To Rococo Rot - Cafe Oto, London 21/07/14

30 July 2014, 10:00 | Written by Jack Dutton

(Live)

(To Rococo Rot)

The sibylline post-rock trio from Berlin, To Rococo Rot, came to London for a couple of rare shows last week. Of all of the London venues they could have chosen to play in, on the Monday night, they picked one of the most interesting – the intimate Café Oto, the small East end home of experimental bands. To Rococo’s crafty mix of acoustic samples, sharp bass lines and electronic chops are most appreciated in a venue like this.

The band’s music is subdued yet energised, repetitive yet engaging, calculated yet playful. The main purpose of tonight’s gig was to celebrate the coming of their eighth LP, Instrument, which was released in the UK on the same day.

It took a couple of songs for the band to gain some proper momentum. They started off slowly with new track “Besides” before moving onto the better-known cut “Horses”, off their previous album, Speculation – which upped the energy in the room. The Morcheeba-style moog synth of “Down In The Traffic” sounded more menacing live than on record and the stripped-down piano groove of “Spreading The Strings Out” also was received well. The songs had good continuity and were easy to get lost in. At times tonight, this band sounded like the ideal compromise between Boards of Canada and Mogwai.

Instrument is the first album in which the trio have incorporated vocals into their music. Only one vocalist is featured on the album – experimental veteran Arto Lindsay, of the band DNA. Although Lindsay wasn’t present tonight, it was a shame that To Rococo didn’t give these new songs a whirl - even if it meant someone else singing Lindsay’s parts.

The new songs worked well live, capturing a dark energy and continuity. The rock and roll strut and mixed electronic percussion of “Baritone” was met with enthusiastic applause. Drummer Romald Lippok’s had more freedom to improvise on the drums than on record, boasting some sublime syncopation, mesmerising everyone in the packed out Oto.

The group finished off with “Ship”, which seemed like an odd choice for a closer. Compared to the other tracks in their set, “Ship” didn’t have quite the same vitality and energy. There were a couple of absent songs from the band’s extensive catalogue that would have been better to close on, but may not have fitted in well with the set. A song that the band often perform, the infectious xylophone groove of “Cars”, was absent. So was the Gigi Masin-sampling “Die Dinge des Lebens” (Or ‘Things of Life’ in English). Apart from the lack of some songs, there wasn’t much negative to say about the set, which impressed both long-time fans and newer listeners alike.

Setlist:

Besides
Autonachmittag
Horses
Forwardness
Down The Traffic
Spreading The Strings Out
Baritone
Gitter
Ship