Ape In Pink Marble

Banhart, Devendra
Nonesuch Records
General | Sep 2016

Reviews

DJ Stace
Reviewed 2016-09-29
Devendra Banhart / Ape in Pink Marble

Label: Nonesuch
Reviewed:9/27/2016
Reviewer: DJ Stace

His ninth studio album. Stays in his comfort zone with dreamy easy listening folk pop. Kicks into a little funk territory halfway through. Plenty of good music, here. This is your Autumn beach album.

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Favorites: 5, 10, 7, 1, 4, 11

"Middle Names" **** 3:28 Lovely little lament. Finger-picked guitar with ethereal noise, behind. Reminds me of Kings of Convenience.
"Good Time Charlie" 2:06 Pretty Weenish little tune. Brief, but good.
"Jon Lends a Hand" ** 2:33 The album begins to pick up pace with this tune. Another lovely little ditty, repeats "As beautiful as you" to the end.
"Mara" *** 3:13 Wacky flamenco-ish flourish moves into a mid tempo, bass heavy, space folk head bobber.
"Fancy Man" ***** 2:29 His delivery reminds me a little of Gary Numan, a little. The arrangement, too, or maybe Grace Jones with it's precise little funk riff. Up-tempo, for Banhart. My favorite on the album.
"Fig in Leather" 3:13 Another easy listening folk funk tongue-in-cheek toe tapper.
"Theme for a Taiwanese Woman in Lime Green" **** 4:23 Bravely and competently strolling through some Getz and Gilberto territory, here. Mid-tempo Lounge Folk.
"Souvenirs" 2:59 Somber, muted strummed guitar and low keyboard that asserts itself in the middle and
"Mourner's Dance" 3:18 More Organ and vocal folk with a cool little Guzheng-style flourishes. Somber.
"Saturday Night" **** 4:23 I really like this soulful little folk ballad. Upbeat (again, for Banhart). Muted keyboard, throughout and a groovy little pattering rhythm.
"Linda" *** 5:56 Slow, quiet bluesy folk about being invisible (socially). Nice bassline and wavy soft guitar solos. Crawls to a near stop at about 3:00 with somewhat uncomfortably long pauses. It actually makes you a little anxious. Comes back at about 4:30 and finishes soft.
"Lucky" *** 2:49 Lazy soft folk rock love song. He pulls off a pretty high level of sappiness, here.
"Celebration" 2:56 Soft, pleasant, floating guitars. Very nearly instrumental. Repeats the only lyric "Celebration." Probably a great song to fall asleep to.

Recent airplay

Fancy Man
Fancy Man
regular schoolApr 30, 2018
Fancy Man
The LibraryDec 21, 2016
Fancy Man
The LibraryDec 07, 2016
Saturday Night
Waste FMNov 29, 2016
Souvenirs, Middle Names
Munch TimeNov 15, 2016

Charting

2016-10-04 — 2016-12-04
Week EndingAirplays
Dec 4 1
Nov 20 1
Nov 13 2
Nov 6 3
Oct 30 3
Oct 23 3
Oct 16 2
Oct 9 5

Track listing

1. Middle Names
2. Good Time Charlie
3. Jon Lends A Hand
4. Mara
5. Fancy Man
6. Fig In Leather
7. Theme For A Taiwanese Woman In Lime Green
8. Souvenirs
9. Mourner's Dance
10. Saturday Night
11. Linda
12. Lucky
13. Celebration