Sexwitch at XOYO
Baba Naga
XOYO, 29 September 2015
When Natasha Khan, the enchantress behind Bat For Lashes, revealed she would be playing a tiny gig in support of her surprise side project with indie band Toy and producer Dan Carey, of course I didn't even need to hear the music to know I wanted to go. It was a rare opportunity to see Khan perform in a small venue and besides the project - psychedelic covers of obscure traditional folk songs from around the world - sounded more than intriguing. It was enough anyway to entice me to brave the terrible Old Street nightclub that is XOYO and join other Khan obsessives to see the debut gig of Sexwitch (which I must say is such an awful name, such a shame it wasn't Red Witch as many fans speculated it might be).
Having turned up super early in order to gain a cool spot at the front the stage, I sadly only managed a side view with a drunk posh girl sitting on the stage in front of me who seemed more excited by the fact she was sitting than the gig itself. Thankfully there was a support act to distract me, a kind of stoner rock trio with psychedelic projections called Baba Naga, who seemed to be channeling Monster Magnet and Black Sabbath and other doomy hard rock riffs and grooves. I thought they sounded like early Sabbath but the drunk girl left me feeling old by telling me they were nothing new because they sounded like The Horrors. It's definitely true their dirgey riffage was nothing new but I did still enjoy them and their spooky, pagan metal did fit perfectly with the whole Sexwitch theme of the night, like some kind of early 70s Hammer Horror music tribute, which was kinda cool.
There was no doubt though that most of the audience was there for Khan (maybe some for Toy and Carey too but it certainly wasn't obvious) and when she finally arrived on stage, all long witchy hair and short, retro-style mini dress (oh and awesome zebra-print flat boots), the cheers went through the roof.
The show started with the bassy groove of Ghoroobaa Ghashangan with Khan's haunting vocals
floating above the Middle Eastern vibe of the Iranian tune, which ended with her turning all banshee, as she screamed and chanted over the rising instruments. It was wild and fun and strangely, hugely danceable. The beautifully titled Ha Howa Ha Howa followed quickly, its chanting melody and heavy drums proving both hypnotic and wonderfully rhythmic, with Khan swaying and marching around the stage as in some kind of music-induced trance.
The only tune I knew, Helelyos, came next and judging by the response, it was also the track the audience were most familiar with too. With its repetitive deep bass and dark groove, the Persian track managed to sound both unsettling and mesmeric, with Khan's wailing sounding like a beautiful witch casting an entrancing spell to fall into. If this all sounds too eerie to be enjoyable, you couldn't be more wrong, with the pounding drums proving too irresistible not to move to.
Things got a little more gentle with the slow sensual sway of Lam Plearn Kiew Bao, which allows Khan to show off her incredible voice, rising from a whisper to a yearning cry. Equally haunting was their menacing yet swirling cover of Skip Spence's War In Peace (the least obscure of the tracks covered on the record), which transports everyone present to a smoky backroom in San Francisco in the 60s, it was that mesmerising and evocative.
The song that started the whole project, The Bride - a track by Amir Rassaei that Khan and TOY recorded for a compilation of Iranian music back in 2013 - was also included despite not featuring on the Sexwitch record. This song was a building rocker that ended in a storm of sounds and Khan screaming her heart out. Obviously it was fantastic stuff and Khan seemed lost in the joy or spell of it all, which was absolutely entrancing to see and experience. Her banter with the crowd inbetween songs also seemed to confirm this, with Khan cheesily asking, with a huge grin on her face, if we were all "feeling sexy" ("sexy as a witch" I wish I had shouted back, ah well, lost opportunities and all that).
"This has to be our last song because we don't have any more!" Khan said apologetically, "but we'll make it as long as we can!" The band then launched into their remaining song, Kassidat El Hakka, with Khan chanting bleakly "when I die I'll go back to where I was, nothing, nothing, nothing!" before falling to her knees as if overpowered by the spirit of it all. It was a thrilling end to the night and for a while, thanks to cheers and applause, it did seem like Khan and the band might return to the stage but they must have thought better of it because, probably for the best, they left it there with us on a huge high, buzzing from the atmosphere and power and joy of it all.
I went to this gig more as a curiosity than anything else but left as a huge fan of all involved. Some things have to be experienced live to really feel the magic of music's spell.
Having turned up super early in order to gain a cool spot at the front the stage, I sadly only managed a side view with a drunk posh girl sitting on the stage in front of me who seemed more excited by the fact she was sitting than the gig itself. Thankfully there was a support act to distract me, a kind of stoner rock trio with psychedelic projections called Baba Naga, who seemed to be channeling Monster Magnet and Black Sabbath and other doomy hard rock riffs and grooves. I thought they sounded like early Sabbath but the drunk girl left me feeling old by telling me they were nothing new because they sounded like The Horrors. It's definitely true their dirgey riffage was nothing new but I did still enjoy them and their spooky, pagan metal did fit perfectly with the whole Sexwitch theme of the night, like some kind of early 70s Hammer Horror music tribute, which was kinda cool.
There was no doubt though that most of the audience was there for Khan (maybe some for Toy and Carey too but it certainly wasn't obvious) and when she finally arrived on stage, all long witchy hair and short, retro-style mini dress (oh and awesome zebra-print flat boots), the cheers went through the roof.
The show started with the bassy groove of Ghoroobaa Ghashangan with Khan's haunting vocals
The only tune I knew, Helelyos, came next and judging by the response, it was also the track the audience were most familiar with too. With its repetitive deep bass and dark groove, the Persian track managed to sound both unsettling and mesmeric, with Khan's wailing sounding like a beautiful witch casting an entrancing spell to fall into. If this all sounds too eerie to be enjoyable, you couldn't be more wrong, with the pounding drums proving too irresistible not to move to.
Things got a little more gentle with the slow sensual sway of Lam Plearn Kiew Bao, which allows Khan to show off her incredible voice, rising from a whisper to a yearning cry. Equally haunting was their menacing yet swirling cover of Skip Spence's War In Peace (the least obscure of the tracks covered on the record), which transports everyone present to a smoky backroom in San Francisco in the 60s, it was that mesmerising and evocative.
The song that started the whole project, The Bride - a track by Amir Rassaei that Khan and TOY recorded for a compilation of Iranian music back in 2013 - was also included despite not featuring on the Sexwitch record. This song was a building rocker that ended in a storm of sounds and Khan screaming her heart out. Obviously it was fantastic stuff and Khan seemed lost in the joy or spell of it all, which was absolutely entrancing to see and experience. Her banter with the crowd inbetween songs also seemed to confirm this, with Khan cheesily asking, with a huge grin on her face, if we were all "feeling sexy" ("sexy as a witch" I wish I had shouted back, ah well, lost opportunities and all that).
"This has to be our last song because we don't have any more!" Khan said apologetically, "but we'll make it as long as we can!" The band then launched into their remaining song, Kassidat El Hakka, with Khan chanting bleakly "when I die I'll go back to where I was, nothing, nothing, nothing!" before falling to her knees as if overpowered by the spirit of it all. It was a thrilling end to the night and for a while, thanks to cheers and applause, it did seem like Khan and the band might return to the stage but they must have thought better of it because, probably for the best, they left it there with us on a huge high, buzzing from the atmosphere and power and joy of it all.
I went to this gig more as a curiosity than anything else but left as a huge fan of all involved. Some things have to be experienced live to really feel the magic of music's spell.
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