A NIGHT OUT WITH BANJO OR FREAKOUT

The band Banjo or Freakout sounds like a slow-cooking soup at a constant simmer. Alessio Natalizia, the hand behind these Mac-generated songs, takes the melodic, echoey drone of Panda Bear, mixes in the urgent, Afro-pop rhythms synonymous with Vampire Weekend and Abe Vigoda, and seals it together with Sonic Youth-inspired tension and repetition that never subsides into something recognisable, like a chorus or a verse.

This recipe could lead to a total mess, but doesn't. It is slow-building, confusing, and sometimes irritating; but rarely boring. Natalizia explains in his bio that he started the project holed-up with a computer while waiting for his girlfriend to show up at her London flat. Indeed, Banjo or Freakout reeks of the “guy-alone-in-a-room-with-a-computer” aesthetic. The music is self-indulgent, spacey and, for lack of a better word, atmospheric. Had there been other musicians in the room with him, the results surely would have been different.

But solitude has its reward. This is not dance music; not on the surface, anyway. It’s a mood, an emotion.

At a Tuesday night performance at Madame Jo Jo’s in London’s Soho district, Banjo or Freakout didn’t simmer, it steamrolled. Natalizia, joined by one bandmate and an arsenal of drums, keyboards, samplers, computers and a guitar, blew through an hour-long set with fervour. They banged floor toms, crashed cymbals, and screeched guitars while sequencers and pre-programmed beats intertwined to create a deluge of organised noise.

Songs would contract as the volume level dropped and then dramatically expand as the rhythms grew. It was a successful and exciting combination of IDM (ie, computer geek alone onstage surrounded by portable electronic gear) and indie rock (cool haircut, ironic sweater, tight jeans, guitars, energy, sweat). And a hell of a way to spend a Tuesday night.

Recorded material rarely has the same zeal and personality of live performance, and Banjo or Freakout is no exception. Songs on their MySpace page easily fade into background. (The band has a 7-inch record out called Mr No/Someone Great, and has been featured in playlists put out by Spin and Pitchfork.) But there’s nothing dull about Banjo or Freakout live: I stood in front of the stage the whole time and didn’t budge, and when I looked around the packed room halfway through the set everyone was transfixed. They weren’t dancing or freaking out, but simply hooked. ~ GARY MOSKOWITZ