-pitched, wavering yet also striking, sound has an innocence and beauty that are memorable, but there is also a steely, sobering undercurrent. Banhart, who appears tonight at the 5 Spot, doesn't focus on the nuts and bolts of either composition or performance, preferring instead to talk about the musicians and styles that have influenced him. "Son House, Skip James, Neil Young, Vashti Bunyan, Sandy Denny, Caetano Veloso," Banhart ripped off the names. "Anne Briggs, Shirley Collins, the first Wu-Tang album," he continued.......
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Banhart's life, music defies conventional analysis
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Nashville City Paper | by Ron Wynnshow previewIf someone decided to make a film or write a fictional novel based on singer/songwriter Devendra Banhart's real story it is doubtful anyone would believe it. But no one since the late Ted Hawkins, a 20th century troubadour discovered on the street who later became an international celebrity, has a life history as unique and diversified as Banhart. Though only in his early 20s, Banhart has already lived in Venezuela and Paris, as well as Texas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. He has attended the prestigious San Francisco Art Institute and has also lived on the streets of Paris. But what truly sets Banhart apart is his singing. His high-pitched, wavering yet also striking, sound has an innocence and beauty that are memorable, but there is also a steely, sobering undercurrent. Banhart, who appears tonight at the 5 Spot, doesn't focus on the nuts and bolts of either composition or performance, preferring instead to talk about the musicians and styles that have influenced him. "Son House, Skip James, Neil Young, Vashti Bunyan, Sandy Denny, Caetano Veloso," Banhart ripped off the names. "Anne Briggs, Shirley Collins, the first Wu-Tang album," he continued.......
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Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Vetiver
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Raleigh/Durham Independent | by Chris ParkerShow previewAn amazing, unusual talent, Banhart's music could be called folk but that'd be far too limiting, as he melds elements of Appalachia, blues, ragtime, and Celtic folk into tender acoustic elegies whose weird, wild-eyed style recalls Daniel Johnston and Syd Barrett. But unlike those precious naifs, Banhart seems less a slave to his iconoclastic artistic impulses than their equal partner. With his rich, lyrical imagery and high, crackling voice enveloped in warm, spare musical tapestries, there's something haunting yet endearing about Barnhart's music--like an eccentric uncle with a penchant for enigmatic stories and acid folk. Opener Joanna Newsom is a classically trained harpist with a childlike voice whose debut surveys Appalachian folk and bluegrass with delicate grace....