With any change in sound, for every new listener won over, there will inevitably be a string of nay-sayers among the artist's die-hard contingent. There will also be those that will find a way to take exception with the overtly hippie undertones, but any such cry of "selling out" here is assuredly misplaced. As a fan of his earlier work, to these ears, Cripple Crow - with highlights aplenty - marks a welcome change in Banhart's sound. There were moments on his previous two albums where the songs were just calling out to have a band behind them, and as if to over-compensate for that hindrance, not only has Banhart formed the Hairy Fairies, but the arrangements for the twenty-two tracks are as assorted as the album's Sgt. Pepper's-esque cover. Cripple Crow sees Banhart avoiding the risk of letting such creativity grow stale by refusing to limit himself to one single sound, reinvigorating his unique and inventive song-writing in the process. Let's hope the rumours that the Venezuela-raised hipster is considering a retirement from making albums are unfounded, and that he keeps his impressive productivity levels up until he's a grey haired nomad with a hundred eccentric gems in his back-catalogue…after all, he's only just begun to make us dance.
See What You Hear.com
(Also contains recent live reviews of Devendra Banhart)
Article comments
1 - Michael J. West
"Nu-Folk"? I thought we were supposed to call it "freak-folk"?
2 - Andrew
Nu-folk, wyrd-folk, freak-folk, acid folk...there's a new term every week. I don't think we're "supposed" to call it anything, just whatever feels right at the time!
Great article by the way, really nice work
3 - Temple Stark
Music Editor Matt picked this his pick of the week. Go HERE to find out why. and thank you very much.