This little wisp of a Devendra Banhart sampler

I was flipping through a stack of CDs late one night last week, and fingered a thin paper envelope with some sort of Spirograph monkey drawn on the front and no name. The back read: “Baby, 16th & Valencia Roxy Music, Goin Back.” Curious, I lingered on it for a moment and slid the CD out of the case, only to see that it was three new songs from none other than the bearded, penis-skirted, freak-folker Devendra Banhart.

Devendra’s music that I’ve heard darts all over the map. Some of my favorites have been his haunting, warbly stuff like “Quedate Luna,” which (bear with me) reminds me of a possessed wolf outside your Spanish mountain hostel in the full moonlight. Unsettling, beautiful stuff.

This little sampler o’ songs from his new full-length What Will We Be (October 27) is absolutely 100% marvelous, each of the three songs they gave me as appetizers. On the deliriously tired drive home from the airport Monday morning, I must have listened to this on repeat a good seven or eight times, and listening to it this morning I am still not tired of it. There is structure, and lapping melody, and dare I say even pop.

Stream the first track, the deliciously slinky “Baby,” on his MySpace, and listen to the singalong, hip-shaking, light fantastic anthem here. It makes me feel feisty:

16th & Valencia Roxy Music – Devendra Banhart
(“Tonight we’re gonna find our lovers! Tonight we’re gonna find our man.“)

Rodrigo Amarante appears on the new album as well (the Brazilian frontman for the tropicalia-inspired kiddos in Little Joy), and Devendra just finished a few tour dates with them as well. Also appearing on the album are members of Vetiver, Megapuss, and Band of Bees. The Venezuelan-bred Devendra has spent years living in San Francisco’s vibrant Castro district, and the new album was recorded in an unspecified “sleepy Northern California town.” I might wear this little three song sampler out before October 27th.

DEVENDRA BANHART TOUR DATES
11.16.09 at Vic Theatre (Chicago, IL)
11.17.09 at The Ark (Ann Arbor, MI)
11.19.09 at Higher Ground (Burlington, VT)
11.20.09 at Berklee (Boston, MA)
11.22.09 at Town Hall (New York, NY)
11.24.09 at Electric Factory (Philadelphia, PA)
11.25.09 at 9:30 Club (Washington, DC)
11.27.09 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre (Toronto, ON)

[tour photo via the fabulous Laurie Scavo]

And be my everlovin’ baby (Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2009)

One of the highlights of my fabulously sunny, Indian-summer October weekend in California was seeing the legendary Gillian Welch with David Rawlings at the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Saturday at Golden Gate Park. I’d never gotten to see her sublime and lovely music live, and it positively sprouted wings under the San Francisco eucalyptus trees. The Emmylou Harris made a surprise appearance with her and David to clutch a lyrics sheet and sing a wide-smiled version of “Didn’t Leave Nobody But The Baby” (from the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack).

Didn’t Leave Nobody But The Baby – Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch & Alison Krauss
(some video I found from Saturday)

Gillian’s longtime musical partner, David Rawlings has a new album out November 17th, which will include a version of the song “To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)” he penned with Ryan Adams, and guest appearances by Gillian Welch, Benmont Tench from the Heartbreakers, Nathaniel Wilcott of Bright Eyes, and members of Old Crow Medicine Show.

Okkervil River also absolutely completely blew me away. I reacted like a good Generation X-er and texted every music lover I know with (hardly strictly Moose-Drool-influenced) words of fawning and amazement. This Austin, Texas band puts on one of the very best live shows I’ve seen all year. Their songs grow and shimmer (and yes, kick) live, and the early afternoon audience scaled trees to get a better view, hooting and hollering. As we walked to their set, I tried to define their sound for my companion who hadn’t seen them before, and found that I couldn’t, and once they started in on their first song I conceded to her simply: “Man, I need to dive so much deeper with these guys.”

Effing watch this amazing set closer; my insides wanted to leap out of my chest:

Unless It’s Kicks – Okkervil River
Unless It’s Kicks (demo version) – Okkervil River

What gives this mess some grace unless it’s fictions
Unless it’s licks, man
Unless it’s lies or it’s love?

What breaks this heart the most is the ghost of some rock and roll fan
Exploding up from the stands
With her heart opened up
And I want to tell her, “your love isn’t lost”
Say, “my heart is still crossed”
Scream, “you’re so wonderful”
What a dream in the dark
About working so hard
About glowing so stoned
Trying not to turn off
Trying not to believe in that lie all on your own…

[read the rest]

The one with the injured bird seems to me most true

This weekend finds me back in California, this time for a wedding of a dear friend. She was so kind as to schedule her wedding on the same weekend as the totally free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park (where I just was for this madness). Not only does this “really cool” festival bring together an amazingly high-quality range of artists (most with rootsy Americana underpinnings), they encourage you to bring your own beer. Really. I checked the website.

Athens, Georgia alt-country/folk artist Vic Chesnutt isn’t playing this year, but I am brushing up on the dusty twang in my iTunes library to get prepared for a sunny day today of picking and strumming.

Injured Bird – Vic Chesnutt & Michael Stipe

This gem was on the End of Violence soundtrack (1997), and it just resurfaced on my speakers after a long absence. Knowing that Chesnutt is paraplegic following a car accident gives this song an extra layer of poignancy, and Michael Stipe remains my favorite male vocalist, absolutely, ever. His voice adds such a rich, sad bittersweetness to this song.

let me borrow his old winter coat

All of the talk about the spacey free-jazz wonk on Sufjan Stevens‘ new songs reminded me of some favorite collaborations he’s worked on in the past, like the humble harmonies of his duets with Rosie Thomas.

Say Hello (rough mix) – Rosie Thomas & Sufjan Stevens

There’s a childlike vulnerability and very grown-up beauty in Rosie’s voice, and listening to it tonight reminds me of many many nights last winter when I’d sit in semi-darkness with only her voice playing softly, achingly on the wood-grain stereo.

She’s been making music for several years now, sometimes with Sub Pop Records, and has worked with a handful of those sensitive musician fellas I love like Damien Jurado, Sufjan, and Denison Witmer.

This song was on the Say Hello EP, with the finished version on These Friends Of Mine (2007).

It’s a dead man’s party (who could ask for more?)

Today is somehow already October, and I’m suddenly in a fairly spooky mood, or at least the kind of mood that lets me appreciate songs about zombies and being alone in the dark at night. I’d heard of but not listened to California’s Dead Man’s Bones until today, but when I read that it is a project between actor Ryan Gosling, Zach Shields, and the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children’s Choir, I clicked the play arrow immediately.

There are a few things I am a sucker for, and any sort of choir in a song (preferably gospel or children’s, but gay men’s choirs and the elderly are also accepted) will get me almost every time. In addition to this, I will admit to a deeply heartfelt affinity for Gosling and his Notebook glory (he made her a studio!). In fact, if I can finish packing soon for my for California jaunt (college roommate getting married this weekend!), I just might plunk myself on the couch to celebrate what Gosling has added to my Hallow-month.

The idea sounds ridiculous, but there is a vivacity and quirky doo-wop joy on these tracks that can perk up your ears any time, not just in the weeks around Halloween. It’s got a little Murder By Death gothic current, mixed with the chaos of your favorite large Canadian collective, and some playground claps and yells just to get your blood flowing. As Chad wrote to first grab my ear, “I’m not going to stop talking about how much I love this song until all of you start paying it some serious attention … it’s Ryan Gosling and a kids’ choir singing pop songs all together about monsters and whatnot and it still doesn’t suck. In fact, it’s brilliant.”

…and I’m already singing along.

My Body’s A Zombie For You – Dead Man’s Bones

The full Dead Man’s Bones album is streaming now on MySpace, and is out Tuesday on Anti- Records.