Devendra Banhart
Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain (XL)
By Noreen Sobczyk
Published: October 3rd, 2007 | 7:53am
Look up the words “odd,” “creative,” or “beguiling” in the dictionary and Devendra Banhart’s shaggy mug might be staring back at you, for his new album, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain, is just these things. Banhart continues his freaky folk stylings with aplomb in his strangely transfixing, though uneven, album.
Banhart, a Venezuelan who grew up in Caracas and California, exploded with his 2005 album Cripple Crow, an ambitious downright weird collection of tunes and melodies. He had a few previous albums, but with this release critics took notice that a mystical musician with wacky lyrics and wonderful musician friends was creating something wholly original. If Cripple Crow was the seed of his crafty musicianship, then Smokeyis in full bloom with a realized one hour sonic tour of surrealism set to music.
Sung in Spanish, "Cristobal" is a quiet strumble of guitar and his signature diaphanous voice. “So Long Old Bean” sounds like a woozy boozy Taco Ockerse, with Banhart singing an old show tune on his way to sleep it off. The album, crisply produced, swings wildly from soft ballads to a gypsy-esque carnival of instrumentation. "Tonada Yanomaminista” has a title like a Flaming Lips song, the lyrics of a Magnetic Fields song and the sound of The Doors.
The jarring differences from song to song might be a distraction for some listeners, with tunes shifting fast, slow, right, left, upside down and right side up. Some of the songs also feel like they were thrown into the album as an inside joke. For instance, track seven, “Shabop Shalom.” But, of course, you’re wanting something different if you pick up a Banhart album. With this one? Mission accomplished. You’re also probably wanting a musician that is redefining folk music. Yes, accomplished indeed.
Issue #26
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