Highlife Presents Cut Hands (Live)

Some consider African influences on electronic music to be limited to nothing more than a few sub genres, but anyone who has been schooled by the likes of Gilles Peterson will know that a much greater debt is owed. Genres that do embrace African influences can sometimes be guilty of simply exoticising their sound with a few appropriated elements, but that can't be said for the wholesale immersion that awaits them with William Bennett’s Cut Hands project.

Bennett, previously of Whitehouse and the guest of honour for Highlife’s second birthday party, continues his obsession with noise, this time channelled through the sound of Africa and his two albums, Afro Noise 1 & 2, are possessed with an urgency and rawness of rhythm that can initially leave you quite unprepared. His live performances, often accompanied by stark, haunting monochrome imagery, are similarly a complete audio onslaught and they have an intensity and power about them that is unlike much else you will hear in a club. Certainly not for everybody but, equally, one you will be unlikely to forget anytime soon. Auntie Flo and Esa will be taking to the floor afterwards to ensure the second year of Highlife is a great one.