devendra banhart roll call

anybody into him? he's playing at the iota tomorrow with joanna newsom and vetiver. i've seen him twice, once with angels of light and once with the scene creamers/weird war/whatever. he plays a sort of outsider folk, very reminiscent of tyrannosaurus rex when marc bolan was warbling about faeries and gnomes and hair glitter. throw in a bit of incredible string band, daniel johnston, and skip spence, and you have devendra banhart.

joanna newsom is a recent drag city signing, and i'm pretty excited to check her out. apparently, she's a classically trained harpist with a jones for appalachian folk and bluegrass.

there's been a bit of a buzz on banhart, but i hope it's not big enough to sell out the iota, since i won't be able to get there until 8:30 at the earliest. you never know these days.

wow I just went to the young god records website and took a listen to a bunch of clips. I might go. Thanks for the tip.

Originally posted by snailhook:
anybody into him? he's playing at the iota tomorrow with joanna newsom and vetiver. i've seen him twice, once with angels of light and once with the scene creamers/weird war/whatever. he plays a sort of outsider folk, very reminiscent of tyrannosaurus rex when marc bolan was warbling about faeries and gnomes and hair glitter. throw in a bit of incredible string band, daniel johnston, and skip spence, and you have devendra banhart.

joanna newsom is a recent drag city signing, and i'm pretty excited to check her out. apparently, she's a classically trained harpist with a jones for appalachian folk and bluegrass.

there's been a bit of a buzz on banhart, but i hope it's not big enough to sell out the iota, since i won't be able to get there until 8:30 at the earliest. you never know these days.

somebody told me that Newsom was their highlight of sxsw, I guess she is also in The Pleased who opened for Love last year, The Decemberists just covered her at the 9:30 show as well

How was that Angels of Light show, their last album was one of my albums of 2003, wish I had gone

pollard, i was at the birchmere for that love show (couldn't miss it, as forever changes is my favorite record of all-time), and i saw the pleased's set (it was ok, sounded like echo and the bunnymen) and got to hang out with them afterwards because my friend knows the guitarist. i don't remember meeting joanna newsom or seeing her there, but that could be because i was fried and my short-term memory sucks ;)

i also saw the decemberist's set but don't remember them covering joanna newsom. see above.

my memory will tell you that the angels of light show at the talking head in april 2003 was nothing short of bone-chilling and trascendental. they encored with "failure". that's really all you need to know. if you're a swans/AoL fan, you should never miss gira live unless you have a good reason.

Originally posted by snailhook:
pollard, i was at the birchmere for that love show (couldn't miss it, as forever changes is my favorite record of all-time), and i saw the pleased's set (it was ok, sounded like echo and the bunnymen) and got to hang out with them afterwards because my friend knows the guitarist. i don't remember meeting joanna newsom or seeing her there, but that could be because i was fried and my short-term memory sucks ;)

i also saw the decemberist's set but don't remember them covering joanna newsom. see above.

my memory will tell you that the angels of light show at the talking head in april 2003 was nothing short of bone-chilling and trascendental. they encored with "failure". that's really all you need to know. if you're a swans/AoL fan, you should never miss gira live unless you have a good reason.

I would not have recognized the Newsom song myself, but I was told the first song of the encore was Newsom's "Bridges and Balloons."

I was not at the Love show so I can't say if she was there, but she is listed as a member of the band and from what I am told played with them at SXSW.

I will definitely try and see Gira next time he is touring.

Snailhook, did you end up going? Any word on how the show was?

Originally posted by nkotbie:
Snailhook, did you end up going? Any word on how the show was?

it was fucking excellent. i picked up joanna newsom's album on the way out (having not heard a note of her music going into it). devendra banhart got off to a slow start but he recovered nicely. two great sets (i missed vetiver).

yes, i did make it to the show, but i got out of work at 9:30, so i missed vetiver's set. i got there right before joanna newsom began.

newsom was terrific. her voice sort of sounds like bjork in its idiosyncratic inflections, and she has a really child-like innocence about her. i can see her vocals being an acquired taste, but her skill on the harp in undeniable. not that i get the chance to see many harpists, but her approach to the instrument is unique. i've read that she's influenced by such modern composers as ruth crawford seeger, and you can hear the somewhat complex melodies juxtaposed with simple folky ones. i was entranced during her 30-minute set and will definitely see her again. i would have bought the album if i wasn't so broke.

devendra was solid as well. he played for about 40 minutes (i could have gone for more of both performers). yeah, the marc bolanisms were in full effect, but he also touches upon many obscure folkies and blues musicians such as fred neil, tim buckley, mississippi john hurt, and the incredible string band/clive palmer. he also looks like either charles manson or jesus. true loner folk. many of his songs are creepy and eerie, but he comes off as a hippie in person. the dude was even wearing sandals! his vocal acrobatics are pretty damn cool.

the new issue of arthur features banhart and newsom, as well as fellow psych-folkies faun fables and cocorosie. it's nice to see a burgeoning underground of folk-based dark psychedelia. i've been waiting ten years for hipsters to pick up on ISB and pentangle and fairport convention.

dave eggers (not sure if it's THE "david eggers" of "heartbreaking work of staggering genius" fame or not) devoted one of his recent spin ramblings to joanna newsom…it really made me want to check it out but i was honestly a little disappointed with the songs i downloaded from her site. maybe i should give it another listen.