Devendra Banhart — Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon

Devendra Banhart is undoubtedly a gifted musician and I'm not troubled by the arguably pretentious inclusion of songs in five different languages on one LP. This is a Banhart record, after all. What bothers me is his self-concious adherence to the cult of Devendra Banhart. It's frustrating because when he doesn't overthink things, he's capable of some amazing, genre-bending folk-rock. Case in point, the insidiously catchy "So Long Old Bean," where his echo-laden vocals waver to and fro with the irreverent sensibility of a spaghetti western. The cheekily titled "Shabop Shalom" shimmies up and down, revelling in its doo-wop appropriation absurdity. But he falters with the pedantic and meandering "Rosa" and the gospel-inflected "Saved." If Banhart could capture his freewheeling, free-flowin' live show and translate it into a cohesive record, we'd all be much better off.

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