This band really stands out. The energy and creativity puts many to shame. They twist and turn and break all conventions but still somehow manage to have a melodic punch. There’s chanting, rhythmic and off-kilter drumming and percussion. They build with a cacophony of samples, sound and raw acoustic instrumentation. They are defiant and wild but are engaging and inviting. It’s quite a brew and very exciting.
Avalanche Kaito: the exhilarating combination of Burkina Faso born urban griot Kaito Winse and fellow experimentalists Belgian guitarist Nico Gitto and French drummer/producer Benjamin Chaval. Their new album ‘Talitakum’, is deeper and more sonically varied, revealing an energy and spiritual weight that has undoubtedly emerged from the group’s incessant touring. The live shows are indeed revelatory, twisting and turning with an unexpected intensity and collectiveness. It is a arresting, shapeshifting sound that spins freely from ancient griot traditions to full-throttle thrash (with many stops in between).
“Lago”, the penultimate track on Avalanche Kaito’s upcoming album and the first single to be released from it, emerges from the box like an up-tempo devil. The sound was developed on stage by the band during the past two years: polyrhythmic guitar and drum entanglements, heady vocals, pure data drifts. Griot thinking calls on both the wisdom of proverbs and mischievous humour. Slipping in a few words of French here and there, Kaito pokes fun at this apparent contradiction.
Taken from the forthcoming album ‘Talitakum’
Out on 12 April 2024 Glitterbeat Records.
Avalanche Kaito – ‘Talitakum’
New album out 12 April 2024 on Glitterbeat
Formats: LP/ CD/ Digital streaming & downloads
Catalogue numbers: GBCD/LP 154
Track-listing:
1. Borgo
2. Shoya
3. Donle
4. Tanvusse
5. Viima
6. Talitakum
7. Ghostdrum exp3
8. Lago – Listen on YouTube here
9. Machine (The Mill)
