Wednesday, November 18, 2009

File Under: Everybody Goes Through a Ska Phase? Plus The Times Predicts the Imminent Rise of the Fourth Wave!

From a November 6th, 2009 New York Times interview ("Stirring Ska, Rock, R&B and Hip-Hop Into a Freak-Folk Stew") with major label "freak folker" darling Devendra Banhart by Jon Caramanica:
Q. Were you into skate videos at all back then [growing up in California in the 90s]?

A. Of course. That’s how I got into music. [The skateboarder] Steve Olson from [the company] Foundation had a David Bowie song from “Hunky Dory,” “Quicksand,” and in a Chocolate [Skateboards] video there was a Desmond Dekker song, “007 (Shantytown).” That started me on this whole rude-boy thing. I wore suits and just listened to Blue Beat, ska, mento, calypso, reggae. At 15 I discovered girls and ’90s ska. Reel Big Fish and masturbation. That’s the truth.

Q. We’re maybe a year or two away from a ska revival.

A. The fourth ska revival. I feel it coming for sure. The last song on our record is a ska song. Even my clothes. People might say it’s gay Orville Redenbacher, but no — ska revival.
That's your money quote right there, kids: Even my clothes. People might say it’s gay Orville Redenbacher, but no — ska revival.

Hell, even though The Times isn't known for monitoring the pulse of pop sub-cultures, they did get it right last time in '95--why not now?

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