Avalanche Kaito (Burkina Faso/Belgium)

Someone once described Avalanche Kaito as “grrriot_punk_noise”. It is hard to find a better definition.

Burkinabe singer, multi-instrumentalist and urban griot Kaito Winse, guardian of an ancestral musical tradition, collides with the multiform approaches of drummer, electronic musician and “pure dataïst” Benjamin Chaval and anarcho-guitarist Nico Gitto. The result is an explosive, unpredictable fusion of griot tradition, noise, punk, electronics, trance and experimental music — a music that seems to exist somewhere between ancient knowledge and a future that has yet to be invented.

The band first made a strong impression with their concerts in Belgium in July 2021. A genuine word-of-mouth phenomenon quickly followed, taking Avalanche Kaito across Europe and to Canada, with more than fifty concerts in festivals and clubs within their first months. Their incendiary live performances rapidly became the band's trademark: visceral, hypnotic and radically unpredictable.

In 2022, Avalanche Kaito released the *Dabalomuni* EP and their self-titled debut album on Glitterbeat Records. The record established the trio internationally, combining Winse's ancestral griot vocals, tama, Peul flute and mouth bow with Chaval's drums and Pure Data electronics and Gitto's heavily processed guitar. The album was followed by appearances at major showcase events including MIL and ESNS, while the band continued to build an international reputation through relentless touring.

The momentum continued in 2023. Grammy commissioned Avalanche Kaito to create a live video, which was broadcast through the institution's networks. KEXP released a live session recorded at ESNS in January 2023, while The Wire devoted a feature to the band and subsequently presented a special Avalanche Kaito programme on Resonance FM. In October 2023, the trio was selected for an official WOMEX Showcase in A Coruña, Spain — a major milestone in the band's international development.

In April 2024, Avalanche Kaito released their second album, *Talitakum*, again on Glitterbeat Records. More experimental and expansive than its predecessor, the album pushed the group's unique language further into polyrhythms, electronics, dissonance, improvisation and ritualistic intensity. Tracks such as “Borgo”, “Shoya”, “Tanvusse” and “Talitakum” illustrate a music in which traditional Burkinabe forms and futuristic sound design are not juxtaposed but become part of the same musical vocabulary.

*Talitakum* was widely acclaimed by the international press and propelled the group into another extensive touring cycle. Among the band's highlights are appearances at WOMEX, Nuits Sonores, Down The Rabbit Hole, Colours of Ostrava, End of the Road, Supersonic and Sines, alongside numerous clubs, festivals and experimental music venues across Europe and beyond.

The project remains unique in today's musical landscape: a powerful trance machine and an uncompromising experimental laboratory at the same time. Kaito's voice and ancestral instruments carry centuries-old forms of knowledge, while Chaval and Gitto dismantle and rebuild them through fractured rhythms, electronics, distortion and improvisation. The result is music that is simultaneously deeply rooted and radically forward-looking.

After five years of intense touring and two acclaimed albums, Avalanche Kaito gave their final concert at Smugglers Festival on 29 August 2026.

PRESS:

“Freaked, juddering electronic punk.” — The Wire

“Like all the best punk, Avalanche Kaito's music is confrontational and abrasive, but also playful and with a great sense of fun.” — Songlines

“Avalanche Kaito is a fully functional hardcore transmission, channelling solid state spirits in abrasive, glitching tongues.” — The Wire

“Remarkable for the way it pushes into unexpected territories…” — The Quietus