Devendra Banhart

Here's where the crowned king of freak folk goes electric. Hell, he even recorded all 22 of these songs in upstate New York, you know, like Dylan did with the Band. But don't call Banhart Judas for plugging in: his sound here is more evolution than revolution. The wistful "Heard Somebody Say" strongly recalls John Lennon.

For four albums now, Texas-born, Venezuela-raised Devendra Banhart has been getting
serious mileage out of a rock archetype: the mysterioso folkie with bohemian leanings and
poetry to spare. On the intermittently terrific Cripple Crow, Banhart's eccentricities --
notably his impressionistic lyrics and a quavery croon that suggests Robert Plant as well as
esteemed dead guys like Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley -- enliven meandering tun... More >

Kind of charming, with two songs so cute they should be sung by Cyndi Lauper and Paul Westerberg, respectively ("Chinese Children," "I Feel Just Like a Child"). (Grade - *)