Lucidious egram | where the turnips are | 04/12/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Feathers (The second release on Devendra Banhart's gnomonsong label) have a long history of several cdr and vinyl only releases, and two members are also in the stoner band witch with j mascis. Feathers is a completely different beast than Witch though. Where witch focuses on the almighty riff and acid haze days of Pentagram and Black Sabbath. Feathers follows the more subdued psychedelic daze of incredible string band. Now comparisons aside this album is defenitely worth owning. With its own mystery and atmosphere that could have been recorded forty years ago rather than yesterday. Beautiful hushed vocals and light picking mixed with subtle variants on the wyrd folk theme."
Fantastic!!
wendy Friedlander | Oakland, CA. | 04/18/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I saw Feathers at a show in California and was blown away. I hadnt known them when i saw them but was immedietly drawn into their sound. Rich, dreamy, intricate music and harmonies blended together nearly perfectly. Loved the sitar and other unique instruments. Recommended if you like Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, and the new psych-folk scene."
Quite an experience.
Matt B. Klein | New York, NY | 04/18/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"i am glad they finally were able to release this album on cd. the vinyl has been a constant visitor to my turntable since it was released last year. at times, the music sounds very familiar. at other times, you forget you are listening to music at all, until the record ends and you are sitting in your underwear, feeling that weird chill coming from the window, you left open when there was still some light left in the sky and the warmth that comes along with it. then i get dressed and have to replay the album to hear what i missed. it is one of those albums that seems to play differently each time it is listened to, but always makes you want to hear more. i truly love this gem. it is quite the experience."
Yes, sitar + folk music = freakfolk
W. T. Hoffman | Pennsylvania, United States | 03/14/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I enjoy this CD quite a bit, but then again, I love the music that influences this sound. Music like Devendra Banhart's last two albums, 1966 Donovan, Germany's sitar folk music from the early 1970s (bands like SAAT, or Krokodil, Dyzan, etc.) If you enjoy music with surreal, poetical lyrics, crystaline plucked acoustic guitars, sitar leads, wordless backing vocals flowing thru the mix, recorders (those wooden flutes), and fluid bass lines, then this is for you. The some songs on the album, don't have the richness of texture, that other songs have. However, by the time the song IBEX HORN starts to play, with its long trippy jam, you are flowing out on some astral plane waving to Donovan, Brian Jones, George Harrison, Sandy Bull, and other 60s modal/raga-folk innovators. So, does that mean that this music is merely retro, or worse, just derivitive drool? No, unless you are cynical, sarcastic, and bitter, then this music will seem exactly what it is suppost to be: an Homage to the great psychedelic folk music from the 60s, yet contemporary as any anti-war folk protest. Bands like Vetiver, Iron and Wine, Espers, Nick Castro, and Dev Banhart, are showing us that nothing that is really honest, can be trite or derivitive. This musical dicotomy allows it to be down to earth, yet concurrently, spins off into the stratosphere. Maybe its that tension between earthy and cosmic, western folk and eastern sitar scales, drones and melody, that produces music which is simplicity itself, yet sophisticated and deep when nessecary. Sadly, music with such a narrow audience appeal, will probibly never be popular like Jewel, or Beck. And I, for one, am always grateful for the DIY, independant, underground music. And i support it."