Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sing this hook, June 2, 2007
To say Battles has their own distinct sound would be an understatement. Some bands are in their own world. Battles is in their own galaxy. A galaxy ruled by mechanical sounding vocals, deep percussion, keyboards that sound like guitars, and guitars that sound like keyboards. It's not quite the Milky Way. It sounds like Turing Machine filtered through a wormhole or something. Really cool, really freaky stuff. And it's the good kind of freaky, not the "weird for the sake of weird" kind. Well, maybe some of it is weird for weird's sake. But it's enjoyable nonetheless.
At first, I wasn't too keen on this. You need to slowly let it tunnel into your consciousness over the course of a few listens. The longer songs (Atlas, Tonto, Rainbow, Tij) are the highlights here, with the other songs seeming more like science experiments as opposed to fully fleshed out songs, with perhaps a couple of exceptions. But those 4 songs, all clocking in at over 7 minutes, are the ones you'll listen to the most when you're not playing through the whole record.
I've played this album for a lot of my friends and none of them seem to know quite what to make of it. Only one flat out told me they didn't like it, but none went nuts over it either. They seemed equal parts intrigued and confused more then anything else. So take that however you want to. All I know is I keep listening to it and enjoying it. It's different, that's for sure. Not for everybody, but I would definitely keep your eye on these fellows either way. I'll never be one to criticize a band for taking chances and doing something different, and Battles is certainly one of those bands.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Is it live....or is it Battles?, January 4, 2008
"Math rock" is usually associated with practical complexity. By this I mean that bands that are identified with the genre generally think about the way in which they can perform complex musical material in a live situation. Battles' "supergroup" pedigree includes math rock monsters such as Don Caballero and Helmet, and as a critical fan of so-called "math rock," they have piqued my curiosity since their first EP. However, I never bought any of their albums.
Then I saw the video for "Atlas," and this curiosity became a fascination. I have long been a fan of King Crimson circa 1980, and it seemed like Battles engages contemporary technology and virtuosity in the same way that Fripp and co. did on "Discipline." I immediately bought "Mirrored," and in the final weeks of 2007, it shot up my personal "album of the year" charts.
What is really fascinating and ultimately satisfying about "Mirrored" is unraveling its tapestry of execution. I love to contemplate "who" is playing "what." This form of listening is particularly stimulating when you have a band full of multinstrumentalists that sample, loop, tap, and generally thrash their way through their work.
As usual, the most publicly accessible song on the album is not necessarily the most representative. I think that "Atlas" is great. The video reflects the energy and experimentalism of the band very well. However, there are songs on the album that show "Atlas" to be the "single" that it is. "Tonto" is a beautiful piece of work, as is "Race: In" and "Tij." "Race: Out" is a fun "whack-a-mole" game of "who is playing what" and "Bad Trails" shows Battles' potential for more atmospheric work. The only work that I could offer any critique for is "Rainbows." It is wonderfully epic, and covers a great amount of musical ground, but seems a little repetitive. The same seven-minute song could potentially be done in five.
The lowdown: Battles creates highly active music that is satisfying on intellectual and accessible levels. To the passive listener, "Mirrored" may bring to mind the work of avant-garde DJ's, like DJ Shadow or BT. For the more invested listener, Battles' potential for mind-boggling virtuosity, a la King Crimson or Don Caballero, is similarly compelling. A quick YouTube search will confirm this - I dare you to check it out.
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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
PRO SLICELY, May 27, 2007
In these hype-machine times we live in, there's a lot of wolf cries on the "next big thing" in music. Because of this, its easy to let some of the real good things pass by when everything is the next, whatever. Not the case for BATTLES. This album, already garnering plenty of attention, is so vital right now, its making a case for the actual "next big thing", but you've heard that before haven't you. What you might not have heard, all this year anyways, is an album this original.
Following a string of well-received EP's, Battles have survived the hype machine and have come out swinging. Calling their newest full length (on Warp Records), Mirrored, an experimental tour de force, or "math rock", would be selling it far short. Its more than the percussive noodling, and vocal effects set to rhythmic beats. Its how a band can use technology and talent to their best advantage. Battles are really trying to stretch their tech savvy arms here and I don't think they realize just how far they can reach. The idea of creating these wonderful, and catchy sound textures is nothing new, they just have found a new way of presenting it. Think of it as music in the age of ipods and wires without abandoning traditional musicianship and talent. The first single, Atlas, is 70's glam stomper, packaged like T-Rex soundtracking a remake of Logan's Run. Fun, exciting and sometimes head scratching odd, all the parts of Atlas somehow add up with amazing results. Sure the tune and the entire album get major help from former Helmet drummer, John Stanier, but this is far removed from anything from that band. The members all seem to meld with the technology, becoming one with the music itself and less concerned about featuring a standout "player" in the band. Mirrored succeeds in the idea of effortless layering of synths, drums, samples, and the latest in computer production wizardry. The percussive theme continues through each track on what is surely going to be one of my albums of the summer, if not the year. This is one of those records that screams cool, yet fails to even approach pretentious, its just too good for that.
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