Search - Devendra Banhart :: Black Babies

The Future's Past

M. Starr | Kansas City | 10/31/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One of the things you'll immediately notice about Devendra Banhart is his eerie, yet beautiful, acoustic sound. His recordings are extremely lo-fi and very intimate sounding, almost to the point of sounding ghostly. The Black Babies is a collection of eight short songs, some of which appeared on last years Oh Me Oh My album from the same label. The music appears to come from a different time and place, while also sounding somewhat black and white in tone. Opting to keep the production value as simple and pure as possible, Banhart's songs could be compared to the great blues guitarist, Robert Johnson. All his songs are recorded on a four-track recorder and usually contain a high level of tape hiss. He claims this is what happens when you don't know what you're doing, but I think it's pretty apparent that this is part of his intent and charm. In addition to tape hiss, there are moments on Banhart's recordings where you can hear various sounds coming from the distant background. It usually comes by way of a car passing on the street, the sound of the phone ringing, or even gunshots from nearby. This is another one of the unique qualities that The Black Babies possesses. The most important component, however, is the sound of Devendra's genre-defying voice. At times it's very old-fashioned sounding, while other times it's high pitched and aggressive. He's also not too embarrassed to throw in an occasional whistle to add different textures to the sound of a song. On a song like "A Surgery I Stole," we see that the primary concept of Banhart's music is to push an innate level of melody in basic song writing. The song "Cosmos and Demos" is a track compiled of individual thoughts, and visually reminds me of Harmony Korine's movie, Gummo. In a time when most music is heavily produced and meant to capture a listener immediately, Davendra Banhart is an artist that does things in his own simplistic way. At first, I was kind of annoyed with what I was hearing, but eventually became quite fond of his style. On some levels, it's some of the strangest music I've ever heard; even if the main idea of it is to remain completely simple and pure. Furthermore, I'm always amazed when an artist like Banhart can take the most basic elements (guitar and four-track recorder) and, in the end, make something much larger than the sum of its parts."

If you like Devendra Banhart, don't pass up this cd.

Matt | Miami, FL United States | 04/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have all of Devendra Banhart's CD's and this is only considered an EP with eight songs. His other CD's contain anywhere from 15 to 25 songs. The other CD's are great. All of that said, if I could keep only one, it would be this one. Yes, the production quality is lower than Rejoicing in the Hands and Nino Rojo. I think the tracks came from the same time period as Oh Me Oh My (some of the tracks are repeated from that CD on this EP, though the ones that aren't are easily worth the price of admission) with his raw, home-recorded sound. But his work has never been more hauntingly beatiful than on, Surgery I Stole, Long Song, Old Thunderbird, and Onward the Indian. My wife thinks he sounds scary. I've never thought he sounded scary, although his bizarre, eccentric style is obviously the reason some feel that way. To me, his music is nothing short of incredible. It is raw and bizarre, to be sure, but it has a real beauty. Just so you know, my wife is finally coming around and even likes to play a few of his songs when she's driving. If you already are a fan, this disc may just become your favorite, short as it is. Don't pass it up."