The Word :: Battles :: Mirrored

To most, the words 'math rock' are an immediate turnoff. 'Math' was that ambiguously named and highly boring class you took in middle school, and to mix it with 'rock,' a genre that’s produced such songs as 'School’s Out,' is just too dichotomous for most people. However, even before Lou Reed decided to go a little nuts on us with Metal Machine Music, artists have been trying to perfectly blur the lines between man, machine and music. And with the release of Mirrored, Battles might have accomplished just that. A band comprised almost entirely of multi-instrumentalists, Battles’ set-up is a cacophony of guitars, computers, keyboards and miles of tangled Firewire cables. And then there’s John Stanier’s drum kit, which looks somewhat out of place among all the electronics, but therein lies the beauty of Battles. As otherworldly and machinist as the music sounds, it’s all played in real time. Stanier is actually pumping out those ludicrously complex rhythms in precision-perfect timing with the looped guitars and programmed bleeps and whistles.

Further blurring the lines is the addition of Tyondai Braxton’s vocals, something of a contention for old fans but an integral part of the band’s purpose. Electronically processed, shifted and looped, Braxton’s voice becomes something post-human — a stream of grunts, breaths and indiscernible, crooning babble, ameliorating the group’s avant-pop. I would hesitate to say that Battles is one of the best bands out there right now, but that’s only because I’m uncertain of whether it even could be considered a 'band' anymore. The players are merely extensions of their instruments and equipment, which in turn are being directed by the music itself. Never has something so electronic sounded so naturally organic. This is the future of music, but thanks to Battles, it’s happening right now.

4.8 of 5.0

Battles Atlas (Video Cut)

Scene :: Battles :: 03.24.07 @ Local 506

I don’t know that I’ve ever written a show review before, so please bear with me, and we’ll get through it together. I wasn’t taking notes or anything (something I might have to start doing in the future) so it’s very likely that I don’t remember the songs in the exact order that they were played or even the exact titles (but with a band who occasionally name songs things like ‘Tras,’ ‘Tras 2,’ and ‘Tras 3,’ you can see where that would get difficult anyway). Also, let’s see if I can try and keep the gushing to a minimum.

I drove up to Chapel Hill on Saturday with some friends for the Battles show at Local 506. It was my first time back to Chapel Hill in a good while, and my first time seeing a show at Local 506, which I found to be a fun little dive venue. As I’ve mentioned before, I saw Battles a year or so ago in Columbia (a show that I’ve since heard referred to as ‘legendary’ by both people who were there and people who just heard about it through the grapevine). I’ve also been listening to an advanced copy of the upcoming Battles full-length debut Mirrored at an almost obsessive level for about a month. So to say that this was a highly anticipated show for me would be a grand understatement. Luckily, it actually exceeded my expectations.

The stage set-up was almost exactly as I remembered it from before. Keyboards, guitars, a winding, countless tangle of wires, Mac laptops (two this time!), and that drum kit with the one cymbal propped high above the stage so that drummer John Stainer has to nearly stand every time he hits it.

The band opened with ‘Tij,’ one of my favorites off the new album. ‘Singer’/guitarist/keyboardist Tyondai Braxton breathed oddly into his mic, looping it to create a bass beat for the other guitarists Ian Williams and Dave Konopka to build off of. From there, the band went on to do quite a few songs from the upcoming album including amazing album-opener ‘Race In,’ featuring some of the tightest drumming I’ve seen in my life, ‘Tonto,’ ‘Rainbow,’ and a blisteringly rocking version of the album’s first single ‘Atlas,’ which the crowd went wild over. I’m assuming that maybe only half the people in the audience had heard the track since it hasn’t been released and has only been available as a YouTube video and track streamed on Pitchfork and this humble blog. The crowd’s reaction solidified my opinion that ‘Atlas’ is an undeniably amazing track, perhaps the best (and certainly most accessible) song Battles has ever recorded.

The band closed with a slightly reworked version of either ‘Tras 2’ or ‘Tras 3’ (my vinyl copies of the B and C EPs are currently still packed up ‘cause I’m a procrastinator) that caused spontaneous dancing to erupt throughout the crowd. All in all, it was an incredible show, and I wonder if Battles are simply incapable of playing a show that’s not ‘legendary.’

Battles Atlas (Video Mix)

Buy Battles music here and check out the band’s MySpace page to see their upcoming tour dates so you can check them out for yourself.

I’ll update this entry with my crappy pictures of the show once I get them uploaded to my computer and try to make them look better.

Tube :: Battles :: Atlas

So I don't want to harp on about Battles too much, but I just got to listen to their upcoming album Mirrored, and it's one of the best albums I've heard in years. It's brilliantly composed, taking a very classical approach to experimental art-rock. I'm dying to see how it works live, and I have a feeling this album will be on many of those end-of-the-year lists that we blogger/music geeks are so fond of. Warp Records just officially released the video for the first single 'Atlas,' which has been floating the around the Intarwub for a few weeks now. The band apparently built the set for the video themselves, and it ties into the album artwork as well ('mirrored', get it?). You must watch.

As a bonus, I'm reposting the video mix of 'Atlas,' which is much shorter than the album version, and I may even like it better. I can't decide.

Battles - Atlas (Video Mix)