Live review – Archaic Vaults @ Cafe OTO w/ John T. Gast, Serafina Steer, Nexcyia & Vanessa Bedoret:

Futuristic electronics in the best outsider folk tradition

‘Worldwide marginalised’ is the motto of Archaic Vaults, a London-based label and events promoter whose cassette-based electronic releases focus on the pastoral, the desert, the neo-Celtic, and the synaesthetic yellow. The motto is easily repeatable, and commendable; putting the focus back on artists from marginalised backgrounds helps cement the focus on hybrid electronic music as folk. Which is exactly what it is, as long as it occurs in a live setting and spreads through real-world channels, such as word of mouth.

Archaic Vaults’s events repertoire is small in number, but that doesn’t stop them from putting on a cracking party when the time for a show does roll around. Their latest gig materialised at London’s Cafe OTO last weekend; a magical spritely affair featuring a suited John T. Gast and Serafina Steer in collaboration, plus support slots from textural-ambient fast-riser Nexcyia, and violinist-vocalist Vanessa Bedoret. On first entry, you had cassettes and vinyl arranged in a neat pyramid, a welcoming draw. This friendly vibe was supported by a concession fee for those on a low wage, thanks to OTO’s new membership policy. 

We felt compelled to document this show in writing for several reasons. First, it was one of OTO’s more eclectic affairs, breaking from their free jazz roots and erring into the more experimental side of things. Second, it was a rare chance to hear Gast and Steer in collaboration, following their collab split single ‘Garden Of Love / Water Carrier’ released last year. Perhaps it should also go without saying (but we’ll mention it anyway) that hype always encircles the identity of John T. Gast and his mysterious wiles, thanks to his elusive release practices and the ironic aesthetic governing his own imprint 5 Gate Temple. 

But this live performance was shockingly sparse – and different, to say the least – to that EP. Gast and Steer’s recorded music is nearly as serene as Steer’s own name, and does more implicit justice to what we might expect from a classically-trained harpist (it’s a great time to be a harpist, by the way, they’re all the rage in electronic music at the moment). But their live iteration owes more to Gast’s practice, which is more jam-based, and has seen him work with all manner of collaborators over the years such as Nkisi (Cold War) and Thomas Bush (Citrus & Musk).

Rather than flourishing new age soundscapes and hippie drones, their performance sounded like an alternately surreal desert world. With Gast on analog noise and vocals to complement Steer’s harp, the music was both jarring and calming, straddling both poles to prove that they were more reconcilable than we first imagined. Like trudging through the outer arid zones of Tatooine while gasping for nonexistent water, the mood evoked was that of mirage-like desperation. Gast’s noise-machines and effected vocal croons sometimes bordered on dry and intrusive (we wanted to hear more Steer towards the beginning), but eventually we came to enjoy the bursts of noise overlaid. Furthermore, Steer grew bolder as the jam went on, breaking from plucking on the harp and moving into more prepared-harp practices such as banging on its side, and scraping against its strings rhythmically with her own metal rings.

The fun was not limited to the main act. Vanessa Bedoret’s opening slot was the star performance; her unusual fusion of effected violin, pedals, vocals and Ableton produced a menacing sound, one which captivated most in attendance. This was the musician’s second ever performance, but that did not deter her from aweing. Over looped string drones and terrestrial ambiences, Bedoret would trill and flutter her instrument at almost superhuman speed. Elsewhere, effected vocals were run through a trancey eighth-note gate, producing a different and more vocal soundscape to that explored in her recent Archaic Vaults release ‘First Passage / Excommunicated’. When she did sing, it had a gossamer quality to it, as though the mic could quite easily be broken by a less considered tone. Dry and wet sounds were both touched in ultra-quick oscillation.

Nexcyia’s performance, sandwiched between Bedoret and Gast / Steer, broke from the focus on classically trained musicians, instead staking a claim for the DIY, non-instrumental artist. Though we believe Nexcyia’s textural ambient music is best suited for more immersive club spaces (thanks to its soundsystem, his recent performance at SET Dalston did far better justice to his ‘submerged’ sound than the somewhat inward-facing rig at OTO), this was still a worthwhile peek into the artist’s tactile universe. Inhuman drones, awash in mostly low and midrange sounds, gave rise to a slowly-unfurling Gigerian image; could these noises come from an extraterrestrial rainforest? A supernal submarine? A hissing, fuzzing, spitting portal to purgatory? Whatever the case, it seemed to mobilize the artist; even so much as a MIDI controller and a laptop led Nexcyia to swirl and toss his head, responding to all manner of ghostly, invisible rhythms only he could hear in the fog. 

Overall, this was an OTO gig done right. Nothing too overblown or showy, and taking a positive step to reclaim experimental music as folk – resisting its becoming another strand of the total-commercial behemoth.

Jude Iago James