Cripple Crow

• Artist: Devendra Banhart
• Rating:
• Release Date: September 13, 2005
• Genre: Rock

Review

Cripple Crow marks a departure for Devendra Banhart. It's obvious from the faux Sgt. Pepper-meets-Incredible String Band freak scene cover photo that something is afoot. The disc is Banhart's first foray from Michael Gira's Young God label, and it's more adventurous than anything he's done before. This is not to imply that the set is a slick, over-produced affair, but it is a significant change. The instrumental, stylistic, and textural range on this 23-song set is considerably wider than it's been in the past. Working with Noah Georgeson and Thom Monahan, a backing band of friends known as "the Hairy Fairies", Banhart's crafted something expansive, colorful, and perhaps even accessible to a wider array of listeners. There are layered vocals and choruses of backing singers, as well as piano and flutes on the gorgeous "I Heard Somebody Say," while the electric guitar and drums fuelling "Long Haired Child," with its reverb-drenched backing vocals, is primitive, percussive, and dark. There is also the 21st century psychedelic jug band stomp of the second single, "I Feel Just Like a Child," that crosses the nursery rhyme melodics of Mississippi John Hurt with the naughty boy swagger of Marc Bolan. There are also five songs in Spanish, Banhart's native tongue, in a style that's a cross between flamenco and son. The title cut, "Cripple Crow," is one of the most haunting anti-war songs around. In it, Banhart places a new generation in the firing line, and urges them to resist not with violence, but with pacifistic refusal. A lone acoustic guitar, hand drums, a backing chorus, and a lilting, muted flute all sift in with one another to weave a song that feels more like a prayer. The lone cover here, of Simon Diaz's "Luna de Margaerita," drips with the rawest kind of emotion. Ultimately, Cripple Crow is a roughly stitched tapestry; it is rich, varied, wild, irreverent, simple, and utterly joyous to listen to. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Now That I Know (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(4:53)
Santa Maria de Feira	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(4:35)
Heard Somebody Say (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(3:20)
Long Haired Child (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(3:45)
Lazy Butterfly (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(4:00)
Quedateluna	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(3:07)
Queen Bee (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(2:44)
I Feel Just Like a Child (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(4:46)
Some People Ride the Wave (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(2:27)
The Beatles	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(1:44)
Dragonflys	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(:59)
Cripple Crow (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(5:58)
Inaniel (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(3:43)
Hey Mama Wolf (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(3:52)
Hows About Tellin a Story (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(1:21)
Chinese Children (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(5:17)
Saw Kill River	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(1:52)
I Love That Man (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(2:26)
Luna de Margarita (Lyrics)	Simon Díaz	Devendra Banhart	(2:07)
Korean Dogwood	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(4:02)
Little Boys (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(5:20)
Canela (Lyrics)	Devendra Banhart	Devendra Banhart	(4:27)

Credits

Noah Georgeson (Producer), Thom Monahan (Producer), Noah Georgeson (Engineer), Noah Georgeson (Mixing), Devendra Banhart (Mixing), Thom Monahan (Mixing), Andy Cabic (Producer), Thom Monahan (Engineer), Devendra Banhart (Producer)

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