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All Ages Early Warnings (Music) Recommended The List (Music)
Devendra Banhart 

When: Mon., Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m. 2009
Phone: 773-472-0449 or 312-559-1212
Price: $28.50
Few indie artists are easier to make fun of than Devendra Banhart—between his half-baked post-hippie persona, his glam-vagrant fashion sense, and his self-satisfied splashing in the shallow waters of celebrity, he's one of the most ridiculous musicians to ever sing a note. But his new What Will We Be (Warner Brothers) is the second straight Banhart record that I've managed to enjoy, despite my reservations. He's certainly not making it easy on me: he still contorts himself into blatantly silly poses, singing vaguely creepy shit like "When I was a young boy / I had a lot of young boys / And we taught each other dearly how to love" in his best Chet Baker croon. There's an appealing breeziness to many of his songs, though—an effervescent lattice of guitars skitters across the surface of "Baby," and "16th & Valencia, Roxy Music" rides on a throbbing glam-disco groove. Most of the superb band from the recording, including guitarists Noah Georgeson (who also produced) and Rodrigo Amarante (who's also in Los Hermanos and Little Joy), is touring with Banhart. If only he'd put a sack over his head onstage. —Peter Margasak

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If the last two records made you begrudging believer, the live show might just prompt a full come to Jesus. They start out seated and slow and, following their bearded and barefooted leader, these supremely talented disciples build on the show's momentum with an eye an ear for performance severely lacking by many of their contemporaries. Sure, the persona and theatrics can seem a little staged at times, but I kind of like that in my live music.

Posted by scronin on November 16, 2009 at 2:51 PM | Report this comment

Peter, you need to get over your perceptions- most of which, I should say, sound as though they are second-hand/hearsay, gleaned from other cynical sources. Go see him live. His set at The Vic was stellar. Great tunes, great band, great night. Far from the hippie poseur you paint him to be, Devendra is a real artist whose growth from album to album is evident to anyone willing to stop stereotyping long enough to listen.

Posted by nikkos on November 18, 2009 at 10:01 AM | Report this comment

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