Sampling: Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon

Devendra Banhart
Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Beggars Xl Recording 2007

By Nick McGregor

Devendra Banhart made the transition from wandering ex-art student to celebrated folk personality in less than five years, and his latest album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon proves Banhart will remain a musical force for years to come. Expanding on the full band format he conceived for 2005’s Cripple Crow, the 16 songs on Thunder Canyon showcase everything from upbeat samba to ‘50s Hebrew pop, with orchestral arrangements and gospel choruses thrown in for good measure. “Wait,” you might ask, “didn’t you say this guy was a folkie?” Well, yes and no.

Banhart grew up between Venezuela and Los Angeles, but began to take music and art seriously during a short stay at the San Francisco Art Institute. After releasing three albums of home-recorded psychedelic acoustic music, which, for lack of a better term, earned a “freak folk” distinction, Banhart’s popularity rose like that of an underground religious mystic. But he rarely showed any signs of interest in the traditional vein of American folk, so his Spanish-inflected tunes and ethereal, quivering voice often turned off those looking for something more along the lines of Bob Dylan. But the beautifully tender songs found on Thunder Canyon represent an eccentric, whimsical American spirit that, if not completely vanished, has subsided in our relatively conformist society.

The jazzy, Jewish vibe of “Shabop Shalom” and flamenco stylings of “Samba Vexillographica” make about as much sense together as the Jackson 5-ish “Lover” and the hallucinogenic dub track “The Other Woman.” And the epic “Seahorse” moves from country stylings to downbeat jazz to Neil Young-style rock ‘n’ roll with ease, taking eight minutes to cover decades of musical territory. More than any “folk” label, this far-reaching ability embodies Banhart’s style: the guy is so accomplished at so many things — from singing to songwriting to guitar melodies to piano parts — that his albums flourish into one-hour masterpieces of eclecticism. After releasing five of these works of art in five years, it’s scary to wonder where Devendra Banhart will go in the future.