XL Recordings

Devendra Banhart has recruited his real-life girlfriend Natalie Portman to star in the video for his new single 'Carmensita'.

Devendra Banhart has been writing and recording a full-length album with his side project band, Megapuss.

Devendra Banhart joined one of his idols - veteran Brazilian artist Gilberto Gil - onstage at the Hollywood Bowl last night (June 29).

Plus: Megapuss album due this year

Photos by Ben High of Spectre

Forkcast got the jump on this one, but us news freaks here have the details. Wacko Renaissance man Devendra Banhart and Priestbird percussionist/ multi-instrumentalist Greg Rogove have gone and started a band called Megapuss (not to be confused with that other group of weird folkies, Megafaun-- or Megadeth, for that matter.)

As you can see in the photos above and below, Megapuss made their live debut last night (June 18) at Los Angeles' Hammer Museum, treating the gathered to eight originals and a "loose" cover of Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", according to a FADER report. The originals included "Duck People, Duck Man" (sung by Aziz Ansari-- why not?), "Crop Circle Jerk '94", "Chicken Tits", "Hollywood", and "Surfin".

Oh, and they projected what appear to be nude photographs of Devendra behind the band. And Devendra wore a skirt made out of penises. (Or maybe it's a belt? FADER thinks it's a skirt.) Los Angeles, you never fail to bewilder.

And indeed, as it turns out, Megapuss won't be stopping there. According to Devendra's publicist, the band has already finished recording "an album's worth of material which will be released in 2008." According to FADER, Devendra announced that the album will be called Surfin.

In the meantime, check out the recently Forkcasted "Crop...

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Shows visual art in Brussels

Photo by Don Felix Cervantes

It seems like we've been hearing a lot from Antony these last few months, but then again, somebody around the office always has that Hercules and Love Affair disc on repeat. Integral though his role is on H&LA, it's been a minute since Antony had his own name in lights (despite his promises). But it sounds like that'll change in a season or so.

According to an update on his website, the singular-voiced singer is preparing a new single to come out in October, and in the run up to its release, he's scheduled dates in Portland, Milan, Zaragoza, Spain, and London. Each night, Antony and the Johnsons will be joined by a local symphony conducted by nu-classical wunderkind Nico Muhly.

Thanks to Mike Carli for the tip.

This summer, you might not get to hear Antony's most distinctive characteristic at work up close and in person, but another one of his talents will be on display for all to see. If you live in Belgium, that is. From June 20 through September 14, the Palais Des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Belgium will be hosting the visual art exhibit "It's Not Only Rock 'n' Roll, Baby!", featuring work by a wide variety of rock types, from Patti Smith, David Byrne, Yoko Ono, and Brian Eno to Pete Doherty, Nick Zinner, Jonsi...

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Devendra Banhart, Matt Sweeney, Archer Prewitt contribute to liner notes

Cat Power is great, but her music's not exactly a picker upper. And Malkmus is sometimes funny, but in more of a heady way than a spit-coffee-at-your-computer-screen way. Thus, Matador has rectified its comedy void with the forthcoming reissue of Earles and Jensen's out-of-print double-disc Earles and Jensen Present... Just Farr a Laugh: The Greatest Prank Phone Calls Ever! Vols. 1 & 2. After a few delays, the record finally arrives April 22.

The duo consists of Brooklynite Jeffrey Jensen and Memphis resident Andrew Earles, both writers and jacks of several other trades as well (e.g., Jensen was once the bass player for Homestead Records' Smack Dab). The Just Farr a Laugh reissue package comes with a book of photos, drawings, and written forewords from a host of cool contributors. Devendra Banhart, Matt Sweeney, and Archer Prewitt all lend drawings to the book, and the list of foreword writers includes Matador co-head Gerard Cosloy, Gregg Turkington (aka Neil Hamburger), and Neil Pollack.

As for the audio contents of the record, the title pretty much says it all, although the MP3 samples linked below say it even better.

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Hollywood actress Natalie Portman is dating folk artist Devendra Banhart, according to various reports.

Natalie Portman stars alongside Devendra Banhart in his new video

And many other sentences completely inconceivable in 2003

We knew actress Natalie Portman and singing beard Devendra Banhart were tight; he did, after all, lay down an exclusive song for her Big Change: Songs for FINCA charity compilation last fall.

But apparently they're a lot tighter than that. MTV.com points us to this little tidbit: late last month, Nat and Big D collaborated on a video for "Carmensita" from Devendra's three-songs-too-long-player Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon. No word on just when we'll get an eyeful of these two frolicking to the strains of D's chugging cut, but, shit, it's a far better Portman + facial hair guy equation than that thing that came on before The Darjeeling Limited.

Other than frolicking with movie stars, Devendra's got a few gigs coming around, including a stop in late June at the Hollywood Bowl with one Gilberto Gil, and an appearance at Outside Lands in August. Though any time you want a little D in your life, you can always head this-a-way. [MORE...]

KCRW's World Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles will return for its 10th year this summer. The SoCal public radio station will celebrate a decade of collaborating with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association by infusing Sundays throughout the summer with sweet tunes and inspired matchups.

The weekly festival's six installments feature such stellar lineups as Devendra Banhart, Gilberto Gil, and the Album Leaf with Mike Heron from the Incredible String Band, Feist and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Gnarls Barkley, Deerhoof, and Youssou N'Dour, and Thievery Corporation with Seu Jorge.

KCRW's World Festival begins on June 22 with Thievery/Jorge headlining a show that also features Bebel Gilberto, Los Amigos Invisibles, and Federico Aubele. The full lineup is after the jump.

The Hollywood Bowl also has several notable non-World Festival shows scheduled throughout the coming months, including Brian Wilson on September 12-14, Nick Cave and Spiritualized on September 17, and Etta James and Solomon Burke on August 13. [MORE...]