Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Oh Me Oh My"! It's Devendra, July 3, 2003
I'm not sure what to make of Devendra Banhart. He tiptoes on the margin between sublime and sheer lunacy. "Oh Me Oh My" is one of those rare CDs you put on, in an altered state, at 3 am in the morning, and like a bolt of lightining the genius of the artist strikes you. I listened to Skip Spence's "Oar" for several months before the elusive quality of his brilliance sank in. Devendra is a similar type of artist. The production values are charmingly low-fi and the lyrics...well... let's just say if you find a meaning in the content of Banhart's lyrics, then you are capable of some very loose associations. A lot the lyrics resemble the stream of consciouness, automatic writting practiced by Andre Breton and his brethern in French surrealist movement. It is just a guy and his guitar and a voice that defies any precedents. No production tricks like crunchy loops or sound reprocessing. He soars and swoops from pleasant mid range voice into a screeching falsetto almost at a whim. He pays little attention to conventional musical structures. It's almost as if Mr. Banheart never heard music at all, or even knew what a guitar was; and some guy handed him a guitar and said,"Here, Devandra do something with this thing." I will be interested in seeing where Devandra goes from here. Yesterday's low-fi genius, often becomes tomorrow's charlatan, after two or three releases. Is he a savant or an idiot? I'm sure we will get the answer in a year or two. Unconventional artists like Devandra don't have a lot of choices: they either melt down like Syd and Skip, or persue more centrist musical directions. A few artists like Beck and Captain Beefheart can pull it off, but smart money isn't betting on it yet.
|
|
|
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sorry but..., March 16, 2005
I love Devendra Banhart. He is an amazing singer/songwriter and I'm very glad to see the folk scene expanding. However, this album isn't really that great. There are a few songs that are really good, though. Oh Me Oh My doesn't have the "pull" that Rejoicing in the Hands or Nino Rojo have. If you were wanting to check out Devendra Banhart for the first time, definately check out Rejoicing in the Hands or Nino Rojo first before you plunge right into this one. It takes an open mind and open hands ;)
|
|
|
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eerie, effective, and otherworldly..., April 24, 2003
I had high expectations for this album based on the hype I'd read. Although Banhart at times does indeed reach for a bizarre falsetto, I thought it would be more obviously demented than it turned out to be, but after a while it worked its unusual magic on me. As has been previously mentioned here, there is little more at work here than an accoustic guitar, voice, and a basic four-track recorder. The vocals are multi-tracked most of the time, which because of their looseness gives the songs a very strange choral effect that actually gets to be quite chilling. The songs here are great, with bittersweet melodies that will stick in your head for days, and the lo-fi production only adds to the ethereal, unsettling vibe. And of course there are the odd interludes here and there which sound like old records being played through an ancient, crackling cable.
If I had to draw comparisons, I would definately cite Tiny Tim, the accoustic/folkish Current 93 material, and maybe Marc Bolan? In any case, I can say with a clear conscience that this would be right at home within the World Serpent roster.
Overall, this is spooky yet very charming; quite an implausible but intoxicating achievement that must be heard to be believed.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
~ Devendra Banhart
~ Devendra Banhart
~ Devendra Banhart
~ Devendra Banhart
~ Joanna Newsom
by Devendra Banhart 
