Play that beat!

Believe me, I adore playing an old school hit like nobody's business, but sometimes there's nothing better than putting on one of your favorite long players, enjoying it for what it is: a tip-top, start to finish "headphone masterpiece".



Being a music snob sucks. You find yourself discrediting music just because it is recommended 1000 time over by critics, magazines, and cooler than thou music sites. Or you knock something because it is overplayed on the radio or MTV. Or worst of all, you knock something based solely on image or because you just know you wouldn’t enjoy it. Now I hate to think of myself as a music snob, but each year I stumble onto a disc I would have normally discarded and end up falling in love with it. [You see where I am going with this right?] Devendra, Devendra, Devendra, oh where do I begin. You see I immediately labeled you as some odd folk hippie that made nothing but weird experimental music that somehow got pegged as being music. Yes I did this without ever listening to even one piece of your music, but after hearing and falling in love with this I am quick to admit my faults. Cripple Crow is hands down, without a doubt, one of the most gorgeous and beautiful albums I have ever heard; a throwback to the stirring and epic folk period of the 70's, complete with anti-war diddies [‘I Feel Just Like A Child’ and the choir assisted stillness of ‘Heard Somebody Say’] and a little help from friends [among them Andy Cabic of Vetiver and the free-folk band Feathers]. At 22 tracks the disc may be a little long, but it is wonderfully eclectic for a folk album, with songs sung in Spanish, (Banhart’s native tongue) [the marimba assisted waltz of ‘Santa Maria De Feira’ and the slow moving ‘Inaniel.’]and English, covering topics as odd and eccentric as seeing little boys he wants to marry [the part tavern based blues, parts Fats Domino ‘Little Boys’], how much he loves and will always produce Chinese children [the quirky and offbeat vibe of ‘Chinese Children’], and of course, as mentioned previously, songs pleading for love, not war [‘Heard Somebody Say, and the gorgeous six minute title track.]. Devendra I’m sorry I ever doubted your talent. I won’t let it happen again.
Key Tracks: Heard Somebody Say, Cripple Crow, Hey Mama Wolf