Ape in Pink Marble Devendra Banhart

• 1Middle Names03:29
• 2Good Time Charlie02:07
• 3Jon Lends a Hand02:34
• 4Mara03:13
• 5Fancy Man02:59
• 6Fig in Leather03:13
• 7Theme for a Taiwanese Woman in Lime Green04:23
• 8Souvenirs02:59
• 9Mourner's Dance03:19
• 10Saturday Night04:24
• 11Linda05:56
• 12Lucky02:50
• 13Celebration02:56
• Total Runtime44:22

Info for Ape in Pink Marble

Devendra Banhart's new album, Ape in Pink Marble ist finally out now. The album, Banhart's ninth, was written, produced, arranged, and recorded in Los Angeles by the singer / songwriter / guitarist with his longtime collaborators Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick, both of whom also worked on Banhart's most recent album, Mala (2013). Ape in Pink Marble is available to preorder now at iTunes and in the Nonesuch Store with an instant download of the album's opening track, "Middle Names," which you can hear below; Nonesuch Store pre-orders also include an exclusive, limited-edition autographed print of a drawing by Banhart. Related tour dates will be announced soon.

Devendra Banhart was born in Houston, Texas, and moved with his mother to her native Caracas, Venezuela, when his parents separated. The family relocated to Los Angeles during his teenage years; it was there that he learned to speak English, skateboard, and play music. Banhart first began to perform in public while attending the San Francisco Art Institute. He has since lived in New York City, Paris, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, where he currently resides. Banhart first attracted international notice with his 2002 debut album, Oh Me Oh My… The Way the Day Goes By the Sun Is Setting Dogs Are Dreaming Lovesongs of the Christmas Spirit—a collection of recordings he had made for himself. Subsequent albums include Rejoicing in the Hands (2004), Niño Rojo (2004), Cripple Crow (2005), and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (2007), and What Will We Be (2009). Mala, his Nonesuch debut, was described by Q as a "career-best" and by the Wall Street Journal as his "most concise, hushed and winsome effort to date." Banhart has collaborated with fellow musicians including Anohni (formerly known as Antony) and the Johnsons, Beck, Vashti Bunyan, Os Mutantes, and Vetiver. He also has performed with both Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, and was part of a David Byrne–curated concert at Carnegie Hall.

An accomplished visual artist, Banhart's distinctive, minutely inked, often enigmatic drawings have appeared in galleries all over the world, including the Art Basel Contemporary Art Fair in Miami; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels; and Los Angeles' Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2015 Prestel published I Left My Noodle on Ramen Street, a collection of his drawings, paintings, and mixed media pieces. He has created the cover art for most of his records, and in 2010 his artwork and packaging for What Will We Be was nominated for a Grammy.

Noah Georgeson, bass, synthesizers, programming, koto, prepared guitar, drums, vocals, backing vocals
Greg Rogove, drums, percussion
Devendra Banhart, guitars, synthesizer, percussion, koto
Josiah Steinbrick, synthesizers, bass, marimba, guitar, drums, Mellotron, piano, percussion, koto, backing vocals
Rodrigo Amarante, guitar
Mel Shimkovitz, guitar solo

Produced, arranged, and recorded by Noah Georgeson, Josiah Steinbrick, and Devendra Banhart

Devendra Banhart
Growing up in Caracas, Venezuela and Los Angeles, Devendra Banhart was always playing music and drawing. But it wasn't until his brief stay at the San Francisco Art Institute that the disciplines became his constant companions. With the encouragement of poet and SFAI professor Bill Berskon, Banhart began experimenting with all kinds of art. He also began recording songs around that same time, usually on shoddy, hand-me-down four-track machines. Brief, half-finished, or written in stream-of-consciousness form, the recordings weren't initially intended for release. But friends encouraged Banhart, and he sent out a few tentative demos. He also left SFAI in favor of busking and wandering, and his travels led him from the Bay Area to Paris and eventually back to L.A. By now he was performing regularly, but he hadn't recorded or released anything officially. That changed when Michael Gira (Swans) issued the first Banhart material on his Young God imprint in October 2002. Oh Me Oh My... was an immediate critical hit, and comparisons to legends of songwriting, eclecticism, and tragedy were frequent (Tim Buckley, Syd Barrett, Marc Bolan, et al.). The Black Babies EP arrived in 2003, followed by Banhart's first full-length, Rejoicing in the Hands, in April 2004. Young God released its companion, Niño Rojo, in September. Acclaim for both was nearly unanimous, and Banhart's audience continued to expand. He jumped to XL for September 2005's Cripple Crow, an ambitious set and his most sonically expansive album up to that point. Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon continued in that vein, recorded at Banhart's new home studio in Topanga Canyon. A jump to Warner Bros. brought a more straightforward set (relatively speaking), What Will We Be, in 2009. Released in 2013, Mala organized some of the overstuffed elements of Banhart's multifaceted muse into a more cohesive set of songs than on his previous few albums. A trend he continued with on his 2016 album, Ape in Pink Marble. (Rovi)

Booklet for Ape in Pink Marble