Customer Reviews

What Will We Be (2 LP 180 Gram Vinyl w/2 Bonus Tracks)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really enjoy Devendra and his albums. His last two albums, Cripple Crow and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, have been more clean and radio friendly than his earlier work (his earlier work is also great though). This album fits into the more radio friendly sound of Devendra (you'll still never hear it on the radio though). In fact, this may be Devendra's most polished or produced album yet. Despite this fact, in a weird way this album is a call back to some of his earlier work. I believe it feels that way because of the double tracked vocals. Even with the double tracked vocals though, it doesn't have the same experimental feel of his first work. This is a perfectly laid back album for relaxing. There are less up tempo numbers than on Smokey but the albums fits together very nicely as a whole. The album doesn't feel as grandeous as Smokey did. It defintly has a more intamit feel to it. I am not saying Smokey was grandeous in a bad way because I really enjoyed that album as well. What Will We Be just shows a different side of Devendra. If you are a Devendra fan, than you need to but this album. Whatever you want to label it, Freak Folk or whatever else, Devendra is in the top of his field.

i WAS very impressed WITH the sound quality of THIS lp. The music on the album is a slight departure for Devendra, but that is to be expected, as one must change to grow. It's a little more rock-n-roll and a little less freaky folk. Still there's enough experimental musical inventions AND ODDNESS to satisfy your Devendracravings. ONE THING i have to say is that I WAS VERY IMPRESSED with the sound quality of this VINYL ALBUM. The sound was CLEAR, ringing in your ears, on your skin, in youR BRAIN EVEN. It sounded like they WERE RIGHT THERE IN MY DEN, playing just for me! Soothing, JarRINg, entrancingggggggg and PsYcHeDelIc... dreamy, and uNIQue... Yes, I recommend you buy it.

Of the two bonus tracks, one is a throw-away going-on-a-vacation jingo, sounds like a tv commercial... but the other... Mmmm... pfantastique! Dreamy, and psychedelic. Like having ice cream licked off your brain.

as much as i always expect a let down sooner or later from artists i love, it still hasn't happened with devendra. in fact he breaks new ground on this album while still giving us that warm sound we love. being a vinyl junkie, i recommend getting the 2 LP version for all the richness that vinyl affords and it comes with 2 bonus tracks.

"Cripple Crow" has a loose, whimsical, Manu Chao feel about it. On that record, Banhart also displayed a great sense of humor ("..all the boys I wanna marry.." and "Chinese children" are just a couple of examples).

When "Smokey rolls down thunder canyon" came out, it got all kinds of critical acclaim. To this listener, though, it's got a few good tracks, but overall doesn't hold a candle to "Cripple Crow".

Luckily, on "What Will We Be", Mr. Banhart gets his groove back. The studio production here is much slicker than on "Cripple Crow", and he lets more of his influences show. On "Cripple Crow", there was a distinct Marc Bolan vibe going on, but now, we can hear some Bryan Ferry, not to mention the Jim Morrison/Led Zep stomp that is "Rats".

He throws in a few songs in Spanish, which is a big part of what makes Devendra Banhart so idiosyncratic and a one of a kind, instantly recognizable musician.

Haven't had the to see him live yet, but given Banhart's sheer range of styles and apparent propensity for spontaneity, it should make for a great show.

This album was recorded on mostly analog equipment in a house on the Northern California coast. You can hear the intimacy of the creative space in the home-grown arrangements, the room acoustics, the casual performances. It's authentic, hand-made, contemporary folk music at its best.

To be frank, I have not been a big Devendra fan in the past. I heard his weirdo-vibrato as more a personality affectation than something that added to the musicality of his work. That weirdo-voice is pretty much absent from this recording. Not trying to be a hater, but thank you, Dev. Thank you for giving us instead an open-hearted peek into your world behind the rockstar eyeliner mask. The songs are personal, tender and treat worn-out themes in surprisingly fresh ways: lovers, partying in the city at night, personal growth. The album is now on my rotation, a difficult and welcome feat.

This album was recorded in Mexico, and maybe that's why it has a subtle layer of mexican sounds in some of the songs. I think of Angelika and Can't help but smiling. But, really, this album is an example of anachronism. It has no space (it's from nowhere) and no time (it's the 70's (Rats), the '50s (Chin chin and muck muck), and the 60's ("Maria Lionza" could have been written by Simon & Garfunkel and we haven't noticed))

Another thing is you can't really place this album in any genre. Be it freak-folk, brasilian tropicalia revival, jazz or reggae. It is a collage of all of them.

4 stars, specially "Last song for B", "Foolin", "Walilamdzi" and "Brindo".

Well, I thought the review titled "Dude...why?" was a little harsh. This album is fun and makes me want to dance and smile. I don't think it's as "polished" as others have claimed. I mean, for crying out loud, he coughs at the end of "Rats." I love the lyrics and all the crazy stuff he mixes the songs up with-much fun.

Although I loved Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, this album is really growing on me. This one makes me want to dance more. He sounds so much like Jim Morrison in parts of "Rats." "Rats" has a psychedelic, trippy kind of feel and sounds great if you blast it and it's a nice contrast to some of the other songs. What I love about Banhart is how he mixes things up so well. There really is a subtle balance between reflective songs, upbeat makes you want to get up and dance songs, and some actual brilliant psychedelic-sounding rock in this album. On my lunch break, I just went out to my truck in the parking lot and drank some coffee and listened to it. I wanted to bring the sound back into work with me and hated turning it off (although one of the tunes "Baby" is still in my head). This album keeps getting better and better the more I listen to it- all kinds of interesting goodies packed in there. Great album. I was not disappointed. roll tide.

I first saw Devendra Live in Brooklyn, just before his album came out on young God. Michael Gira was raving about him, and I had to hear him.... I deeply regret not seeing him many more times back in those early days...

I have really been a fan ever since that first time in Brooklyn, he sat there, bare footed on a table, on the stage...and just blew me away. I don't think I have ever enjoyed a Michael Gira support "group" ever so much as this one, although I do like Melissa Nadler.

So the album itself. I understand how Devendra has essentially evolved and grown. Devendra is one of those artists that does his own thing. Although I tend to think this is perhaps how Devendra always wanted to sound, or was building up and evolving to this point, consciously. One can only wonder what strange things David Tibet has exposed our Devendra too, I note Dev's Wiccan Tatoo.... and the thelemic imagery on the last album. Although Dev's music sounded too positive for anythign negative to have crept in.

The Album is then a logical conclusion. The first album "Oh me..." was afterall a demo tape he never thought would be released. So really his first album proper were the subsequent Nino Rojo and Rejoicing in the hands on Young God records.

So as noted the sound has been cleaned up, but this was hinted at on smokey rolls (Dev's previous album)but Smokey's major failure was that it was too long and there were far too many voices all chiming in at once...it was fun, but a mess, the sound of someone allowed to finally work in a group and explode onto plastic.

What will be conversly explores this more refined sound of Devendra without the clattering of too many voices. Indeed as Smokey was too long, this one leaves you wanting more...and more. But then that is a good thing, always leave them wanting more....leave us wantign more, so we play it again, and/or wait for the next album...or tour (Dev is far bettter live than on any compact disc!).

What will be then sounds like a solo record again, which allows the songs to breathe and Devendra to do his thangggg....

You may not like the cleaned up sound, and personally I was skeptical, and even more afreaid when I initially played it. But, it grew on me... the Chorus of Baby hit me "Travelling in my Choo Choo train....wooo hooo"

I was hooked, and I knew, this was another Devendra classic that I would come back to repeatedly for years.

Other Highlights include:

First song for B, a sombre gentile song that almost makes you want to cry, in a similar vein to Devendra's "Autmn's child, or I remeber" from his earlier works.

16th & Valencia Roxy music...just grabs you and draws you in... you'll be bopping and singing to it...Yes it does have TRex and /or Roxy music undertones...

The Limited Edition comes with a nice booklet of lyrics, similar to the one that came with Smokey (last album)...full of Dev's art...

I'm still catching up on some 2009 releases that I never had a chance to really fully explore before the end of the year, and this is one of them. This is Devendra Banhart's 6th studio album, and what a way to cap off the decade. Over the course of the previous 5 studio albums, Devendra evolved from a low-fi, solo-acoustic sound to a fully fleshed band sound, culminating in 2007's ambitious "Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon", which left me unmoved, though. Now comes the new album.

When "What Will We Be" (14 tracks; 50 min.) kicks off with the short "Can't Help But Smiling", it immediately feels like a completely different vibe as compared to the "Smokey" album, and a return to the simpler sounds from earlier recordings. "Angelika" is really three songs into one with its changing tempo and tunes. "Going Back" has a lazy beat to it. "First Song for B" and "Last Song for B" is intended to be two sides of the same coin but really doesn't feel like that at all when listening to it. The second half of the album kicks off with "16th & Valencia Roxy Music" is as mainstream as Devendra has ever sounded, in contrast to the next 2 tunes (both 5+ min. "Rats and "Maria Lionza"), which are as ambitious as anything on here, in particular "Rats". But it all sounds good. The album starts to drag a bit towards the end, and I would've eliminated a couple of the tracks in the latter section of the album.

Overall, this album sounds good, but doesn't break any new ground. I still haven't had a chance to see Devendra live in concert, but can only hope that I will have a chance to do so in 2010 (are you reading this, Coachella organizers?). Meanwhile, "What We Will Be" is worth checking out, shortcomings and all.

I'm completely mystified by the contempt with which most critics are treating this album. While it's obviously not for everyone, I can't see why it would inspire such hatred; maybe they hate Banhart's beard or the fact that he dated a Hollywood starlet. To my ears, this album is full of warm, organic, memorable tunes with lots of variation from song to song. If you like his last two albums, I'm pretty sure you'll like this.