Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon

Like its predecessor CRIPPLE CROW, SMOKEY ROLLS DOWN THUNDER CANYON finds freak-folk figurehead Devendra Banhart expanding his musical palette to new heights of eclecticism. Acoustic folk, augmented by stream-of-consciousness lyrics and Banhart's seductive quaver, is still the main ingredient on this collection of tunes, but an assortment of styles--including samba, klezmer, music hall, gospel, soul, jazz, rock, and pop balladry--make their way into the mix.
At first listen, Banhart's intensely willful variety might seem distracting, and at times the album does bite off more than it can chew. On the whole, however, SMOKEY is unified in tone. Recorded in Banhart's Topanga Canyon studio in the hills of Santa Monica, home of historic recording sessions by Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and other icons of folk-rock, SMOKEY floats with the hazy feel of early 1970s California, especially on shimmering acoustic gems ("Seaside") or tunes that draw on gospel and country ("Saved").