Who? Vetiver

Why?

As a professed fan of the psyc-folk phenomenon I still can’t help but roll my eyes when something, someone, some band, come ‘Devendra Banhart approved’. Don’t get me wrong I love the rambling lunatic as much as the next person (he’s an alt-jesus prophet for a worrying proportion of music lovers) but the assumption that everything he touches turns to gold dust is a  fragment of a somewhat skewed reality.

But then again, Vetiver aren’t just gold dust, they are a thousand gold bullions buried in a forgotten hurricane shelter, a thousand memories of folk-bands gone by, sculpted into the enlightened, liberal new-wave folk musicians they are today…

Yes, they started off as a backing band for Mr Banhart but my, my, how times have changed! You couldn’t phase Vetiver into the background even if you wanted to.

I had a couple of Vetiver records when I saw them play at Bestival 2009. I was excited, to say the least, but expecting to be underwhelmed. What I got, on a small intimate stage with the audience crossed-legged on the floor, was warm and opening waves of rock, psyc-rock and folk played by musicians with extreme talent. The rhythm section was unbeatable, the vocals rock-solid and the fantastic guitarist played almost the entire set (freestyle riffs, noodles and all) with his eyes closed. Despite the fact that this was a relatively small band on a small stage, the performance has stayed with me and was undoubtedly the highlight of my messy weekend.

When I went back to listen to the records again, I mean really listen, my perspective was changed for good. On their most recent effort, Tight Knit (2009), songs varied from the sublime and surreal ‘At Forest Edge’ to the upbeat, summery folk of ‘More of This’ and on 2006’s To Find Me Gone the eclectic mix of somewhat exotic instruments (sitar, organ, accordion, violin, handheld drums and tabla) is utterly hypnotic and entrancing.

The lyrics can be bizarre and dreamlike or sage and earthy, like much of the music. Also the wonderful harmonies throughout Vetiver’s music are of the homely, natural sort that soak into the soul. Old hippies! (Well…they are named after a type of grass afterall).

Where some might dismiss this band as generic folk, I think there is something unorthodox and mysterious about Vetiver that you rarely see in modern folk bands nowadays. This time, Devendra just might have been on to something…

PM

Listen:
‘Been So Long’ –
‘More of This’ –
‘You May Be Blue’ (live @WOXY) – 

Explore:
Vetiver’s Website

Download:
The rest of the live session at WOXY.com (This is excellent and worth downloading! -Ed)