o hand in hand

* devendra banhart is making some really interesting music. days in the wake-era will oldham is a decent point of reference, but before you cry "been there, done that" comes the twist of psychedelic randomness, giving the two records i've bought by him a quality not unlike "tyrannosaurus rex"-era t.rex. the earlier record, oh me oh my is a lo-fi oddity not unlike early smog, minus the venomous misanthropy (not that that's a bad thing). there are a million songs on it, it seems-- and some are better than others-- but it maintains a spontaneous playfulness throughout. even at their most disposable, the songs seem as if he had to get them off his chest. the more recent, more hyped record-- rejoicing in the hands is more handsome, and reaches greater heights, i think, in the end. the songs feel really natural, and their "weirdness" feels natural as well. banhart plays as if unaware of playing a role. he jumps from folk hippie sage to acid freak to prankster to surrealist without ever seeming as if he's striking a pose-- or even vying for some sort of "sincerity status," which i think is a far deeper charade these days than that great terror known as "postmodern irony" or whatever. at any rate, this is beautiful music.

* devendra banhart is making some really interesting drawings as well. they sprawl across the album layout, morphing from sketches to lyrics to thank you lists in a continous stylistic flow. they're doodles, in the end, but they steer clear of the nerd-boy-chic doodles of artists like marcel dzama. they're cartoonish, but not pop, and they combine the compulsive repetition of a surrealist exquisite corpse with the grace and tenderness of the gorgeous, devotional shaker drawings i had the pleasure of seeing at the drawing center in NYC a while back. he's also using text-- and pulling it off-- which is something i admire on a personal level, as i attempt to do so myself.