Will Devendra Banhart be allowed to go mainstream?

As his latest album shows, the singer/songwriter wants to break free from the lo-fi freak-folk underground. Will his public let him?

I've been listening to Devendra Banhart's new album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, an enjoyable listen and yet it had left a lot of reviewers in a quandary. The album has a cinematic musical scope but it seems to be that its author is to be forever associated with his media tag of freak folkster - all beards, beads and bellbottoms, a tag that easily forgets Banhart's talent.

And however, as of late, his life has been more Hollywood than Haight Ashbury; being interviewed by Lindsay Lohan, hanging out with Beck, opening up Karl Lagerfeld's fashion shows, singing with Gael García Bernal and switching his management to Neil Young's main man, Elliott Roberts. Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon moves his mythology on further. It was recorded in Topanga Canyon, land of Woody Guthrie, Neil Young and Charles Manson; home to canyon rock and the cocaine cowboy.

An inveterate self-mythologiser, Devendra Banhart has a back-story that would make Dylan proud. Born in Texas, he was given the name Devendra by an Indian Guru mystic, went to live with his mother in Venezuela, was briefly brought up in the Divine Light Mission cult and ended up in San Francisco. The release of his first two albums, The Black Babies and Oh Me Oh My ... on Michael Gira's Young Gods label gave him underground buzz but it was the near-simultaneous release of Nino Rojo and Rejoicing in the Hands that significantly raised his profile. Those albums referenced the child-like nursery rhymes of Syd Barrett, the otherworldly voice of hippie-era Marc Bolan, and the tropicalia rhythms of Caetano Veloso; he was also responsible for bringing folk legend Vashti Bunyan back to life. And that same year he compiled the zeitgeist-capturing Golden Apples of the Sun, which featured Joanna Newsom and Antony and the Johnsons and made him, wittingly or unwittingly, the figurehead of the so-called freak folk movement.

His next release, Cripple Crow, was the first metamorphosis from hippie child to manchild. Boasting 22 songs, it was more akin to the White Album than previous efforts and contained varying influences of reggae, tropicalia, acid-rock and yes, folk-rock. By using Bearsville Studio - owned by the Band - and the recorded home to some of Banhart's heroes, Karen Dalton and Bobby Charles, it demonstrated that Banhart wanted to make his way out of the four-track lo-fi folk ghetto and make a statement. The results polarised people.

The same polarisation seems to have happened with Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon. The influences are expansive: samba, Os Mutantes, the Doors, psychedelic soul, CSNY and reggae. Its eclectic and wilfully obtuse vibe is very reminiscent of the infamous canyon rock superstar David Crosby's work and demonstrates Banhart's willingness to grow from the underground to the city light of the mainstream. Will everyone allow him to do it? Or will Banhart's epitaph be, in the words of Morrissey: "I thought that if you had/An acoustic guitar/Then it meant that you were/A Protest Singer/Oh, I can smile about it now/But at the time it was terrible." Time will tell but I'm eager for the next act already
Source: Gaurdian Unlimited

NME: The 2007 "Cool List"

The list is:
24 Meg White, The White Stripes
23 Albert Hammond Jr, The Strokes
22 Eugene Hutz, Gogol Bordello
21 Serge Pizzorno, Kasabian
20 Jamie Frost, The Automatic
19 Jack White, The White Stripes/The Raconteurs
18 Carl Barat, Dirty Pretty Things
17 Ryan Ross, Panic! At The Disco
16 Cee-Lo, Gnarls Barkley
15 Tahita Bulmer, New Young Pony Club
14 The House Of Lords, The Young Knives
13 Jamie Reynolds, Klaxons
12 Liam Gallagher, Oasis
11 Paul Simonon, 'The Good, The Bad & The Queen'
10 Lovefoxxx, CSS
9 Thom Yorke, Radiohead
8 Gerard Way, My Chemical Romance
7 Kate Jackson, The Long Blondes
6 Kieren Webster, The View
5 Karen O, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4 Jarvis Cocker
3 Lily Allen
2 Faris Rotter, The Horrors
1 Beth Ditto, The Gossip
Source: nme.com

Radiohead: To Drop Seven Album Box Set

In a situation eerily familiar to Trent Reznor, Parlophone, the ex-label of forward-thinking rockers Radiohead, from which the Oxford-based quintet split in 2005, is gearing up to release a comprehensive box set spanning all the band's pre-In Rainbows albums. The seven-CD collection -- Pablo Honey (1993), The Bends (1995), OK Computer (1997), Kid A (2000), Amnesiac (2001), Hail to the Thief (2003), and the live album I Might Be Wrong (2001) -- will drop Dec. 10, arriving with new "digipack" sleeves featuring original artwork, and also offering special footage by inputting each CD into a computer. A limited edition 4 GB USB stick in the shape of the band's bear logo will also be available with digital artwork, as will a downloadable box set, all now available to preorder via the band's website.
Source: spin.com

Led Zeppelin: To Release Mothership

Available November 12, worldwide, Atlantic Records will honour Led Zeppelin with the release of Mothership, a 24-track, two-CD comprehensive collection that spans their illustrious career.

After nearly forty years, Led Zeppelin continues to inspire generations with their groundbreaking blues-infused, guitar-driven rock ’n’ roll.

Arguably the biggest rock band in the world throughout their 12-year reign, they remain one of the most influential and innovative groups in music history. With over 200 million albums sold worldwide, their catalog is one of the most enduring bodies of musical composition to come out of the 20th century, and it has influenced countless bands along the way.
They had the biggest tours; the biggest sound; the biggest record sales; the biggest reputation. Quite simply Led Zeppelin was the ultimate rock band.

All eight of the band’s classic studio albums are represented on Mothership, with the tracks being personally selected by the surviving members. Mothership includes landmark songs such as 'Whole Lotta Love,' 'Immigrant Song,' 'Kashmir,' 'Rock And Roll,' 'Dazed And Confused,' and 'Stairway to Heaven.' The set will also include new liner notes.
To top this off, November 19th will see the re-release of The Song Remains the Same on DVD, HD DVD, Blu-Ray Disc and Soundtrack CD, ahead of their historic one-off concert at the London 02 Arena on Decenber 10th.
Source: music-news.com

Spoon: The Beast & Dragon Adored (Live)

Babyshambles: MTV Europe Music Awards

VietNam: Toby (Live)

Radiohead: To Hit The Road In 2008

Surely answering the prayers of fans across the globe, the Oxford-based boys of Radiohead will hit international highways and byways next year to unveil selections from mold-busting LP In Rainbows before live audiences. "We plan to tour next year, starting in May through to probably the end of the year. With lots of holidays in that period," Bryce Edge of Courtyard Management, the firm that manages the forward thinking quintet, told Billboard.com. "At the moment we are talking with our agents in North America and for the rest of the world, trying to get a schedule which works for the band and works financially."

Confirming the outing will be set in "slightly larger-scale venues," Edge also divulges frontman Thom Yorke's initial hesitancy at the prospect of a lengthy worldwide outing. "He likes to do shows, but the whole business of schlepping around the world is not top of his list of favorite things to do," said Edge before commenting on Yorke's concern with environmental issues and the effects of touring. "He really enjoys playing to the fans -- it's just the process of how to do that which is the pain in the neck (for Yorke). They're not road dogs. They never have been."
Source: spin.com