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. At a Tuesday night performance at Madame Jo Jo’s in London’s Soho district, Banjo or Freakout didn’t simmer, it steamrolled.

Full blog post at INTELLIGENT LIFE.