BATTLES - this double CD bonanza of music is as the title suggests a collection of the groups first 2 EP's, there is also a 12" single "Tras" and now in 2007 the debut album "Mirrored". Described as a math rock band, whatever that means (maybe they're all good at maths, good on them), Battles compises members of other well known groups like Tomahawk, Don Caballero and Lynx. The members of this strange, mostly instrumental group, are Big John Stanier (ex-Helmet, Mark of Cain and Tomahawk) on drums, Ian Williams (ex-Don Caballero) on guitar, keyboards, Dave Konopka (Lynx) on guitar, bass and Tyondai Braxton on guitar, keyboards and vocals, if you can call it singing, sounds more like a drunken penguin in some sort of pain (well, not really). I as the author of this shitty blog HIGHLY recommend this group and this CD, it is awesome but not quite as awesome as the debut album "Mirrored". Enjoy!
Review from Pitchfork:
"This compiled material basically amounts to a black hole: 66 minutes of the most hypnotic instrumental music currently being purveyed outside techno or Japan. But whereas semi-analogous Sunn O))) and Boris administer hypnotic assaults through deep immersion in drones and brutal low-end, Battles bring the fury with rigorous, unrelenting grooves. "Tras2" hits its stride at the halfway mark, before its odd-metered drum loop starts to decay: Drummer John Stainer gradually drops pieces of the beat until there's nothing left but jerky, decontextualized snare/bass unisons. "Hi/Lo" is a lurching upbeat stomp that leaves gaping-wide chasms for keyboards to fill with carnival pinwheels."
www.pitchforkmedia.com
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