Hacktivist [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 8/12/14]
Hacktivist defy categorisation. Their music is a mix of djent’s brutality and hip-hop’s flamboyance – but it’s impossible to merge those two genre labels without generating results that are…well…pretty shit. ‘Hip-djent’ reads like something you’d spot in an out of touch news rag whose contributors only feel truly comfortable with shameless fearmongering and casual racism, while ‘djent-hop’ sounds like a dance move guaranteed to alienate all but the most loyal friends. Read more…
When I first discovered Half Crown at a 
Sofar Sounds are the most fascinating live music promoters you’ve never heard of. A global collective of music fans, Sofar tap into humanity’s need for community, connection, and intimacy by hosting secret small-scale shows showcasing the talents of a diverse range of artists. This evening’s event took place in an endearingly arty Brighton basement – an appropriate location for what was to come. 
I’m not one for golden-age thinking. Although the alt-metal movement that got me into music birthed some breathtaking albums, a lot of it was shit. Alt-metal’s new breed, however, are taking the best of the past and using it to forge a better future. 
It’s weird to think this gig would never have happened had the Boileroom’s licence been suspended – but the former did happen, because the latter wasn’t. The peacefully dubstep-loving crowds were out in droves last night to check out: 
This track broke my brain, in a good way. By all rights, rapping and flowing over Dillinger’s hyper-complex mathcore insanity should be as impossible as taking flight by flapping your arms really quickly – but on Rage Jarren Benton proves that assumption wrong with style, panache, and still more style. Math-rap should be a thing, especially considering a) how hard this track wins; b) that being able to rap over something that’s not in 4/4 is as worthy a thing to boast about as the size of your bank account and/or cock; and c) that Jarren Benton’s only current competition (see YouTube below) are missing the point entirely. 
Some of the catchiest pieces of music ever written were conceived as advertising jingles. Whether it’s 
One of TMMP’s 
As we saw last December