Rejoicing In The Hands

Original style, like Alt-J went folk, and occasionally channeling Billie Holiday. Enjoyably odd

Two days in a row of albums that make watching paint dry feel thrilling. Rejoicing in the Hands was a snoozefest from start to finish. Whispery vocals, meandering melodies, and absolutely zero moments that made me want to hit replay — or even keep listening. If this is what rejoicing sounds like, I’d rather sit in silence. Hard pass.

folk music is the music of the people. to me, it is either an interesting listen or it is boring. there is no middle ground. sad to say that this was the latter.

I can’t remember if I listened to this months ago when it showed up on this list. It started off slow and sorta nice but it wore thin pretty quick. I bailed halfway thru.

Really? This? This of the hundreds of thousands of albums. This is top 1000. Really? A patience straining 15 songs. All around the same musical ‘ideas’. As a guitarist I wasn’t blown away by the variety. Nor the interest keeping capability. He does try though. The third song changes things up. So there’s an extra point. One of my favourite writers, Andrew Hickey, has called for a moratorium on guitar penned songs. I wonder if this was the album that drove him to that? It’s boring and inessential. Also, looking at the Wikipedia article, this isn’t even his best album. Get lost. Seriously, dimery, dump your hipster friends and get some real music fans as friends. 2 stars.

Quirky to the point of distraction. His voice occasionally verges into Tiny Tim territory, which is not good. Playing is tasteful, but unvarying. Inoffensive and positive in tone,but feels alight. This feels like a demo for a proper album. 2.5 stars, rounding down for "why is this on the list?"

Lovely, really lovely. Bit downbeat

Не могу сказать ничего плохого про этот альбом, как и хорошего. Просто немного не моё...

Inoffensive modern folk, good background music.

Gave me Radical Face vibes with the whole one man show and very bare instrumentation. Haven't heard of this singer before and was overall pretty solid listen for an indie head.

This fucken sucks.

okay this was actually pretty good, but is it the only young god records/swans related album here??? damn

It sounds like the kind of thing you don't get a good view of if you only listen to it once. I might give it another shot on my own time.

What kind of name is Devendra Banhart

Like the music, not keen on his voice - sounds a bit bleaty

Didn’t enjoy it

He's got some decent lyrics here and there, but his vocal delivery kinda ruins it for me. Other than that it mostly feels like I've walked into a coffee shop for open mic night (derogatory), especially since almost every song just ends. There's no real flow here, which to me is an essential quality of a great album experience. It's just a collection of songs. If you love it when white guys play guitar at you though, you'll probably enjoy it far more than I could manage.

It was….fine

My jeans are not skinny enough, my shoes are not brown, I don't have a new wave pompadour and this album is one of the most annoyingly fucking terrible pieces of music I have heard. Rejoicing in Hands is unadoltorated hipster dog shit, now excuse, I want to finish my avocado toast and monkey cum coffee.

I'm always up to hear a genre clash, as described in their write up, this is considered Psychadelic Folk. Its pretty lame, noodling an acoustic guitar with a bored sounding singer makes for a bad experience. I get it, its a vehicle for the powerful lyrics. As soon as something has a bit more of a positive spin (intro to The Body Breaks) they drag it back the fuck down to make you feel like shit. Also way too much vibrato and vocal fry. It was like an attempt to create something similar to Bright Eyes. Its just pretentious as fuck.

Bland annoying hippie shit

For whatever reason, Devendra Barnhart has just always given me the ick, I guess you could say. No idea why, so I’m just going to trust my guy and keep not listening to him. (Sorry if it turns out he’s a saint or something, but I’ll still not listen.)

Some nice songs but nothing that blew me away. Enjoyed it though. Reminded me a bit of Alt J

Weird & wonky acoustic folk.

Very enjoyable and listenable. I liked having this on in the background while I was doing work but it was also good to focus on and listen to actively.

ugh, no.

A nice melancholic listen on a stormy day. I found the guitar and layering on "Poughkeepsie" to be the highlight of my listen. "Will is My Friend" was the other stand out one.

Not feeling this one today. Boring and unremarkable.

this really deserves a spot here because sometimes you need to hear something unmusical, tone-deaf and horribly recorded to the point of clipping (and not in the controlled way... up tempo hard dance music is cleaner than this) to appreciate well good and well recorded music. This is some next level "wierd for the sake of wierd". At least the other "Artsy" artists on this list had the decency to record properly and this is coming from someone who listen to liminal music almost every day and is used to things sounding broken! I had to panicky change the second track because it was clipping so bad. this makes lo-fi seem like hi-fi Almost feel like they should give compensation for every victim who has to hear this -1/5

Just the right length, ends before overstaying it’s welcome. Surprisingly calm. Quite a few tracks I like and the last one is a great one to end on.

It sounds like a cat meowing the whole album, musically it has nothing to add to me.

Hey so, not my style. Boring

this was pretty nice

Thought this was going to be another generic early 2000s indie folk album. Pleasantly surprised that it actually is channeling marc bolan's early tyrannosaurus rex era. Pretty good.

Quirky AF. But some very nice guitar work and the overall vibe (including the artwork) make it a repeat listen.

peaceful indie

Милый альбом

Freak folky new weird America type. It’s kind of uncanny…it’s odd, familiar, comforting, offputting. It’s a classic 60s/70s folk album with a twist of something strange. The vocals, the melodies, the guitar picking all feel like you know them but they’re just a bit different (and odder) than you remember. An overall pleasant listen, but also not a standout.

Nice indie album, performed by an author with an Indian name, which by the way, means God of Gods.

Alun kitaransoitto oli lupaavaa, mutta se loppuikin sitten lyhyeen. Kappaleet toistavat itseään, ja laulajan ääni ei ole erityisen miellyttävä.

Hienoa ja taitavaa soitantaa akustisella. Tiettyyn fiilistelyyn hiljaisena ja aurinkoisena viikonloppupäivänä. Yleisellä tasolla kuitenkin ajoittain vaan tylsä.

Kai tän vois määritellä nykyfolkiksi. No folkkiakin on kuraa ja jytää. Tää on jotain siitä väliltä

Valitusvirsiä kuunnellessa. Mulla on sweet spot sellainen melankolinen dark country mikä uppoaa. Vaikka tässä nyt oli samoja vivahteita niin Devandran karismaton ja narisevaa ladon ovea muistuttava nasaali ”pyykkipoika”nenässä honottava ääni kyllä pilasi sen pienenkin mahdollisuuden säväyttää. Buu

Levy tuntui kovin pitkältä. Oli siellä jotain hyvääkin, mutta tuntui että kaikki hienot melodiset ja harmoniset ideat pilattiin jollain omaperäisellä ulinalla tai muulla. En kyllä ymmärrä miksi tämä levy on tällä listalla.

Pretty boring, I definitely prefer his later work.

Meh. I liked This Beard is for Siobhan but not really any of the others. The instrumentation was quite nice though.

Sounds exactly like an album that someone called devendra Bernhardt would make. Can fully imagine Jess from new girl listening to it. Not for me though. Too folky and freaky. Fav song- this is the way Least fav - will is my friend Specific rating 2.4

It was definitely a bit strange, but a good kind of strange. I enjoyed the general sound and found it quite calming, but then also got a bit of fun with some of the weirder bits thrown in

Felt very charming and warm, kept hearing songs and thinking they would definitely be my favourite and the next song would start and I'd feel the same way. Great mix of straight folkiness and weird quirkiness. I can see myself listening to this again and again. Favourite: Todo los Dolores Least: See Saw

Not my thing

Good!

I'd heard of Devendra in the past via a folk-loving friend who raved in an almost cult-like manner about how fantastic he was. Listened to a few tracks here & there over the years but this is the first album I recall listening to in full. It was ok. Very folksy indeed, but with an edge to it. No particular standout moment.

Definitely not one of the best 1001 albums of all time

This was inoffensive I guess, very bland. To be played in a coffee shop.

Den er hørt igennem nogen gange. Den sætter sig aldrig rigtig fast, men det er virkelig godt.

Hvor er det bare fint! Skrøbeligt og ærligt. Råt og ærligt. Simple virkemidler og et afpillet lydbillede. Et album der fungerer helt vildt godt. Lidt på samme måde som Eddie Vedders soundtrack til Into The Wild.

I didn't hate this like everyone else did, but it didn't blow me away.

Supple music, beautiful faint voice and great songs, I feel this is contemporary enough to had come out anytime in the last 30 years. 3.3

Never heard of artist or album before, really enjoyed, very good, acoustic Alt-j, would definitely seek physical copy and add to favourites ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spoky psychedelic.

It was a large record show ,it like a nightclub. A lot of people I knew throughout my life was there. I tried to hide from them though one person did know I was there. I followed him. We were both wearing big brown heavy jackets and I'd sink my face into mine so he couldn't see me. There was also places to feed your pigs. Earlier in the night I had moved to London and this nightclub record show might ve taken place there.

Well, this does feel like the most 2004 album, but I can't understand why it's on this list. It's a dude and his guitar, and there's nothing that crazy about it, unless I missed a story in the lyrics I. Much better soft folk guitar out there imo

Another album that would require multiple listens to see if it speaks to me. Initial listen all the way through was fine but nothing special

The acoustic sound is incredible. I don't know anything about the folk revival music scene, so to me Banhart might as well be the best at this style of guitar. The weird lyrics I can't get behind, although I kind of see what he was going for. To be fair, I don't think there are any words that would properly complement these melodies - more classic folk texts would sound too grounded. I don't enjoy his singing style either.

A great, sparse folk album. Banhart’s voice is singular and outsider at times.

I dont enjoying it

Acoustic guitar plucking over kind of a dumb singing voice. I'm sure the lyrics were deep or whatever

I kind of dug this one. Sort of folkish but more modern

Voice got annoying

Cute some good songs

This hasn’t held up well for me. Feels a bit kitschy

Pretty good! Mellow. Good songs and vocals.

Esoteric

Love me some Devendra

Gewöhnungsbedürftige Stimme, aber sonst schönes Akkustikalbum.

I really looked up to Devendra as a young teen as a fellow mixed culture/multiracial kid. But that was with his later album, Cripple Crow, which is soooo much better. I did not like his singing here - there were some flourishes of beautiful guitar work, but the vocals/lyrics/guitar/composition did not connect.

This is like a really bad Bombay Bicycle Club

I like the vocals here a lot. The instrumentation is very simple, but as yet, I'm unsure if that's good or bad. This is mellower than my standard stuff but it's put together well. I feel a little bad because I think he has a reputation as a lyricist, but I'm too busy to listen carefully to the words. Anyway, I liked this. Good relaxed folk. 3.5 rounding down, just because that feels right.

Based on this, I can only assume folk music in the early-00s and mid-00s was a dark, dark time. I don't think I realized how much the *stomp, clap, "Hey!"* resuscitated the genre.

Todo los Delores is one of my favorite, favorite songs of all time , and perfect for today's weather. This album was actually really foundational in the formation of my music taste, so it's hard to rate it "objectively". I had a few moments I really enjoyed, but it wasn't that lyrically compelling for me. So I'll give it a 3.5, rounding down to a 3.

i can’t be bothered. it’s probably fine

Maybe I'd appreciate this album another time but I don't think I was in the right head space for it. I found it to be a slog despite being on the short side (42 minutes).

Here's an album that I had no expectations for. Rejoicing in the Hands by Devendra Banhart is certainly an album that exists. But you know what? I like it. This is a nice album. It's nothing extravagant, but it does its job well. It may not excel at anything, but it also doesn't fail at anything either. The writing is solid. Devendra Banhart is not Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen, but does he really have to be? Can he be? Can anyone be? I didn't think so. Still, songs like "A Sight to Behold" do manage to succeed in having an emotional core to them. The same can be said about the album at large. The sound is nice. It's a tad repetitive, but I think this is more of a "tried and true formula" type thing rather than laziness. Besides, the sound is good, so who cares? The singing is also solid. I like it. The album's pacing is respectable. Overall, this is just a solid, relatively recent folk album. High 3/5.

Absolute babe

Too self indulgent to ever be good

Favorite track: sight to behold other picks: this is the way, body breaks

Lovely acoustic folk that’s influenced by classic folk singers while adding a modern style. I like that he gets a little weird in his vocals sometimes.

I think I just missed the Devendra Banhart train when a lot of my friends in college were getting into him. I remember listening to a few tracks from an album or two but not really getting pulled in enough to want more, so I'm happy to have to go through a full album now. My first impression is that I'm sad that I didn't listen to him more when I was younger as I liked this kind of sound a lot back then. The guitar and voice together sound alone and allow so much room sonically for little vocal inflections and real nice musical moments. There's a lot of thought here for all the little moments where his voice quivers or when he arpeggiates a chord instead of doing a full regular strum. After a few songs though I feel myself wanting more; and the sound has started to become a repetitive one. On "Will Is My Friend", we get some soft kick drum hits and a distant old timey piano which is cool, but the song itself is pretty boring and feels like when I've finally been given more interesting elements it's unfortunately on a song that is forgetful. It's a middle of the road 3 for me. There's a few choices that I think are really nice and enjoyable in the sound, and then a few other choices that I find make the album drag on.

I’m guessing this was Dimery’s midlife crisis era. Completely lost touch with what separates good and bad albums, and is just listening to what he perceives to be trendy with young people.

Gear: Moondrop Variations Artwork: 🦉🪵🕊️ Production: 😐🤔🤷 Music: 🎸🎤🥱 Rating: 👗👗/5

I had never heard of this artist, and as far as I'm aware, I've never listened to any of their music either. Maybe it was the setting -- a drive through the Gallatin River valley in southwestern Montana, after a day of skiing in below zero conditions -- but I don't think so... This is an outstanding record. It reminds me very much of Syd Barrett's solo work. I particularly like the fact that some tracks are one great idea, and that's it, so the song clocks in under two minutes. No padding. It's like drinking maple syrup from the jug. As I write this, I know nothing at all about the artist, and I'm definitely going to investigate, but the mystery is also a factor, I think. The guitar work reminds me a bit of Richard Thompson. Lyrically I suppose another good comparison would be Robyn Hitchcock. Outstanding!

Quite a change from Fugazi! For those who would like to see Devendra, he'll be doing some concerts in the California area this Spring. I can't say this is the kind of music I generally enjoy, but I can't really rip it either. It was OK, but there were a few smiles that I found myself enjoying. Thought Todos Los Dolores was pretty good. Just got back from Puerto Rico and found myself trying to interpret the words, even going back and using the Spanish to English app to figure out what I was missing. Will is my Friend made me think of Luke and Will. Especially the line, "going to California." What's up Will! There Was Sun and Insect Eyes were decent as well. Overall, this was OK. The timing off Puerto Rico and Todos Los Dolores was perfect. I'll go right down the middle with a 2.5. 2.5

2.5 Coming off Fugazi, this felt a bit like whiplash - or maybe whatever the opposite of that is. But man, what a 2004 album - you can definitely tell this came from the indie folk, coffee shop kind of thing popular then (I think the kids call it “twee”?) In particular, this evoked thoughts of The Shins, Sufjan Stevens, and - dare I say even my precious Bright Eyes, at least at times? Unfortunately, this just feels like a mostly inferior product compared to those guys. The songs are mostly pleasant, but largely unmemorable, and man, was I bored by the end - which is a pretty bad sign if your album is only 42 minutes long and largely consists of songs that average around 2.5 minutes. Devendra at least has a voice that I kind of dug, but there wasn’t much about the music or songwriting that really interested me in particular. Songs that stuck out to me: This Is The Way - A pleasing opening to the album, though that may just be a result of fatigue having not set in yet. Tit Smoking in The Temple of Artesan Mimicry - Mostly for the title. Though, once that caught my eye, I couldn’t help but notice the backing guitar is one single note being played over and over the entire song which kind of ruined it for me. Also, I think he misspelled “artisan”? Todo Los Dolores - The restart and laughter made me think of the version of Elvis’ Pocketful of Rainbow from the Jerry Maguire soundtrack, my favorite song by the guy and arguably the superior version. This song - not that. I did kind of like the way he pronounced “Peter Pan” though. Will is My Friend - <3 I really don’t think anything here was actually that bad, and honestly, I would probably be apt to rate any one song here higher if I heard it on its own, but as an album, there was just a bit too much of this in succession. Sorry Devendra, think I’m going for my boys listed above instead when I’m feeling a twee mood. (Did I use that correctly?)

This is #day187 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... how on earth did this end up here? I could only make it through about 3.5 songs from the tracklist. The delivery didn’t sit right with me, especially since I can’t stand this kind of vocals. And then there was the music. Or was it? I was shocked to learn Michael Gira of Swans produced it, but that’s no saving grace. Hilariously, there are no Swans on this list. Is this an album I must hear before I die? Absolutely fucking not. This is a 1 out of 5. Looking forward to #day188.

Not a huge fan but the guitar finger style and voicing work is amazing

Creepy

Interesting album cover. Was enjoying it in the beginning but got bored of the guitar strumming. Read on Wikipedia that he was romantically linked to Natalie Portman.

it was fine, I feel like I should've liked it more

4/10 - It was kind of boring and pretty weird. I thought it was interesting that there was a song about poughkeepsie. Also See Saw was a crazy song.

Not offensive but also not good at all

#493. Generic hipster folk 2/5: uninteresting Song added to playlist: Insect Eyes I've created a playlist on Spotify that consists of the best and/or my favorite song from each of the albums in this book. This list can be found here if you are interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MAXDGLWlwLkFLb8veGfkA?si=FqkQQPgZTFWG0jAUJXLFZA&utm_source=copy-link

This has the lyrical fun that Vampire Weekend or Alt-J has, but the guitar that Simon and Garfunkel have. Just kind of a mismatch and a slog. God they need a drummer.

Weird

I just don’t know who likes this much folk music or what’s so special about this particular album.

Had some promising moments but overall I felt it just wasn't something I had any personal draw too.

Correcto

Depressing af

The best album that was created everrrr

While I don't think it was revelatory, it's cool to see the development of Psych-folk from one of its most prominent artists. I'm hopeful Smokey is hidden somewhere else in the list then

The longer I listened to this the less I liked it.

Not my thing but pleasant listening.

++: This Is the Way, The Body Breaks, Poughkeepsie, Tit Smoking in the Temple of Artesan Mimicry, When the Sun Shone on Vetiver, Insect Eyes +: A Sight to Behold, Dogs They Make Up the Dark, This Beard Is for Siobhán, Fall, There Was Sun +-: Will Is My Friend, See Saw, Rejoicing in the Hands, Autumn's Child -: Todos los Dolores 7,0/10

Ihan ok, kivoja sanoituksia välillä. Kaikki biisit on turhan samanlaisia, melodioissa ei oo kauheesti variaatiota. Eli paljon menee ohi korvien, kun tuntuu että sama biisi jatkuu. Pidän äänimaailmasta kyllä, lempee.

Hänen kulmansa folkiin on modernius sekä makeileva lauluääni. En kykene kulutukseen.

I can't review this noodly bullshit because I died of boredom listening to it.

This sucks.... It drones and the voice is annoying and it's that really annoying kinda folk but then I think he might be singing in a different language but I can't tell because his voice is so droney and it's shit and I hate it

Not familiar with Devendra prior to this. Rather enjoyed it - a solid 3.

Rejoicing in the Hands One of those artists I’m very aware of but have never actively listened to, so nice to give an album a go. I like its sparseness and kind of outsider art feel, like someone who isn’t aware of musical conventions and starts writing and performing folk songs. But at the same time he’s obviously very talented and steeped in all sorts of folk music as well as Indian and blues too. I think it takes a lot of thought and skill to get the balance of innocence and familiarity right and conjure those feelings of outsider primitivism. His voice probably does help carry that feeling too, and I can imagine it’s a bit marmite for some people, like Joanna Newsome, but I like it a lot, it does suit the songs and style of the songs really well. However It does also feel quite long, even if it’s only 42 minutes with relatively short songs. Maybe it’s that there are 16 songs that makes it feel that way, as though it loses a bit of focus by having so many songs. There are some great songs, particularly the first half; This is the Way and a Sight To Behold are a great opening pair, The almost gallic The Body Breaks is great, I love the eastern tinged, slightly wonky and odd Poughkeepsie and the short but sweet Dogs They Make Up in Dark is really good. After that Rejoicing in the Hands has a lovely almost Incredible String Band feel, and I like the injection of the lively rhythm of Fall, and I love the ethereal slide on When the Sun Shines on Vetiver, There Was the Sun has strong echoes Nothing in the World by The Kinks nicely. Overall, despite the great songs it does feel a bit wooly and the dip in the middle does affect it. Right on the cusp of 3 and 4, I’ll go 4 for the highlights 🙌🙌🙌🙌 Playlist submission: Poughkeepsie.

The album could feasibly be a collection of unreleased home demos. But somehow - through the strength of the melodies, and a lovely dose of humour and eccentricity - it has the charm of something like the Beatles Anthologies. The homemade solitary feel is like Bert's Jansch first album. Dare I say even early Dylan, albeit Devendra's lyrics area more early Bolan than Dylan. And Devendra Banhart is pretty much a carbon-copy of Tyrannosaurus Rex-era Marc Bolan. Warbling vocals against a folky backdrop of abstract and pastoral lyrics. And yet the man protests he had never heard early Bolan before recording! Lots of charm, it continues to grow on me with every listen.

Wasn't the worst thing I have heard but far from the best.

This is so awful. What on earth is it doing in this lost? It makes no sense.

Not bad, just long and monotonous. 3/5

I loved this!

Twiddly melodic folk sung by an angry cat.

"no, he's really good, but we can leave after the first half if you like"

I can appreciate the technical ability but folk music just aint my thing. Found it to be very repetitive after a while. Thnk it would have benefited from a trim and being a lot tighter, as i felt it lacked focus.

A super solid folk album with great guitar riffs and haunting chord progressions. I hadn't heard Banhart before, but it felt a bit like a blend of Brighteyes, Nick Drake, and maybe Andrew Bird without the whistling.

First listen. Ok.

This album is often considered essential for the revival of freak folk and psychedelic folk in the early to mid-2000s. It picks up where the 60s movement left off, embracing surrealist lyrics and themes of spirituality and mysticism. While I recognize its influence, I thought it was decent but not outstanding. Devendra Banhart’s voice doesn’t do much for me, and there are other albums from this style and era that I’d recommend over this one.

Clearly a gifted musician but he needs to find a friend to fix his garbage lyrics

Not sure why this was included? Seems unremarkable. I didn’t like it. Was wishing it was over on the first song.

Modern folk-rock isn't really my thing and to be honest I was expecting whiny, warbly, boring music. But, I was surprised to find most of this album pleasant. (with just a bit of the whiny, warbly, boring music in the middle) The artist had the decency to mostly keep the tracks at Three minutes or less allowing a nice variation that kept it moving.

This is a good record. I should love it based on a lot of things I love. BUT I HATE IT. I think it's the vocals. IDK. Too much vibrato for me?

It's alright and interesting, put it into the revisit pile

Eh

Nice enough, little bit different from your average acoustic album

Nothing against good Folk music, but this is just dull music with cringey lyrics. 2/5

Much better than what I remembered. This isn't quite freak folk but it's kinda close. Let's say it's weird folk for hippies that spend a lot of money on their clothes.

Indie Folk for hipsters.

Nice intimate indie folk album with many great songs in it, well played, Devendra!

Fairly boring. Nothing really notable in the album. 2/5 Won’t listen again

Nice but a bit boring - background music.

I find him a bit overrated compared to some of his contemporaries who I like more, but this album is solid. I like the interesting and unique chords he uses on many of the songs here.

Sounds like a lamb, bit more gratuitous use of voice vibrato than Jeff Buckley or alt J, but if you can get past the voice, there is nice guitar picking in the album. 2 stars for that.

Yeah I’m not remembering this tomorrow.

Beautiful

This was an investing take on the indie folk genre.

A lot of tracks to digest and it takes a bit of getting used to the voice but it managed to keep me hooked with different moods throughout. Good stuff.

Non male ma niente di impressionante

I love this album. So beautiful and so surprising.

A cool, weird, unapologetic, transparent album. You feel like you’re in the room with him making this album as he taps into the all the mysticism he can muster from around him. Sometimes prophetic, sometimes silly, always strange.

Oh yeah, I was into this back in the day as a blossoming hipster into so called "freak folk" - still a big fan of Joanna Newsom but I sort of fell off the Devendra Banhart wagon. This held up better than I remembered and makes me want to explore some of his more recent work. Also, interesting that I just listened to Caetano Veloso for the first time and that is one of Banhart's named influences on wikipedia.

Heel apart album, begin en eind is best leuk, midden niet zo. 6/10

I first checked out Devendra Banhart when he was dating Natalie Portman because I figured he must be very cool to score with her. He’s okay, I don’t really enjoy his voice. Not that cool.

The album is pretty one note. Nice guitar work, rough vocals, not much else...

Akustista folkkia, vähän melankolista sellaista. There Was the Sun kuulosti etäisesti tutulta. Parhaat: Autumn's Child, Insect Eyes, Fall

It was good! reminded me a lot of Haley Heynderickx, but less narrative + my psychedelic (maybe that just means it's folk). Id relisten to the albums

Kind of like that dude you know from Freshman Week who’s always out on the lawn with no shoes and his guitar and you’re desperate not to catch his eye because if he sees you he’s gonna be like hey dude I learned another Leonard Cohen song for you and you’re gonna be obliged to go over and listen or come up with something lik3 wow amazing but I’m late to meet my friend for coffee and then he’ll be like I don’t know why we don’t hang out anymore dude and you’re gonna have to be like I know I know man we’ll come up with sometime soon…

Trying to look like Frank Zappa. Trying to sound like Nick Drake. Failing at both. This was dreadful. A painful listen that only gave me joy when it ended. Never again.

Just a bloke with a guitar 2/5

A modern day Wielder of Words but without the bongos.

Coffee shop guitar and soft vocals. That's essentially what this album is, and I really enjoyed it. The guitar work throughout the 45 minutes is impressive and the vocals, though they never reach anything spectacular, fit this kind of music perfectly. I found his voice slightly too warbly at times. It was as if he trying to sing as softly as he possible could manage, and the noises that ended up coming out were trembling whispers. I was worried after the first few tracks sounding similar that I would find myself bored by the end, but I found myself liking it more and more. The one-two punch of the instrumental 'Tit Smoking In The Temple Of Artesan Mimicry' (what a strange title) and the title track in the middle of the album were the highlights. This record evokes images of cold Autumn in front of a fire. I think the second half is much better than the first. The tracks become more catchy as it goes on. I would say that this is a bit of a hidden gem, and exactly the reason I started this list. To find music I wouldn't normally listen to, or seek out.

Sounds like I'm sitting in a coffee shop. And I don't like coffee. This is poetic folk that only has one beat and I don't really love his goat-ey voice and the acoustic guitar really gets irritating after a while. Parts are interesting, I liked the Body Breaks, that's a pretty heartbreaking song. I also liked Insect Eyes. But overall, not really my jam.

Just modern coffee shop folky nonsense. "Poughkeepsie" was one of the worst songs ever (vavavavavavivalasvegas...) like what even was that. Just another whatever kind of album. 3/10.

An album! That you can listen to! With your ears!

🎧This is a pretty boring but altogether fine folk album. Favorite song is an instrumental, Tit Smoking in the Temple of Artesan Mimicry. Reminds me of John Fahey, and hell of a title.

folk music at its inner roots. with mostly guitar and voice, the raw sincerity and unedited takes alone make this album a spectacle. breezy and sounding like it comes from the deepest appalachian forests, this album is interesting in vocals, lyrics, and instruments. it's not for everyone, but for the most part it's a nice listen.

AA Bondy does this same thing much better. I struggle to believe the weight of these vocals and the songs themselves are missing the melodies needed for the mood he is going for.

The commercial arm of the New Weird America. Quite liked it.

3-4

Used to hate this guy. Can't really remember what he sounds like. Not keen to be reminded. That 'new weird america' scene or whatever was disgustingly pretentious and lame (Joanna Newsom gets a pass even though I don't particularly rate her). The top review guy for this has potentially the worst music takes I've ever seen, just as an aside. Still not listening. Listen to Angels of Light instead.

Surprisingly decent.

Ich mag solche Musik. Einfach Gitarre und eine gute Melodie. Mehr braucht es manchmal nicht.

No

Gentle and strange, it feels like an old diary left out in the rain. The melodies are sweet but slightly off-kilter. Reminds me of early Iron & Wine, but rawer, with more frayed edges. It’s all very quiet, yet it feels alive.

I feel like this is one of those albums that would get better with repeated listens. Interesting guitar work, strange voice. I appreciate the uniqueness here.

Ken deze man wel van zijn recentere art-folk, als je het zo mag noemen. Maar dit oudere werk van hem is veel stoffiger en organischer folk dan wat ik van hem gewend was. En het bevalt op momenten echt goed, en ik imagineer tijdens het luisteren Fargo/True Detective-achtige scenes, of een Coen Brothers film, en dat lijkt me een goed teken. Ik ga hier vaker op terugkomen, want ik weet niet of één luisterbeurt genoeg is om de magie - die er wel inzit - echt goed te inhaleren. Bij de laatste handvol tracks is hij me kwijt, terwijl het begin veelbelovend was. 7/10 Highlights: A Sight to Behold Will Is My Friend This Beard Is for Siobhan

Ik lees veel bagger in de reviews, maar eigenlijk ga ik altijd wel lekker op dit soort psychedelic folk albums uit de zeroes. De nummers zijn meer dan de man met zijn gitaar. Zeker door het gebruik van violen, orgel en percussie stijgen de nummers op en kan er een bijzondere sfeer worden neergezet. De stem van de singer-songwriter is dan essentieel. En ik kan altijd wel goed luisteren naar Devandra Benhart. Ik vind dat hij een echte film-stem heeft en nummers van de plaat zijn ook gebruikt in series en (horror)films. Wat hij op Rejoicing in the Hands doet is het neerzetten van een bepaald gemoed en ik vind dat gewoon wel mooi. Ik ga dus niet mee met alle kritisiche reviews en geef Devandra een... 7,5/10 Highlights -

If you want falsetto proto-metal

Whiny folk music. Wasn’t a fan.

Fine if you're in the mood to continue your depressive episode with music.

It’s surprising that this was the record chosen from Banhart’s catalog. He’s got much better music than this. This is interesting. Overall, the guitar work is lovely, the music is well composed, and the lyrics are cute. But the vocal affect that’s employed here is a bit too dominant. He sounds like, if Tom Waits and Jack White had a baby, and that baby got blackout drunk alone one night in a recording studio. That said, I don’t hate this. It’s good for soundtracks to strange and gritty crime dramas.

Pretty for a single song but gets repetitive

Glad I waited until a rainy day to listen to this one. Really solid album; can see how this influenced *a lot* of folk/indie music.

Enjoyable most of the way through but then noodly harp got a bit too much for me in places

I liked the beginning and end. Cool cover art and a diverse range of influences. It is pretty forgettable tho. Doubt I ever return to this one Rating: 2.5

He wants to fuck a cockroach or something It was fine. I liked Insect Eyes

Listened to it 3 times, each with a few days inbetween each session. Kept forgetting to rate it after each time. I really really enjoyed listening to Tit Smoking in the Temple of Artesan Mimicry. Been on repeat for hours Shame about the rest of the album

Juvenile sounding recording style. Ok voice poorly backed by few primitive instruments.

For real though, lord save me from these dudes and these albums of just the m and the guitar. For only 40 minutes I checked if I was close to the end a whole lot.

meh

it was ok. easy listening. nothing jumped out as great.

1- Stars (1/15)

Folksy quivering Feels light, lofty, soars above Rains lovely weirdness

Nice sound

Better than expected

Better than expected.

Full tilgerðarlegt á köflum. En lög bera með sér að önnur umferð gæti opnað eitthvað. 3,5.

Overall, I'm kinda like 💤💤💤 but I liked Insect Eyes and Will Is My Friend. I like maybe this slice of folk is not for me and that's ok, Devandra has a couple great songs and I'm onboard to listen to more, just after I take a lil snoooooze... Love the album art, has a sort of tribal occult vibe a la midsommar

Relaxing listen, but would not listen again 2/5

I do like a few of the songs that have a melancholic, relaxing vibe. The weird lyrics and the strange obsession this guy has with anatomy is a bit off-putting. Good, but not much else to write home about. Favourite songs: Insect Eyes, The Body Break Worst songs: Poughkeepsie, See Saw

Some folksy psychedelics. The first few songs were soothing and good for a cold day. The rest are quite strange. Nevertheless they are all performed well. Overall ok

Wrong mushrooms.

It was pretty soothing and sweet. It reminded me of alt-J

Unexpected. 3.5

It took a bit for me to get into this one. His vocals and seemingly stream-of-consciousness lyrics are a bit off-putting at first. But the musicianship is accomplished and the album does a good job of building tension and by the end of it. Feels like it would make a great soundtrack for a folk horror flick like The Wicker Man.

The songs could benefit from a bit of extra work, whether that be extending the song, cutting it completely, or something completely different is up for debate. The guitar intro on “A Sight To Behold” was reminiscent of Leonard Cohen’s intro to “Avalanche” and given the former’s shorter length, I would say the only good quality of the song is taken from a better one. I do enjoy the guitar melodies being played, though. They’re truly lovely. Will say that it is pretty easy to tune out though. Lyrics are pretty good. Instrumentation is everything it needs to be. All in all, just felt a little bored. 3/5

The album felt a little same-sy at times, but after a second listen, the second half of the album definitely caught my attention more. A nice folk album that isn't scared to breathe. Could do without Devendra's weird proto-cursive voice though. Favorite song: Insect Eyes Least favorite: This Is The Way Knew before? No

This genre is not up my alley at all. Weird creepy hippy vibes. Lots of plucking semi-tunelessly at an acoustic guitar while singing weird poetry over the top in a voice that sounds like a creaky door

Having read the reviews I didn't know what to expect but I quite like this album. I started listening to this list to find music that I wouldn't normally listen to and this is exactly what I wanted to find. I doubt I'll listen to it again but I wouldn't reach over to turn it off

Best Song: A Sight to Behold. Pleasantly melancholy. Worst Song: Tit Smoking in the Temple of Artesan Mimicry. Just a not particularly interesting guitar workshop in the middle of the album... Overall: A fine, if not all that exciting, album. Quite and unobtrusive. Good for background music while reading or cooking, I suppose.

More folk. Very eclectic we’ll say. Not my bag.

Listened to this twice. It is some nice and calming singer-songwriter style indie-folk. The sounds are familiar, but hard for me to place. Some of it reminds me a bit of other indie acts of its contemporary release date (e.g., Neutral Milk Hotel at their most reserved) and several acts that have been born in its wake, such as Vance Joy for the singer-songwriter aspect. The production here is very exposing and vulnerable with several songs giving a tape-recorder on a desk style effect where you can hear static recording fuzz and clicking around in the background (e.g., See Saw). I think for the style of music, it works very well. I found the songs themselves to be interesting and if I had more time to focus on lyrics I might appreciate them on a deeper level. Not something I'd often come back to, but I think this is somewhere around a low 4 for me. Enjoyable and worthy of respect, but it runs a little long for me.

Solid folk. Not much else to say. No low points. Started out pretty good and just stayed in that lane the whole time. A bit repetitive if anything.

A little too folky for my liking. One of those albums that was nice to listen to cause it is pretty unoffensive music, but i could not wait for it to be over. Low 3

This was a very soothing album. Loved the violin throughout but nothing stood out enough to go for a 4. High 3 it is.

I've listened to this album a few times in the past, but never completely warmed to it. Looking back on it now after discovering Joanna Newsom a few years ago, I appreciate it for being a big part of that freak folk movement which really shaped a lot of popular "indie" music for the rest of the decade or so. Some of these songs still hold up and are great, others not so much. Some just sound like failed experiments, which is completely reasonable on a 42 minute record with 16 tracks. Great guitar playing and songwriting, vocal style is a bit of an acquired taste I think. I'm kind of surprised that M. Ward wasn't included in the list as well, since I think Post-War is a better album from this genre.

Rejoicing In The Hands is pretty lo-fi folk. It’s a bit all over the place. Lyrically bazar but nice, that kinda sums it all up. This Beard is for Siobhan is the highlight for me 5.6/10

Cheesy, sleepy and very very forgettable folk music.

Rejoicing in the ears when this record finally ended.

This grew on me. I didn't want to go 1 star so I did my best to elevate to two. This has passion, creativity. As I relistened, this became a soundtrack of my morning. Even saved a track "Fall". This record accomplished it's goal with flying colors

This is an album made by the worst human being at a party who decides everyone needs to hear his insipid fake spiritual songs about “his journey”. What a terrible pile of wank

I have to admit, I was a little nervous when YouTube music categorized this album as “psychedelic folk.“ The last time we encountered an album by that description, I had to listen to an extended play of the weirdest Renaissance Festival there ever had been. But this turned into quite the pleasant surprise. Charming, and very interesting to listen to.

21st century folk; a cross between Donovan and Mungo Jerry.

Another album I would have never listened to without this project and am glad I did. Beautiful. I guess I'm a fan of freak folk! I especially loved the first track. (It didn't hurt that I listened to part of this album during sunset - clouds turning pink with flocks of birds flying by, all set against the vibrant colors of the fall foliage.)

A few I liked, but mostly a lot I did not like.

This album really wins you over. When it started, I was sure I wouldn't like it based off the singing alone. It should annoy me, but when Banhart does it it's relaxing in a way. His songs are really well arranged, and the guitar playing is great. By the end, I really loved it, what a surprising find

This sounds like that album that that guy wrote while locked in a cabin in Minnesota recovering from a bad breakup. While sadder and more depressing than this album, that other album is a better example of what should be on the list than this. 2.5/5

man never taught how to sing makes album

Favorite Track: This Is The Way

Beautiful album, I hear some experimental aspects that differs it from other folk/chill albums. Would give a higher rating but needs a second listen 4/5.

What an unpleasant vocal performance.

3.5

A pleasant album but not one to revisit

Moderne folkrock, stille, og lidt forvirrende

Well, folk is like folk, and a love story, and the struggle with loneliness, and boring images, and the difficulty of listening to it on a regular basis, everything is as usual.

Nice cover art and nice guitar (especially in "A Sight to Behold") but i'm sure the guy is 100% insufferable in person.

Kinda serial killer vibes..

In my opinion there were mainly three flavors of folk songs on this album. They were either haunting, sweet, or weird. Haunting: "A Sight to Behold", "Dogs They Make Up In the Dark", "See Saw", "When The Sun Shone On Vetiver", "There Was Sun", and "Insect Eyes". Sweet: "This is The Way", "Body Breaks", "Will Is My Friend", "Rejoicing In The Hands", and "Todo Los Dolores". Weird: "Poughkeepsie" ,"This Beard is For Siobhan", and "Fall". I tended to prefer the haunting ones and I could have done without a lot of the weird or sweet ones. It does capture a mood from that era but overall I don't think it's a "need to listen". If you like a folk vibe, check it out. Otherwise you could probably miss it.

Vreselijk

"This is the soup that I believe in" In terms of albums that don't sound horrible - but also don't make it clear why they should have a place of any kind on a list of 1001 essential albums; this one might just take the cake. The album feels like an unrefined demo tape, a proof-of-concept taped in a makeshift home studio rather than a professional recording. It sounds like it's missing a couple of additional layers, effects, instruments, as well as a general polishing of the songs. And did the outtake really need to be included in Todo los Dolores? The unfinished nature is one thing. But what else? Any particular quality in songwriting, instrumentation, singing? Any innovation? Any new social or cultural movements spawned? Inspiring or relevant lyrics? Nope. Just a collection of amateurish recording.

I didn't like the last album I heard, but this one is even worse

Never heard a song from this album, but I enjoyed it. This is a good example of why I wanted to listen to each of these albums- for discovery. That said, the instrument tracks sound better than the vocals, in terms of clean recording. I'm not sure if this was a design decision or faults in the studio. The more I listened, the more I wanted to listen to just the instruments while filtering vocals out. The warble/vibrato on such chill songs drives me crazy.

His vibrato is annoying to such an extent that it drowns anything else. The music, when recognizable, is merely a support for the singer, not much more.

Un très bel album, avec la finesse d'une dentelle, mais pas dépourvu de l'autodérision caractéristique de Banhart. C'est cet album qui m'a donné envie de découvrir son œuvre, et je dois dire que je préfère les albums ultérieurs, où il prend plus de risques artistiques et chante avec moins d'affectation, généralement.

Like Nick Drake with really stepped up production. Seriously, shout out to the sound engineers. As for the music, it actually kinda grew on me somewhat towards the end, I might end up regretting this later, but what the hell, have a 3 Devendra!

Very nice folk songs, I love his fragile voice (Vibrato) and the lyrics. In general it wasn't the best album I have ever listened to but it's a nice one to listen whilst doing some chores or when you're travelling I guess

I'm really not into the tiny Tim vibratos

Solid folk Music. Like the space in the recording. Will return.

Total snoozefest imo

I love fairy autumn-ish folk. They're like bedtime stories for adults <3

I like the songs. I like the guitar playing. It's the constant vibrato in his voice I find insufferable. Mark Bolan did it better. It comes across as quite arch and pretentious. "Insect eyes" probably my favourite.

lovely autumnal music. i think his voice can be a bit silly especially when listening to a whole album of it but it's still enjoyable and nostalgic to me

i'm sorry i just can't handle any more indie folk than what i've heard thus far in my life. im not demure enough for this

I live for this kind of music.

This was pretty good.

1001 albums that make you long for listening to anything else. Never heard of this guy, can’t believe the size of his catalog. I’ll assume they are similarly dull and amateurish, no way I’m gonna dig deeper.

melow music kinda boring but okay, won't come back to it i think.

Mixed feelings; there are some very beautiful songs on this album (e.g. The Body Breaks, Autumn's Child), but also super annoying stuff (e.g. This Beard is for Siobhan, Todo los Dolores).

It's rainy where I am and this is exactly what I want to listen to. Favorites - The Body Breaks - Will is My Friend - Autumn's Child

He might be a fellow compatriota, but his music is really not my thing...

Not quite my thing but there was some good stuff here.

its ok. not my style

Listened Before? N I don't know, man. All these early-2000's hipster lo-fi bands are just kinda meh. I don't think I needed to hear this one before I die, but it didn't hurt me. Totally unmemorable. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: The Body Breaks

This album feels like it should be on this list if it would've been shorter, better mixed, quality in fewer songs and those with a bit more instrumentation. It all sounds like Joker's Daughter covering Leonard Cohen. But whereas Cohen could carry his songs with guitar and help from musicians, but even more his lyrics, this is all a bit too fuzzy.

Back when indie weird was indie gold.

I swear to god it sounds like sufjan was doing backing vocals on some of these tracks

Some kind of folk album but not worth another listen

Didn’t love him then. Don’t love him now.

Hipster shite.. pass

its a pretty good low fi singer songwriter album. some of the melodies blow out other tracks leaving a little bit to be desired

I generally like this album, but there were bits and pieces that I love mixed in with other things that I almost hated. I think that contributes to something eerily beautiful. It's a bit hard to categorize, which I appreciate. I imagine I will be coming back to this album again.

It's kind of interesting, but to me it just sounds like he's trying to be weird but is actually extremely conventional. This is not Claypool or Coyne, a guy who's actually from Mars. He's just got a nasally mannered voice. Part of what I don't like is that the sound is actually quite conventional. He's using only a small set of instruments, basically all acoustic. And he doesn't do much to alter that sound. It's fine. I would've never picked it out of a lineup.

Glad I found this album. Norah Jones vibes.

Interesting

It was okay.

I like the elements of mysticism laced throughout, and initially I enjoyed Devendra's crooning voice - but I have to admit it ended up grinding on me around halfway into the album, notably when the instrumentation swelled and the backing vocals made the production feel messy. The guitar work is genuinely very enjoyable though, it bumps the album from a 2 to a 3 for me.

4/5

Alguna canción se ha hecho pesada, pero me ha gustado

Bit annoying at times but ok

This was decent; I'm not familiar with Banhard at all, but I could see putting this on again if I'm in a folksy mood.

Decent album. I thought I wouldn't like this, but it's better than expected. I noticed that later in the album there's 1-2 tracks that have minimal backing percussion, and I definitely prefer those. 3.49/5

This was nice

I still love you devendra

Not sure what to make of this one. I see this as an evolution of folk music and singer-songwriter lyric-driven albums, but maybe it’s from an alternate dimension. The guitar is clear and straightforward, but got a bit repetitive by the end. Banhart has one of those voices you either love or hate. I tend to like a higher, nasal male tone (I see you Geddy Lee and Les Claypool), so this worked for me, except when some phrasing bordered on going too “country.” Songs I liked: A Sight to Behold, The Body Breaks, Will is my Friend, Tit Smoking in the Temple of Artesan Mimicry (for the name of nothing else), Rejoicing in the Hands, Fall, the music from Insect Eyes, and Autumn’s Child. Things I didn’t understand: Poughkeepsie - what’s the deal with naming Elvis albums?, counting in so many songs, the lyrics to Insect Eyes. Not sure I would ever choose to listen to this again, but not mad that I gave it a chance. I’m going to give this one: 3⭐️

Laimea ja tylsä levy joka menettää vähäisenkin kiinnostuksen useammalla soittokerralla.

Hyväntuulinen sunnuntailevy sopi hyvin ajomatkalle kotiin.

I was nervous about revisiting this one as Devendra Banhart and this album especially exemplify the highs and lows of the mid-00s Freak Folk movement, a style which I'd say broke into two halves: the rising electronicization/experimentation of your Animal Collectives, and the falling hey-ho stomp-clap faux-Appalachia of your Edward Sharpes and Fleet Foxeses. Simply uttering the name 'Devendra Banhart' evokes the most citified people you know tagging their Coachella photo dumps on facebook, sun-drenched images of them in big hats and bare feet, somehow backstage. You immediately picture someone weaving bird feathers into their heavily conditioned hair and always holding, despite having to deal directly with a flaky, shady weed connect. But of course that wasn't me. *Of course.* I was *different,* my connection to this music was genuine. And there's the central paradox of the folk resurgence of the 00s: even if there were many people cosplaying at jugband authenticity and laundering the late-60s flower-child aesthetic for social media clout, that desire came from somewhere genuine: we were still reeling from 9/11 and the Iraq War, the we-won/kids-rule peacefulness of the 90s had been power-washed away and the Establishment/Right wing had ordered us all out of the pool. Some of this took the form of the NY Garage Rock revival, and some of it took the form of deeply earnest, poorly-recorded folk music. I went to Los Angeles for college in fall '04, and despite not coming from very far, the culture clash was real: I wanted to be an Art Student, find some like minds; what I found was a rich-kids school, a repository for producers' kids to get DJ'ing out of their system before they simply followed in their parents' moneymaking footsteps. Dismayed by the scene, I dove deeper into music, and connecting with low-fi folk music was inevitable, as I was very focused on textures at the time. Rejoicing in the Hands was my first introduction to Banhart, and I love so many individual tracks here. It was a pleasure to listen to it all in full; whatever feelings I may have about Banhart's pretensions or self-focus on image, there's a lot of joy here. You can feel the room texture here, you feel like you're in The Place as he's playing. And nothing overstays its welcome. I'm back in my dorm room, and in a not totally embarrassing way. Of course the underground became overexposed and freak-folk was commodified; we're Millenials and thus easily marketed to, despite our avowed savviness. But I think this album still stands up on its own. I may look down my nose at recent attempts to nostalgia-fy the 00s, but this is a good example of something that was pretty good at the time and is still pretty good, actually.

A fresh breeze in a warm day. The album might seam at first just another guy with a guitar, but it provides a really enjoyable experience. 7/10

Short polished moody folk tunes. A little too sad feeling for me.

I found the music quite interesting at first. From the middle of the album onwards, it got on my nerves, so I stopped listening. I'll probably never listen to it again and won't miss anything. 2/5

The music on this album is perfectly pleasant, but Devendra's voice is bordering on annoying. The whole thing has a twee smugness which winds me up. It feels like coffee shop music, if the coffee shop was run by wankers.

Never cared for this Freak Folk revival when it happened and it definitely does nothing for me now.

Love his voice and his early 2000s weirdness.

Really good music, but not my thing. Difficult for me to rate...

Na

sounds like the lumineers, fleet foxes, and mumford and sons. a couple of the songs i liked enough to add to my library, but a lot of them sounded super similar. however, i could totally see this band growing on me, especially in the fall

Very nice Wasn’t in the mood I guess Meh Grew on me Cool but not a ‘must listen’

Maybe 2 stars isn’t fair but that’s all I could give it after a single listen. It wasn’t overly bad just didn’t do much for me.

Acoustic, folk rock, moderno.