AVALANCHE KAITO + THEE ALCOHOLICS – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 30.8.23
Every once in a while, you experience a live show that truly makes you re-evaluate your definition of live music and performance; this could be via sonic transcendence you had yet to witness inside a sweaty room, strong and tight rhythmic virtuosity, experimentation beyond any known forms of accessibility, or even just a wild and zany stage presence… Wednesday night at The Prince Albert with Avalanche Kaito, fell under all of these categories. The lighting for this concert was extremely challenging so we caught up with the band two days later in the bright sunshine of ‘End Of The Road‘ Festival on the Dorset- Wiltshire border. A selection of photos from that performance can be found at the foot of this review as a special bonus.
This show was the first of a continuous nine-day tour across the UK in response to their eponymous debut album which dropped in the summer of last year. The trio, which comprises of Burkinabe griot (a oral storyteller of West Africa) Kaito Winse, drummer Benjamin Chaval and guitarist Nico Gitto (both of whom are based in Brussels, Belgium) are known for their abilities to blend noise rock, experimentalism and deconstructed electronic music into a sound that is incredibly advanced in sound and scope.
Opening for Avalanche Kaito was the South East London-based noise rock outfit Thee Alcoholics; not much is known about these guys except for a pair of releases dropped in the last three years in the form of a self-titled 25-minute rager album and a live album – recorded at The Piper in St. Leonards-on-Sea – with a gritty sound texture to it that evokes the aura and mystery of a band such as Les Rallizes Dénudés. After a quick entry into my second home that is The Prince Albert, equipped with a regular glass of orange juice (I still gotta have my fun, being a teetotal gig-goer!), the speakers emitting The Clash’s ‘Lost In The Supermarket’ and Wire’s ‘Ex-Lion Tamer’ got me hyped for the second that Thee Alcoholics assemble onto the stage. Already the band were grabbing my attention, thanks to the presence of two Korg synths on the stage, as well as frontman Rhys Llewellyn’s Neu! T-shirt.
The quintet welcomes us into the world of Thee Alcoholics with Rhys’ open C guitar drones, transporting us to a soundscape you could find in a spaghetti Western film. Then, suddenly we are presented with Jason Jaworski’s dominant drums and Paul Tucker’s prickly guitar lines as well as duelling synth passages from Tony Mountford and Jess Beechey on the Korgs. This track, known as ‘Brainwash Box’, sees the band dedicate their momentum upon a very minimal groove and two note progression, reaching a climax of distortion and feedback! An extremely quick transition goes underway as we approach the following cut ‘Power’, a song takes me back to recent experiences witnessing the experimental band Swans play live not too long ago (Review HERE) with Jason and Paul’s angular rhythmic patternings, as well as Rhys’ ominous vocals which remained buried within the mix throughout the entirety of their set. Their ‘Politicians, Kill Yourself’ single which has a cover that pays homage to the Buzzcocks debut ‘Spiral Scratch’ release – continues the musical themes of push-and-pull melodies despite the more prominent droning atmosphere present at this point. Despite the minimal changes in harmony or tone, the overall sound still remains incredibly weighty.
A strong highlight of the set was the song ‘The Hole I See’, with a more club-like rhythm that you could find in any manner of dance-punk and no wave bands to come out of the 70s and 80s, not to mention Paul and Rhys almost duelling each other with noise and feedback coming out of their electric guitars. Talking of no wave, the next track ‘Feedback’ displays this particular stylistic regression in a magnificently potent way, particularly in the intro. Rhythmically, this song stays sturdy, but polyrhythmics and dynamic mutations occur as it progresses in a near-flawless fashion. ‘Assholes & Egos’ is a stronger exercise in the dance-punk sound, almost like an evil LCD Soundsystem, coupled with a call and response of Rhys’ hushed vocals and brief eruptions of guitar dissonance. While somewhat more conventional in overall instrumental timbre compared to the rest of the set, ‘Turn On The Radio’ is possibly the tightest moment in the entire show. However, just as we think the set is done… the group switches tempo drastically for a 30-second rager in the form of ‘Sweetheart’! These final moments of the set are executed with such rigour and finesse, it’s hard to be distraught by how wonderfully chaotic the overall soundplay is. Rhys gives his farewell on behalf of the band as the house lights come back up and they walk off the stage to the speakers’ soft permutations of Neu!’s ‘Hallogallo’… nice touch!
Thee Alcoholics:
Rhys Llewellyn – vocals, guitar
Tony Mountford – synth
Jess Beechey – synth
Paul Tucker – guitar
Jason Jaworski – drums
Thee Alcoholics setlist:
‘Brainwash Box’
‘Power’
‘Politicians, Kill Yourself’
‘The Hole I See’
‘Feedback’
‘Assholes & Egos’
‘Turn On The Radio’
‘Sweetheart’
With keen eyes, I view upon the trifecta of members that make up Avalanche Kaito adjust their illustrious display of musical equipment on the stage, which is now adorned with traditional Burkinabe instruments (including a tama drum, peul flutes and a musical bow), a laptop and unconventional guitar amplifiers. Some moments later, drummer Benjamin and guitarist Nico erupt into very tribal rhythmic progressions, albeit loose and bordering on arrhythmic (not necessarily a bad thing, mind!).
Out of nowhere, Kaito walks into the crowd, vocalising in an almost preacher-like manner with no microphone, for a good minute before strutting onto the stage and quietly softening as this song (known as ‘Sunguru’) progresses into its next section. Benjamin brings us to an oddly-shuffled snare rhythm while Nico plays a muted guitar pattern. Kaito’s vocals are incredibly tight and on-point, but the scales he is singing are unlike anything I’ve experienced in a live setting! Before long, he introduces us to his tama drum, placing it under his arm, beating it with a stick in one hand and tapping it with the other. As the song switches to chugging and almost atonal guitarwork and a very odd triple-time drum groove, Kaito is finally settling into the room, smiling away as he plays the tama drum!
Before long, the next track, ‘Douaga’, dives into the beautifully turgid style of krautrock with Kaito giving his a shuffling pattern on a peul flute reminiscent of Kraftwerk’s pre-Autobahn track ‘Ruckzuck’! Benjamin settles into this pattern seamlessly with purely virtuosic drumming and Nico’s transcendent guitar tone that Tony Levin would pick up on…! Kaito’s vocalisations here are immaculately zany and disorienting as the song approaches a brief rhythmless section. Actually, brief is not a short enough word to represent this rhythmless section as out of nowhere, Benjamin pulls the band into a speedclock groove that makes me feel like I’m spiralling within these walls of sound. Following a quick, manual re-adjustment of the stage lights, to which Nico states “we want to see you.”, Kaito addresses the crowd with the infectious call and response vocalisations of the subsequent titular “Toulele! Toulele!”. Nico’s guitar is carrying a lot more weight in this track as Benjamin implements a sparse but intricate drum pattern. The performance of ‘Toulele’ is also home to one of many moments where Kaito dances like there’s no tomorrow across the stage (knocking over a cymbal in the process).
The tama drum makes a return on the next cut known as ‘Moulin’; here, it acts as a throbbing pulse against Benjamin’s shuffling snare rim hits and Nico’s droning guitar. This track does not last long unfortunately as it quickly shifts into explosions of arrhythmia with an abrupt ending. Finally, we approach what were easily the two best songs of the entire set: firstly, there is ’Le Grand-Pere’, a track that bases itself on Kaito’s percussive grinding of his musical bow as well as a lengthy dynamic progression around a very techno-like rhythm.
The second is ‘Dabalomuni’ with alternating time signatures and stop-start rhythms in a very disjointed manner, not to mention Kaito dancing once again as well as call and responses of ululations between himself and the crowd. Once the beat finally stops, Benjamin appears to be recording the audience’s cheer and digitalling manipulating it through the use of FFT (a process that turns a signal into spectral frequencies). Kaito climbs out into a pit in the audience and begins to dance as Nico and Benjamin welcome in one of the gnarliest, catchiest and infectious grooves I have ever witnessed live! Many Avalanche Kaito appreciators dance with Kaito in this pit as the song begins to mutate and eventually disassemble itself to a close.
Avalanche Kaito has finished. This show was a totally visceral experience that I feel will be very hard to replicate in any other live atmosphere, whether it was thanks to Nico’s dissonant and intricate guitarwork, Benjamin’s exceptional rhythmic duties and electronic manipulation, or just the overall charm and charisma of Kaito! Before long, the trio departed and hit the road as they are to continue their UK tour, beginning with Birkenhead on the 4th and concluding in Falmouth on 7th!
Avalanche Kaito:
Kaito Winse – vocals, tama (talking drum), peul flutes, arc à bouche (wood bow)
Nico Gitto – electric guitar, vocals
Benjamin Chaval – drums, electronics, laptop
Avalanche Kaito setlist:
‘Sunguru’
‘Douaga’
‘Toulele’
‘Moulin’
‘Le Grand-Pere’
‘Dabalomuni’
www.instagram.com/avalanchekaito
SPECIAL BONUS: PHOTOS OF AVALANCHE KAITO AT ‘END OF THE ROAD FESTIVAL’ 1.9.23
