Sunday, January 24, 2010
...FLART- Devendra Banhart- Cripple Crow
On the advice of one my initial music influences, my brother, Ive given a Devendra Banhart album a listen, and the following are my thoughts after one good listen or as I like to call it my FLART (First Listen Album Review Thoughts). With FLARTs maybe I can review some of the newer albums/releases so Im a bit more novel, even though I know opinions can change drastically over time with albums. Cripple Crow was the Banhart album which I received and it seemingly has two types of songs. On one hand he does slow acoustic numbers like 'Mama Wolf', 'Now that I know' and 'Heard Somebody Say'. This is where I feel that his talent is found, if musical talent was defined through my enjoyment. What I didnt enjoy was the other type of song, the whimsical, lyrically-different jingle which you can find characterized by "Chinese Children', 'Long-Haired Child' and 'Little Boys'. These songs are memorable and quirky, and maybe thats enough, but I found myself slightly annoyed by either the lyrics, melody or sillyness found with them. This may just be another example of me preferring the simple, straight-forward, voice and acoustic guitar method over the extraneous sounds brought in when an artists tries to fill out his raw embryo. Now I know you cant detail a whole album by describing two different songs, but at 23 tracks, I feel he really could of made two completely different albums, one which I could listen to and one which I could throw away. Banhart is indeed different than most things coming out of North America, maybe thats what attracted Natalie Portman, but I think I need to hear his other stuff before Im sold on his talent. Nat, I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on it, doing a non-Canadian artist was a big step for my blog.
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I knew I should have gotten around to responding to this earlier since it was for me! I hear what your saying about two different styles but I must admit I fall in a different category when it comes to what type I perfer. While I do like "Mama Wolf", "Chinese Children" remains my favourite Banhart song. It is exactly what you critized it for that I love in the song- its silliness and repitiveness. I feel like it takes a good musician to feel the groove and live in it which he does so convincingly. This can't really be observed until you listen to one who can't slip into the groove and it is painful. Devendra's ability to just seemingly enjoy himself so well but still be so effectful is what I enjoy the most about him.While this difference can easily be chalked down to different taste I thought I would share my taste- Nathanael Alan Baker
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