Remember me telling you about the “math rock” supergroup Battles a while back? Do you remember me telling you that Battles was one of Spin Magazine’s top 30 fall tours of 2011? Well, I am going to remind you about it today, so you will know what you should do tonight in Nashville.
Battles have heavy roots in experimental music with guitarist Ian Williams (formerly of math rock wizards Don Caballero), bassist Dave Konopka (formerly of Boston-based math rockers, Lynx) and metal drummer John Stainer (formerly of Helmet). They have been blowing people away since this group started up in New York back in the early 2000’s. Their 2007 debut full length record Mirrored (via Warp Records) received incredible hype from Pitchfork (9.1, best new music) as well as almost every other music critic out there. Their 2011 sophomore record Gloss Drop took a little hit in the critical department, but every review says it’s impossible to beat the brilliance of Mirrored. I don’t know if I agree with those reviews though. I think they are different albums. Gloss Drop is not a follow up to Mirrored as much as it is a groovier, more accessible to the masses, entirely different story.
So, let’s put record reviews aside. Do you like crazy, bleepy, blurpy, complicatedly, mind-numbing music? Do you like to see musical geniuses at the top of their game performing live? How about a band that is probably peaking given that they have been on tour since June, and they will continue touring until they curate the All Tomorrow’s Parties’ “Nightmare Before Christmas” festival in England in December of this year. Past ATP curators include Pavement, Portishead, Jeff Magnum, Sonic Youth, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, and Animal Collective (to name very few)… so, you see that curating ATP is a pretty big deal. I can’t even explain to you how I excited I have been about this show. This is a major act playing in a small venue just for you, Nashville.
I’ve included a player below along with an awesome video of their song “Wall Street” from their Blogotheque session. If you like watching girls eat ice cream in a bathtub, then check out the video for “Ice Cream”. Have a listen, and then head over to the Exit/In website to grab your tickets. Things get started around 8pm with opener Nisennenmondai.
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[vimeo 24107860]