Death Grips Presents Gmail & The Restraining Orders On The WXAXRXP NTS Livestream

Beginning yesterday, Friday June 21st, and running on through Sunday the 23rd, the groundbreaking electronic UK label, Warp Records, is celebrating 30 years of putting out consistently amazing shit, by offering up what has promised — and has, thus far, been delivering — 100 new hours of more amazing shit.  With a nod to bay area rap trio Souls Of Mischeif, we received a press release about a week ago with a subject line that read “WXAXRXP. 89–Infinity” and explained this weekends scheduled events as follows:

Celebrating 30 years of WARP with 100 hours of original programming from across the roster. Broadcasting non-stop globally on NTS Radio.

Featuring exclusive mixes, live sessions, videos, unreleased music and curated archive recordings as radio shows with contributions from Boards of Canada, Flying Lotus, Aphex Twin, Brian Eno, Danny Brown, Autechre, Kelela and many more special guests to be announced.

’89–INFINITY.

If that list of names isn’t impressive enough on its own, then know that it also included artists like Squarepusher, Battles, Nightmares On Wax, Broadcast, Gonjasufi, and Plaid, along with several others.  And if THAT doesn’t do it for you… then, beat it.  I’ve got nothing for you.  I love Warp, but even as a longtime fan of the label, it’s easy to forget the extent of variety and talent they have overflowing from their roster.  They don’t only have some really great artists signed to them, but so many genuine pioneers in their respective fields that have influenced so much that has gone on to follow, in not only the electronic scene, but the music world at large.  It’s not an exaggeration to claim that Warp has helped to alter the trajectory of music as a whole during their initial 3-decade stint, or to expect them to have plenty more in their tank in the years to come.  They’ve always been about the music, so to celebrate by bringing out the big guns and unearthing hidden gems from the archives to offer something up to fans on a global scale seems like the perfect way to honor their legacy, along with those who have supported it.  This should be enough to get excited about all on its own, but once some of those “special guests” started to get announced, it took things to an even crazier level.  This is especially true for one very specific demographic in particular: Death Grips fans.

Look, I have no intention of talking shit about Death Grips fans — mostly, because I am one of them — but there are certain things that should be laid out first, to fully explain how otherwise basic information might affect the diehard fanbase in a completely different way than, say… fans of an act like The National might react to hearing the news that their favorite band would simply be appearing on a radio broadcast.  The very specific DG fans that I’m referring to can react a bit obsessively, and it’s not really their fault, either; it’s a natural response to a group that often shrouds itself in mystery, dropping unannounced projects out of the blue, canceling entire tour dates, half/fake disbanding, and even playing into their very own mythology by sending out clues and puzzles for their dedicated followers to decipher.  Let’s put it this way; it’s my understanding that the news of them being part of the WXAXRXP X NTS Radio broadcast may have been first discovered after somebody found “Death Grips” hidden somewhere in the website source code.

At some point, it was revealed that the Sacramento industrial noise-rap titans (for lack of a perfect description) would be presenting something referred to as “Gmail and the restraining orders” during their allocated block on the schedule.  What was that??!!! What would that mean????!!!!  Well… what it wound up meaning was the same thing that it always does: a whole lot of fucking speculation.  And now that the broadcast has come and gone — it went live last night — even more speculation and conspiracy theories have followed.  What exactly is the confusing imagery they’re using this time around for this project’s cover art (pictured above as the header image) and what, if anything, might it suggest?  What would we find if we reversed and twisted this or that in photoshop?  Is that noise in that one spot of the recording a sample of something we’ve heard before?  What does “Gmail And The Restraining Orders” even mean, exactly?!!  Are there hints to what’s to come?!!  Are their nods to things from the past?!!!  I don’t know.  All that really seems to be clear is that the recording sounds like it might be the music that they were playing over the speakers during their tour when we caught them back in 2015.  As with anything, some people are likely disappointed with that, while others are really excited to have this material finally see the light of day.  And the one thing that we can probably expect from this is an eventual physical release, which — if the way that past mixes like this have been handled are any indication — will appear as a limited edition Record Store Day release in the future.

So here it is, the ripped audio from last night’s broadcast of Gmail And The Restraining Orders presented by Death Grips.  Take from it what you will.  Or… maybe even just enjoy the music.  As for me, I’ve already been down that well.  I mean, I wrote a 6,000 word review of Exmilitary when that mixtape first dropped online back in 2011.  I helped document the JENNY DEATH saga, wrote about the No Love Deep Web debacle, and addressed it when they suspiciously “broke up.”  I was even supposed to interview them right before they released The Money Store, but then they pulled their typical vanishing act by canceling their first real tour and ghosting everyone (including their publicist) — that was their very first time yanking out that now-trademark move, so I didn’t even see it coming.  But while I just don’t have it in me to play The Great Mouse Detective with this shit anymore, I still salute those of you who do.  It’s your dedication which will allow me to sit back and reap the benefits of your sleuthing to get that information without the stress on my old man heart.  And it’s your fandom that recently allowed me to sell just 3 of my extra LPs to knock a major chunk out of the price for a pretty expensive camera lens that I’ve been needing.

For those that just want to hear the music, go ahead and click play on that video below.  For those that really want to dig a little deeper, make sure to wrap your torso with a nice sturdy vine, before dipping your foot into the quicksand known as the Death Grips reddit page.  You’ll find what you’re looking for there.  The kids have it covered.