During spring of 2007, Devendra Banhart and his band took up residence and built a studio in a house in Topanga Canyon. Topanga is located in the Santa Monica mountains and is bound on one side by the Pacific Ocean. Neil Young once lived there while recording After the Gold Rush and the area has also been home to Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal, Joni Mitchell, Mick Fleetwood and members of the Doors. Those ghosts inhabit the sound and vibe of these recording sessions. Everyone wants to say that an artists' new album is the best thing they've ever done, but this is truly the case here. The whole freak folk tag is gone and in it's place is a classic, gorgeous rock album. There are songs that are fragile and solipsistic, ones with a pronounced Tropicalia influence, and ones that are wildly electric and epic. Devendra has an extensive North American tour booked for the fall which will begin September 1 in Vancouver and conclude with a homecoming show in Los Angeles on October 13.
1) Cristobal
2) So Long Old Bean
3) Samba Vexillographica
4) Seahorse
5) Bad Girl
6) Seaside
7) Shabop Shalom
8) Tonada Yanomaminista
9) Rosa
10) Saved
11) Lover
12) Carmencita
13) Other Woman the
14) Freely
15) I Remember
16) My Dearest Friend