Gentle Friendly, Banjo or Freakout
Article published: Monday, December 1st 2008
The Drowned in Sound gig at Manchesters Deaf Institute was headlined by two Londonbased artists: Gentle Friendly and Banjo or Freakout, purveyors of well thought-out, fractured music in a similar vein to Animal Collective. The wealth of complex dynamics that were formed from just two people were in stark contrast to the fairly standard (albeit melodic) four-piece The Witches that had played earlier. Banjo or Freakout is Alessio Natalizia, on this occasion night joined on stage by multi-instrumentalist Daniel Boyle. The set began with Boyle building up layers of hypnotic vocals, as Natalizia fretted about the stage between his laptop and drum in seeming confusion, now and again plucking at his guitar. As this wall of noise dropped out, a pre-recorded track came on from the laptop. Boyle began to drum on the floor tom in front of him, his whole body seemingly pivotal to each beat, and Natalizia provided vocals. Although his melodies didnt come across as strongly as could be hoped, it was nonetheless an entertaining and interesting set – the highlight of which was when both men manically beat away at the drums in front of them, a polyrhythmic texture subtly rising up to a thrilling crescendo. Next up was Gentle Friendly. Daniel Boyle remained on stage, this time in front of a drum kit, where he flourished, playing incredible, urgent bursts of drums over the lo-fi synths and vocal stylings of David Morris. This was an all-or-nothing performance, in which songs arrived and dropped out suddenly to a diminuendo; fluctuating dynamics ensuring excitement. The gig culminated with Boyle rushing through the crowd to beat his snare above his head. A fitting end, since it was his percussion that had given the night so much magic.
More: Manchester
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