Death Grips’ drummer Zach Hill met iconic ’70’s actress Karen Black in February of 2013, just months before she would end up passing away from ampullary cancer. At the time of their meeting, Hill was developing a script, and had written a part for Black. Even though the actress was quite sick at the time, she agreed to read the part, and the subsequent “scenes” were filmed at Black’s house as she lay on her couch. While there’s no appearance from Death Grips as such, or musical accompaniment from the group (though the band does promise, via Facebook, an album with the title), one might say, knowing their odd history, that this “absence” makes it a distinctly Death Grips kind of project. And Black, hyper-lucid even as her body fails her, is the perfect Death Grips heroine. This woman’s magical, almost “shamanic” ability to seamlessly move between realities, is on full display as she read’s Hill’s lines and riffs on the experiences of her richly lived life. Watching her, is like watching Art happen right before your very eyes! Amazing.
