It's official: in 2007, it's all come full circle. Prog rock has made its way into the indie scene. Battles' Mirrored, their debut full-length after three EPs, makes that plain. Messrs. John Stanier of Helmet and Tomahawk, guitarist/keyboardist Ian Williams of Don Caballero and Storm & Stress, guitarist David Konopka of Lynx, and avant solo musician Tyondai Braxton have constructed an album that combines the best of Van Der Graaf Generator, Magma, Krautrock, and math rock, while coming up with something that stands so far out on the fringe that it is in a league of its own. That so much of this music is created via the magic of software and combined with one- or two-note keyboard and guitar patterns makes it the Philip K. Dick equivalent of modern ock. The intro, "Race: In," comes flying out of the box with a series of rim shots and repetitive guitar lines before Braxton comes whistling into the front end. This is a Disney tune for Snow White by the Seven Dwarfs run amok. The abstract patterns introduced by the keyboards and bassline serve to underscore the melody, complex though it may be, and the sampling sound of hammers creates, at least momentarily, the image of "Whistle While You Work" before the guitars enter full bore and transform it into a full-blown prog jam with tight turns, momentary riffs all the while keeping a motorik drumbeat whether on a snare or a tom-tom. The whistling and wordless vocals that reflect another set of keyboard sounds add depth, humor, and warmth to this underground rainbow. On "Atlas," the title track from the band's last EP, the sound is one of futuristic dragon music ŕ la the conceits of T. Rex without the clever lyrics. Here, the drum shuffle of so many great T. Rex tunes introduces a single guitar riff, warped by sonics and growled vocals that sound like a pig snorting. The intoxication of rhythm is inescapable, even as the David Seville Chipmunk-style vocals -- which could be backmasked -- create a progression for the tune to lift off from. It's tribal and slick, both at the same time. There is even a manipulated -- via the wonders of electronics -- "oo-ay-oo" from The Wizard of Oz scene where the evil Wicked Witch of the West henchmen sing as they march in guard formation around her dark palace.
But this music is anything but dark. It's insistent, playful, and planned down to the distorted bass loop and pulsing guitar and keyboard notes that are layered on top in single- or double-note formations. Indeed, Mirrored is the place -- the very terrain -- where nerd science meets ock, and it's a gas. It's the amalgam of "merry melodies" that grabs the listener, even to the point of forgetting how many different arrays of percussion and electric string and keyboard instruments are being played on each and every tune. The sprint that is "Ddiamondd" could be in Christian Vander's Zeuhl dialect, with some of nastiest keyboard bass since the Beastie Boys' "Party's Gettin' Rough." One can hear strains of Gentle Giant in the way vocal harmonies are carefully layered to provide a counterpoint to the knotty riffs being executed. "Tonto" is an exception, where Asian, early American folk melody, and contrapuntal interplay create a long journey into some instrumental netherworld where rhythm and sound don't so much come to a conclusion as collide in variations of tempo and modal changes. "Rainbow" is the albums's longest and most chaotic track, yet it's utterly infectious listening as guitars roar and whoosh through the top of the mix. Rhythmic invention undercuts them and directs the shifts in tempo and even key. In contrast, "Bad Trails," with its synth loop providing a hypnotic inroad into Braxton's singing and shifting strands of guitar, bass, and synth lines, is a bona fide song. "Race: Out," the album's final cut, begins largely as an electronically manipulated exercise is backward tape manipulation; but this is all digital, folks, until the drums enter full bore announcing in short rolls on the toms that something else is about to occur -- and it does. Everything shifts into forward motion again on a dime and the instruments engage each other in a labyrinthine dance of cheap keyboard themes and tight, knotty guitar inventions. Pattern after pattern is introduced, played until it becomes rote, and then shifts itself, by only a couple of notes, into something entirely different as sounds, soundscapes, and instruments engage one another in call-and-response until a fade into silence. Mirrored is unlike any recording out there at the moment. It's loud, funny, and astonishingly sophisticated, and doesn't feel pretentious in the least. Never has the wall of electronic futurism sounded so organic or musical. The album's many influences offer only guide posts, as Battles have their own unique image of a sound universe that one can play in as well as be awed by.
OH! a relevant, punny title! How lame ABC! (slap on wrist). Now for the meat of the matter, or, the matter of the meat, this past week has been absurdly discombobulating a) with the election season on full steam and all sides taking potshots or arguing about 'who's the biggest celebrity' or 'who's going to raise/lower taxes, and obamania finding outlets (I even saw a cardboard cutout this weeke...
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So we made it to Bonnaroo after a 16 hour drive from New Jersey. "We" being my friend Omar and me after three stops for gas guzzling almost $120 for a tank and a half and a pretty rotten experience with a Virginia Waffle House (My body rejected it after ten minutes) we rolled into the campgrounds at 1AM on Thursday morning.After sleeping haphazardly for 2-3 hours the festivities began.The first...
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Battles nailed it on Jools' show on Friday night.Every season or so, he broadcasts one performance as good as this.Had the album ages, but had never seen them visually - and it clearly matters! This was the most astounding thing I've seen on the tellybox in ages!
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While in Amsterdam, Dave and Ian answered some questions about their album "Mirrored" and inciting a riot at a poetry festival. Battles do no wrong.powered by ODEO
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The robots are coming! And they've learned how to make you shake your booty!The debut full-length by the much EP'd NY band Battles is on a mission like a rich Nigerian potentate to infect you with it's intractable, mesmerizing virus. Resistance is futile and you WILL be assimilated, "Mirrored" beeps, chimes, buzzes and grinds like a clockwork juggernaut from the first spastic, cd-skip drum idle...
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Battles new record on Warp is a triumph of instrumental music. I have heard them referred to as 'Math Rock' but this sounds far too pretentious for me, the sounds are complicated but there is more rhythm and melody than some of the songs on their ep B/C record. Not as immediate as some records you'll hear but give it a couple of listens and you will be rewarded. Also try Don Caballero or Boredoms.
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9 out of 10 StarsImagine you've gone to the theater to see a performance by a group of performance artists playing music that is indigenous to their country. Sure you've seen the children of Uganda, Tuvan throat singers, and Gamelan musicians from Indonesia, but this is special. These are a group of people that the bill says is from Metalstonia. You are anxious. When the curtain drops you a...
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Along with the new Explosions In The Sky album, I've also picked up the new Battles album, "mirrored," which is not what I expected...in a positive sense. I have somewhere around here a copy of "EP C"; I like it and listen to it as often as anything else, I suppose. But "mirrored" is a whole other deal. First, there are voices, words, heavily processed, to be sure, but almost intelligible. Seco...
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Loving the new Battles album 'Mirrored'. Something a little different, but not too different, if you see what I mean. 'No, Helen, that's the worst description ever.'Hey, just trying to make the word count I think the music speaks for itself!Um, this one isn't even on the album. I tried to put that one up, but youtube was having none of it.
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9 out of 10 StarsImagine you've gone to the theater to see a performance by a group of performance artists playing music that is indigenous to their country. Sure you've seen the children of Uganda, Tuvan throat singers, and Gamelan musicians from Indonesia, but this is special. These are a group of people that the bill says is from Metalstonia. You are anxious. When the curtain drops you a...
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Battles is in the studio as we speak. Their newest album is in it's earliest stages as they begin to write and prod. I can imagine how long of a process this must take considering the unique blend of parts and layers these guys put on their songs. Everything revolves around the pounding drum styles of John Stanier.While in New York, we called him up to see what he was up to and he was around...
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Check this out. Feeback appreciated...I, for one, am intrigued and want to hear more. The Battles includes members from Helmet,Prefuse 73, and a couple of other bands that i am too lazy to remember
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I found this new video for "Tonto" by Battles, from their Mirrored album. I don't know much about it, but I thought you might enjoy...
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The robots are coming! And they've learned how to make you shake your booty!The debut full-length by the much EP'd NY band Battles is on a mission like a rich Nigerian potentate to infect you with it's intractable, mesmerizing virus. Resistance is futile and you WILL be assimilated, "Mirrored" beeps, chimes, buzzes and grinds like a clockwork juggernaut from the first spastic, cd-skip drum idle...
More >
So we made it to Bonnaroo after a 16 hour drive from New Jersey. "We" being my friend Omar and me after three stops for gas guzzling almost $120 for a tank and a half and a pretty rotten experience with a Virginia Waffle House (My body rejected it after ten minutes) we rolled into the campgrounds at 1AM on Thursday morning.After sleeping haphazardly for 2-3 hours the festivities began.The first...
More >
OH! a relevant, punny title! How lame ABC! (slap on wrist). Now for the meat of the matter, or, the matter of the meat, this past week has been absurdly discombobulating a) with the election season on full steam and all sides taking potshots or arguing about 'who's the biggest celebrity' or 'who's going to raise/lower taxes, and obamania finding outlets (I even saw a cardboard cutout this weeke...
More >
What a great band name and album title :)I hadn't heard of these guys 'til last weekend when a friend in work let me listen to them and described it as his 'favourite album of 2007'. I trust this guy pretty solidly with music recommendations as he has introduced me to such great music as Múm and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, so I knew I shouldn't let this one pass me by without a listen. And I was
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Is this one of the most anticipated releases in recent times?Their debut album, Mirrored, is released in the UK on May 14, and is preceded by the single Atlas on April 2.Mirrored comes off the back of a set of EPs originally put out two and a half years ago, which was re-released by Warp as a compilation of old material, EP C/B EP in February 2006.During this time Battles have been developing a...
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"Another album I didn't really get into":http://mog.com/FishPoisonCon/blog_post/130424, but liked some of its songs ...and to be honest, this is how it goes for all Battles I've heard. The recording and mix are A LOT better than any of their EPs, making it easier to appreciate the songs as a whole - rather than being distracted by how fucking loud and abrasive that snare or keyboard part is. Th...
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While in Amsterdam, Dave and Ian answered some questions about their album "Mirrored" and inciting a riot at a poetry festival. Battles do no wrong.powered by ODEO
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- John Stanier, previously banging the drums for Helmet has a new band called Battles.- What now ? Stanier ?- Yep. And they don't sound anything like Helmet, but he sure sounds like Stanier...I had to check it out. I've been listening to it a lot. It's great to have it pumping in the earphones when walking through Rio de Janeiro, in the 12:00 sunny chaos.They use pretty much your conventional r...
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Battles rocking it on the Folkey Dokey Stage at the Green Man 2007
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Race: In |
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| 2 Atlas |
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| 3 Ddiamondd |
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| 4 Tonto |
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| 5 Leyendecker |
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| 6 Rainbow |
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| 7 Bad Trails |
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| 8 Prismism |
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| 9 Snare Hangar |
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| 10 Tij |
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| 11 Race: Out |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Mirrored")
