Devendra Banhart

Not only does Devendra Banhart resemble Hagrid from Harry Potter but, like that lovable giant, he is a big scary-looking softy. This Venezuelan-raised Californian is, like his state, liberal, bilingual and distant. His sound emanates from the past. Deeply tied to tradition, he is one of the most interesting members of the new folk movement.

His newest LP, Cripple Crow, revels in his trademark high-quavering voice. When he holds a note he assumes a heart-wrenching and unique vibrato. His songs are imbued with folksy wisdom and anti-war sentiment, but never forget to include emotion in rhetoric. Yet Devendra's best anti-war songs are those that revel in peace: "Don't the flowers at your feet smell sweet? Well it sure smells sweet to me." His songs have a wandering, slow-paced majesty, which lands Devendra in the familiar genre of "Music to Take a Nap to," inhabited by Iron & Wine, Joanna Newsom, The Shins and most of recent folk.

Yet, on Cripple Crow, Devendra is not terrified of occasionally throwing down a beat. On the lively and inspired "I Feel Like a Child," he admits, "From my womb to my tomb/I guess I'll always be a child." That is the pervading theme of Cripple Crow: life and death-a sliding awe at the world recapitulated in a child-like curiosity belied by adult misgivings.