song of the day: may 28/2011

Devendra Banhart - I Remember
Album: Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain [2007]

in the early days of devendra banhart's career, his ghostly voice singing down the phone and captured on four track was more than enough to lend the eerie mysticism required for his nonsensical material (of course, it didn't hurt that his voice was bewitching no matter the lyrical content). as he gradually acquired confederates and the ability to record in studios, the clear problem was going to be retaining that same ghostly personality that made his early recordings so special. recorded in a home studio built within a woodsy compound in topanga canyon, banhart has weathered the storm of accessibility very well. "smokey rolls down thunder canyon" is many things - perhaps too many things, but its successes outnumber its failures, and it essentially solves the problems inherent in confining a free-form singer to time signatures and arrangements and rhythms imposed by outsiders. however, amongst the more ambitious material are several gems - "i remember" can easily be missed as the second last song on a 16-song album, but once you find it, you'd be hard-pressed to name a more beautiful piano song. the atmosphere is ridiculously aparent, and it's almost as if you're listening to someone playing in a big cave in the middle of nowhere. it's eqaul parts melancholy, reflective, intimate, and brooding, and the lyrics are some of the best he's written - "i remember the never-ending summer rain / please don't let what was get in the way of what's next, and don't forget that what's to come hasn't come yet". five stars.

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