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In the music video to Banjo or Freakout’s “Upside Down” an Indian, a football player, a guy in a chicken suit, an angel, a solider, a Playmate bunny, a man covered in blue paint, and the Grim Reaper are all seen running and jumping into the ocean in slow motion. It’s a striking sequence and the band’s music has a surreal, transcendental quality that fits those images perfectly. Banjo or Freakout is the moniker to Alessio Natalizia, a London-based bedroom-pop artist who’s made a name for himself on the internet by covering artists from Burial to LCD Soundsystem to Vampire Weekend. It’s his own mesmerizing dream-pop songs though that caught my attention and makes him a likely candidate to be the next breakout indie star (he’s already being hit up by gorilla vs bear, stereogum, and pitchfork).
Although Banjo or Freakout have yet to release a full length album, Alessio has a few singles and EPs under his belt including the Upside Down EP, from which the aforementioned track gets it’s title. “Upside Down” is a great introduction to the artist, with its lush instrumentation and radiant melody. The song layers summery acoustic guitars, ocean wave effects, and tinkering piano into a warm blanket of hazy noise with Allesio’s warbly vocals serenading the listener. The result is absolutely sublime, one of the most absorbing and hypnotic tracks I’ve heard all year. “Mr No” is another single that has more of an electro-pop feel while still featuring his dreamy atmospherics and otherworldly vocals. It’s been a while since I’ve been this impressed by a new artist, I’m quite certain that Banjo or Freakout has a very promising future ahead.
Here’s a few of Banjo or Freakout’s covers. While I still definitely prefer his original material, these are all pretty great.
MP3 All I Need (Radiohead cover)
MP3 Something Great (LCD Soundsystem cover)
MP3 Burial – Archangel (Burial Cover)
MP3 Love Lockdown (Kanye West cover)
Purchase Banjo or Freakout music at Half Machine Records. Watch the dream-like “Upside Down” video at Vimeo.
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