there's a lot of great folk players like jack rose and james blackshaw. and people doing "freak" kinda folk, like islaja, kemialliset ystävät, avarus, silvester anfang, es, etc. are amazing.

i think he writes pretty good songs.
i have always loved this one
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zbPIOwxCIg4&feature=related
i dont see why not to write folk influenced stuff. there is some great folk out there, especially from the 20-40s . and the whole part of the tradition is playinmg other peoples songs and such. but i think its pretty cool that some people have made the whole folk attitude new and fresh.
as long as they dont play any electric blues i'll be happy

If his vocals didn't annoy me and he wasn't such a model turned earth child, I might like his music. Also the new "freak folk" thing seems so pointless to me, like Civil War re-enacters away from a re-enactment. And I live in San Francisco.

And it kind of annoys me the suggestion of some that folk is the only calm music to exist to be suitable to counter attack loud rock. I would be far more likely to put on some jazz or blues before some modern freak folk shit.

i first heard "The Black Babies EP" in early 2004 on vinyl when Devendra gave me a copy.
the song "Lagoon" made me fall in love him.
luckily i ended up getting to know him before the whole "freak folk" thing happened.
one of the most down to earth, kindest cats i've ever known.
and that EP is still one of my favorite records.

then listen to leanord cohen, or dylan, or nick drake, or arthur lee or some good folk/psychpop singer songwriter from generation's past, because they actually made folk that was good sounding and had amazing lyrics. folk is a very limiting sound in my opinion, and i dont think it can be made better than those guys did 30 or 40 years ago.

but ironically, i do like when bands use folk sounds or instrumentation to make their music more diverse (ie, sun city girls/rick bishop, newer animal collective stuff/panda bear, six organs of admittance, some soft circle, etc..)

Well, I don't think stuff like sun city girls, six organs, james blackshaw, jack rose, etc. has anything to do with the rest of that "freak folk" scene.. cuz, you know, that stuff's actually good. Haha.

I just think everyone should listen to every John Fahey and Robbie Basho album on repeat for a few months.

look out, it's the music police.

Bob Dylan? Amazing lyrics?

I have loved Leonard Cohen for the last 20 years, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to like newer artists too. I think if you're looking for folk music to 'be made better' then, with all due respect, you really don't understand the spirit of folk music. Folk music will probably sound relatively the same a hundred years from now, and that's not a bad thing.

John Fahey would have punched him, knowing his penchant for heckling nouveau folksters.

hahahahahahahaha, i can't rep you porky.

----

by the way, folk music isn't from the 60's, it has existed for centuries now, and will always exist.

folk is not really a "sound" as it is pushed here in america.

bluegrass is folk. hawaiian music is folk. polka is folk. delta blues is folk. gypsy music is folk.

folk music is music made by regular people, for social events such as dances, weddings, entertainment, etc. it is ussually made with acoustic instruments because they are portable an dcan be played anywhere, even on a mountain camping trip. it can be uproarious, loud, jamming, danceablem, beautiful, calm, etc.

the fucking hippie soft shit that has been purveyed as "folk" since the days of the goddamn kingston trio is just one tiny teeny slice of true folk music.

and I HATE IT

Why the little history of folk if the kind that is discussed on this thread is what it is?

cuz devonshire barnyard sucks.

so that's what the fucker looks like. Clearly a skidmark of a man.

hey hey mock his music
but his looks is fine leave it :P

Seriously, he looks like a hairdresser on Old Street. People unaware of what hairdressers on Old Street actually look like, now know.

For those unaware of which Old Street I'm referring to, it's the one in London filled with hairdressers that look like Devendra Banhart.

I was going to post something similar to that. He looks too much like a Hoxton folkster, rather than Greenwich Village.

Oh my. I've heard his name before and thought he was a woman. Turns out he's a sexy guy, even if he does look a little too grungy. Kind of like if Vincent Gallo and Charles Manson had a baby and it turned out to be cute.

This whole "freak" folk thing is more of a nuisance than it's worth. There are a few very engaging artists who have sprung from it (Faun Fables, Espers, April Fishes)... but for every good band we get a shit ton of garbage (Joanna Newsom and the like).