With the release of major-label debut What Will We Be (Warner Bros.), Devendra Banhart proves once again he has the potential to be one of his generation’s major players. His voice, with its careening vibrato and fuse-blowing intensity, sounds something like Marc Bolan’s, but his repertoire may be more all over the map than anyone making records today. He combines a love of arcane folk music with hard-rocking psychedelia and an ability to sing beautifully in English or Spanish, a skill he learned growing up in Caracas, Venezuela. He refers to himself, jokingly, as a “fake hippie,” but he appears to be the real thing, a refreshing return to the revolutionary thinking that once seemed capable of changing the course of human events. Who’s to say it couldn’t happen again? Banhart will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with him.
Behutet
I’ve been reading Behutet for years now. It’s the perfect travel companion: another world in an esoteric zine-like mini tome. Highly recommended for everyone.
Miguel Ángel Asturias
Mulata De Tal (“The Mulatta And Mr. Fly” in English) is one of my top five books of all time; had to put Miguel Ángel Asturias up here. It’s shockin’ to think this guy won the Nobel Prize for his book The President and this one’s out of print—what zee fucks???
Mário And Oswaldo de Andrade
Mário de Andrade and Oswaldo de Andrade are my favorite Brasilian poets; please check out by Mário’s novel, Macunaíma. Oswaldo wrote “Amor,” my favorite poem of all time, which goes as follows: “Humor.”
