Send "Banjo or Freakout " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 London-based bedroom pop artist Banjo or Freakout's Way Slow Volume One marks the first entry in Lefse Records' new Way Slow series, described by the label as an unconventional approach to record-making that encourages "instrumentals, covers, collaborations, wacky kids' tunes, spoken word [and] tracks that never made it to albums." Reminiscent of Konkurrent's In the Fish Tank series, Way Slow (which will feature the likes of Ganglians and Sonny and the Sunsets' Sonny Smith in the near future) seems like a smart way to accommodate diehard fans and allow artists to indulge in fringe fantasies. So it's a little disappointing that Lefse kicks things off with a wishy-washy handful of tracks from a still-developing and emerging artist.Basically, it's hard to get into the embryonic noodlings of an artist that we don't even know all that well yet. After releasing a few leftfield covers by the likes of Radiohead and Burial online, Banjo or Freakout (aka Alessio Natalizia) has one EP and a handful of original tracks to his name, most of which feel rooted to the ghosted dream-pop sketches that appear here. The problem is, as good as a few of them were, even his previous releases sound underdeveloped. Compared to this batch though, they sound downright accomplished. And at a time when there's so much uninformed bedroom music going around, the last thing you should be considering is taking a step backwards. This incarnation of Banjo or Freakout seems most interested in taking intimate, simple acoustic songs and obstructing them with aquatic atmospheres, spare percussion, and plenty of delay. With some of his more ambitious work (like those oddball covers), Natalizia was often able to create some compelling, otherworldly music-- something that would've been a perfect fit for a project like Way Slow. But instead of contributing something surprising or irreverent ("Street Runners" comes close), most of these auxiliary details just clutter what are otherwise sleepy coffee-house strummers....full text |
| Thelineofbestfit |
| Way Slow is a new series of releases curated by Lefse Records (home to Neon Indian, Houses). Whilst maintaining the basic structures of a formal record label, they are embracing creativity in everything from artist sound to packaging. Each release will be a unique creation from start to finish. Many of the artists are going to be releasing material that is well outside of their normal sound, some will be collaborations, some will be from parts of the world where most of us will never see. Alongside digital downloads, they will be offering limited edition cd’s, cassettes, and even vinyl in some cases. All physical products will be hand wrapped/sewn/carved individually for every release. Volume 1 comes from someone we haven’t heard too much from recently; firm TLOBF favourite Banjo or Freakout. The album will be released on October 12 (pre-order it here), download a taster ‘Over There’ below. Other artists confirmed for the series include: Ganglians, Sonny Smith, Houses/Teen Daze, Phaseone, The Traditionist, (former TLOBF Podcast “New Artist Of The Month”) Aloha Tigers, Sunnybrook, Algodon Egipcio, Brothertiger, Tape Deck Mountain, Solter, and Black Glass....full text |
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