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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Canyon Magic, October 12, 2007
Giving off the same earthy vibe as his terrific Cripple Crow, Devendra Banhart taps into the good vibrations of California's Topanga Canyon. The result is the friskiest and most musically solid album of his unashamedly eclectic career. Songs bounce between 60's psychedelic to the Jackson 5-ish Motown of "Lover" to 50's novelty of "Shabop Shalom" and it's humorous "wonder wonder who, who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls" quip, and it all works like a dreamy California morning. Even the Spanish language songs meld effortlessly into the whole of the CD.
Banhart is also getting more adventurous. While his album is richer musically than anything he has done before, he is hardly getting slick. "Smokey Rolls..." seems far more dependant on feel than fidelity (there are times when his vocal yelps distort annoyingly), and I would guess that the vocal pitch correction softwear was NOT brought in to smooth over the errors. All the better. With a standout six minutes of a song like "Sea Horse" making music sound communal again, "Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon" is a minor miracle; an album by an artist who is willing to throw commercial cautions to the wind and make a full length CD that holds together as a piece. Since most artists seem bound and determined to do nothing but create jingles, singles and ring-tones lately, Devendra Banhart must now be counted as a serious contender as a maker of progressive popular music.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great companion album to Cripple Crow, September 26, 2007
First off I have to say this is a great album. If your into Devendra Banhart and liked Cripple Crow then do not hesitate now, buy this album. If you new to Devendra Banhart than this really is a pretty good place to start. The album has a much fuller sound than any of his previous efforts, due to the fact that he features a full band. It also very accessible to people who are not really into the whole Freak Folk scene. I really enjoy his voice on this album as compared to any of his other albums because on a few tracks he tries singing in a lower octive, which I enjoyed. Also, Rich Robinson, guitarist for the Black Crows, appears on a track. As the other reviewer said, the words are a little hard to read, but not that bad. The art scheme fits with his other albums and personally I like it. Bottom line, is that Devendra Banhart has made another great album, and great albums are a lost are in this radio world of singles.
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Cohesive, Soft-Spoken Work from the Maestro, September 30, 2007
First of all, I think that this one is Devendra's greatest album, even better than 'Cripple Crow'. Despite his vocal limitations (Jeff Buckley he is not, even though he does have that whisper every now and then), Devendra is remarkable at living within his musical genre, not stretching himself too far, and still make a cohesive record that is not boring or tedious.
I found this recording to be a little more difficult to get into upon first listen though. A lot of songs sounded rough-edged and harsher, and the production was less tight than "Cripple Crow". Still, it lends a certain folksy rusticness to the entire production that ultimately worked in its' favor. Listen to the opener "Christobal". How could you not be moved by it?
My favorite though, is the 9 minute long epic "Sea Horse". However, Devendra's increasing tendency to record Spanish language tracks sometimes don't work - here however, they do. What I especially liked is that even though this remains an 'alternative folk' album, the mood is very 'Mulholland Drive', with elements of 1950s swing showing up every now and then. Sometimes theres a string section very reminiscent of The Beatles. Its this sort of pop sensibility that I think makes Devendra very accessible, and even though you may not know much about the artists' previous work, this album is definitely essential.
Like Imogen Heap and Patti Smith, Devendra seems to be getting better with every release, and I would consider this to be the most 'essential' of all his albums (its at least ten times better than 'Nino Rojo') and this is at least twice as good as 'Cripple Crow'.
If you're not sure, download a track or two or listen to samples. Like Tori Amos' "Scarlet's Walk", this is a headphones album that needs to be listened to on your Ipod without ever skipping a track. If you like investing time and energy in real music, this is the perfect album to lend your intellect and higher senses to. It will pay you back richly.
Highly Recommended.
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by Devendra Banhart 
