Death Grips is 20 min of breathtaking frenzy

The experimental hip-hop / noise band Death Grips plays frothy twang noise. But very exciting, interesting branch noise with paranoid, surreal lyrics. Live, it was a breath of fresh air. In their concert in Bittersweet (presented by Paradiso), vocalist MC Ride (Stefan Burnett) and drummer Zach Hill unleash a 20-minute hurricane of breathtaking fury. Hill - armed with just a kick drum, snare and floor tom-, Burnett with microphone, and supported by the glitchy beats, electronics and video footage of third (absent?) band member Flatlander (Andy Morin). No breaks, no chatter, no encores, just pure banging. A legendary performance.

Death Grips is heavy stuff, but perfectly acceptable to the free-spirited listener who doesn't shun hardcore punk, black or death metal, underground hip-hop or other raucous noise. In early 2011, the Sacramento-based trio threw a cluster grenade into the underground music scene with their free mixtape Exmilitary, after an earlier self-titled EP was already praised on various blogs. The hype around the band was / is huge, but contagious. Fans could at least breathe a sigh of relief after the ferocious concert in Bitterzoet. Live, they are just as good as on mp3.

For the well-versed: Death Grips combines the gritty, experimental underground hip-hop of Dälek, the pent-up outrage from Public Enemy in their best years with brutal electronic drone and noise, Atari Teenage Riot-like noise beats and the blind frenzy of noise rap pioneer B L A C K I E ... ALL CAPS WITH SPACES. For the musically impassive, it's a treat, because Death Grips is really doing something new. The band does not fit into any pigeonhole. Neurosisbut hip-hop style? And then also - to everyone's surprise - incredibly catchy?

The densely tattooed vocalist/bellowing MC Ride (Stefan Burnett) made under the name Mxlplx previously part of the - if possible even more obscure - hip-hop formation Fyre. Visual artist and, above all, drummer extraordinaire Zach Hill achieved through his work with the experimental math rock band Hella quickly rising to the top as one of the most innovative percussionists on the alternative music scene, known for his inimitable polyrhythms and especially psychotically fast footwork and insanely hard blows. Sound artist and filmmaker Andy Morin, under his alias Flatlander, is responsible for the electronics and the raw cut & paste video clips of the band.

Indignation abounded among underground puritans when the band signed with music mogul Epic Records. Though with the promise of releasing two full-length albums in one year. The first album via Epic, The Money Store, was distributed partly for free through the site, with accompanying self-made videos.

That things were not quite going well for a while with Death Grips was already apparent when a US tour was partially cancelled at the last minute. After a period of relative radio silence, Death Grips crawled behind the facebook page on 1 October and threw their integral new album NO LOVE DEEP WEB online. For free. The reason, according to Death Grips:

"The label wouldn't confirm a release date for NO LOVE DEEP WEB until "next year sometime". The label will be hearing the album for the first time with you."

NO LOVE DEEP WEB is literally and figuratively a fat dick to the record label. See the artwork (you have been warned. NSFW!). Epic reacted furiously, frothily summoning the band to withdraw the album and hand over the masters immediately. The band's website was blocked, according to Hill and consorts a subversive action by Epic to stop the album leaking. But perhaps more likely due to a crashed server, thanks to the feverish mass download by fans.

In any case, the genie was out of the bottle. It also emerged later that, based on Bittorrent statistics, Death Grips topped as the most legally downloaded artist in the first half of the year 2012. Conspiracy theorists speculated about a clever marketing campaign by Epic. Until the band themselves, in a final "fuck you!" to the record company, some pissed-off emails between Epic and their own management put online. The band was 'fired'. Presumably to their own relief.

It remains tricky, the relationship between the underground and the Big Money and Big Interests of the mainstream music industry. Recording engineer Steve Albini, intellectual of the do-it-yourself movement, known for his legendary bands Big Black, Rapeman and the noise band Shellac, briefly explains below where it goes wrong when idealistic, innovative underground bands try to change the record companies' system from within. And trying to benefit themselves. While maintaining creative integrity.

Spoiler: you can't. Death Grips has now understood that too.