Monday, November 1, 2010

NDF & Banjo or Freakout & You


DFA Records released NDF’s single Since We Last Met as a 12” & digital single on August 30th. Soon after, the label asked London-based bedroom pop artist Banjo or Freakout (aka Alessio Natalizia) to cover the track- one week later, the final cover version found its way to DFA!

Since We Last Met is NDF’s first single on DFA. Bored with both rock and roll and his own name, ex-drummer Steven Ford released his debut 12", a techno single titled Read Me/Silver City, under the pseudonym Bruno Pronsato in 2003. The response to that release, though overwhelmingly positive, was dwarfed by the critical praise heaped on its follow-ups: 2007's Why Can't We Be Like Us, which effectively established Pronsato as one of the most innovative and vital producers in dance music, and 2009's groundbreaking The Make Up The Break Up, which further cemented his credentials as a visionary.

NDF combines Pronsato's talents with those of Sergio Giorgini – one half of Benoit & Sergio, whose rose-lensed debut EP, What I've Lost, was released through Pronsato's thesongsays label. On their auspicious first outing, Since We Last Met, NDF offer music almost perfectly summed up in their own words as "dance music twilit by…melancholy."

And if you want melancholy, just wait til you hear the cover. Banjo or Freakout disembody the tune and send it into the grey and grim ether between the netherworld and ours. It's a haunting rework that's about as far away from being dance music as one could be. Gorgeous, slow, and chilling, the version that they've come up with is something to hear.

Download: Since We Last Met

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