PRESS
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Handy Man
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The Hartford Advocate | by John AdamianWandering troubadour, vocal acrobat, mystic and talented visual artist Devendra Banhart´s new recordWe're far enough into 2004 now to make statements like this: Devendra Banhart's new record, Rejoicing in the Hands , will definitely make a lot of music critics' top-10 lists for this year. Banhart plucks out vaguely spooky, modal tunes on an acoustic guitar. But his astonishingly intimate singing ups the spookiness factor considerably. These recordings have the confessional feel of a diary entry from someone who might be slightly disturbed. Banhart's songs emit the warm glow of a crazed zealot. You almost feel like you're violating his privacy by listening to them. Banhart does something with his voice, moving it around inside his mouth to the back of the throat, making it quake and tremble. At first listen you won't like it -- he might even make you uncomfortable. Over the course of one track he might evoke Jeff Buckley, Buffy St. Marie, Nick Drake, Tiny Tim, Eartha Kitt, Billie Holiday, Donovan, Jack White, Melanie, or Robert Plant. It's not that he's a chameleon: He sounds possessed. Banhart uses everything available to color and shift the timbre of his voice --......
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Rejoicing in the Hands
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Cokemachineglow.com | by Scott ReidAn accessible, yet strikingly original, songwriting talentUnique voices are rare enough these days, let alone one that isn't violently painful to listen to. Sure, you've got your Shakiras and your Jamie Stewarts, pushing the boundaries of good taste with the force of a wrecking ball into our ears, and those are still, to be regrettably fair, rare in themselves; rarer still is to find a voice that stands out above an ocean of like-minded songwriters, one that doesn't require the range of a Tim Buckley or timbre of a Carl Wilson to get his songs across with a fair amount of conviction. Though as you span genres the type of voice that seems to be co-opted changes (a few of the more obvious examples being the Vedder-esque hard rock voice, the smooth-as-ice R&B croon, nasally pop-punk sneer and the faux-Brit art-rock accent), the singer/songwriter genre has its own share of fake southern accents and barely audible whispers. When you pare your sound down to just a guitar and voice, you'd hope that at least one of these would stand out enough to keep their songs from becoming painfully boring. Needless to say, it's rarely the case.......
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DEVENDRA BANHART | Rejoicing In The Hands
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Magnet | by Andrew ParksA mesmerizing journeyOh Me Oh My..., Devendra Banhart’s 2002 debut, was the work of a madman. It was as though someone slipped a four-track and an acoustic guitar through the bars at Bellevue and said, “Play, man, play.†The troubled troubadour’s second album is as peculiar as its straitjacket-folk predecessor, but this time out, it’s actually accessible. With his trembling tenor, Banhart continues to traverse the surreal, telling the tales of laughing lemon trees, milky suns and dancing teeth. Despite the inexplicable slew of Elvis references at the end of “Poughkeepsie,†Rejoicing In The Hands is markedly less eccentric than Oh Me mostly because Banhart’s delivery has evolved from psychotic banshee into thinking, feeling homo sapien. There’s even a hint of happiness on psychedelia-flecked saloon jam “This Beard Is For Siobhán.†Where Oh Me borders on no-fi with its constant hiss, the production quality of Rejoicing has improved exponentially. Banhart now follows a skeletal structure of gently plucked chords, augmented with delicate touches of cello, piano and violin. It’s a mesmerizing journey through the dark heart of Brooklyn’s lost boy....
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Devendra Banhart -Rejoicing in the Hands
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Benzine | by LaurentUn talent absolument singulier Son premier album s’intitulait Oh Me Oh My… The Way the Day Goes by the Sun Is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming Lovesongs of the Christmas Spirit (Oh Me Oh My pour les intimes) et certaines chansons étaient enregistrées sur un répondeur téléphonique. Il a le poil long et dru (y compris sur le visage, les spécialistes appellent ça une « barbe »), il n’est pas rare de le voir se produire sur scène assis en tailleur, et il ne fume probablement pas que du tabac. Son parcours en lui-même est assez atypique : prénommé d’après un gourou Indien que ses parents avaient suivi, il a grandi au Venezuela, puis à son retour aux USA, entame une carrière de troubadour moderne à travers tout le pays. En d’autres mots, Devendra Banhart marque le grand retour d’un folk artisanal et profondément hippie. On est assez loin des enluminures pop d’un Elliott Smith, du crossover electro très hype (quoique excellent) d’une Feist , ou même du paupérisme d’un Bill Callahan (Smog ). Ici, les instruments sont régulièrement désaccordés, les enregistrements faits un peu à l’emporte-pièce, et surtout, on revient à l’esprit originel, aux racines mêmes du......
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Rejoicing in the Hands
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Rolling Stone | by Christian HoardFragile and quirky folk songsSounding like the work of a high-pitched Tom Waits, Banhart’s second album is full of alternately fragile and quirky folk songs, with his sultry warble digging into spare country blues and Appalachian melodies. The songs are a bit on the slow side, but Banhart’s well-crafted tunes and nimble picking give the whole package a dusky old-timey ambience....