My brother-in-law sent me a link a couple days ago and I finally got around to checking it out yesterday. The link was straight to a YouTube video by a band called Battles; the song is called “Atlas.” Check out the video here.
Who are Battles, you ask? “The group’s lineup is composed of well-known musicians, including ex-Helmet drummer John Stanier, ex-Don Caballero guitarist Ian Williams, ex-Lynx guitarist Dave Konopka, and Tyondai Braxton (son of Avantgarde Jazz musician Anthony Braxton), who also plays guitar and keyboard and creates live voice samples.”
The lineup sounds cool enough, and that song “Atlas” is wildly hypnotic. I’ve become completely obsessed with this song, maybe because of the chipmunk vocals, maybe because of the driving force of a backbeat, maybe because of the evil blips and bloops coming out of their keyboards, or maybe none of the above. What do you guys think?
The live version is there to give you a taste of both sides, and unfortunately — I completely missed their US Tour (which they just finished up). They played Chicago, Boston, Philly, D.C. and more, and my radar completely passed these guys up. They’re in Europe for May and possibly beyond and I can’t wait to see what these guys are up to when they get back to the States.
Battles | 2007 Europe Tour Dates
May 9 2007 8:00P Halfenclan Exil Hamburg, Germany
May 10 2007 8:00P Maria Berlin, Germany
May 11 2007 8:00P JZ Kamp Bielefeld, Germany
May 12 2007 8:00P Studio 672 Koln, Germany
May 14 2007 8:00P Paradiso (room 2) Amsterdam
May 15 2007 8:00P AB Brussels
May 16 2007 8:00P Scala (+ Clark) London
May 17 2007 8:00P The Corporation (+ Clark) Sheffield
May 18 2007 8:00P The Cooler Bristol
May 19 2007 8:00P ATP Festival minehead
May 20 2007 8:00P Stylus Uni (+ Clark & Beans) Leeds
May 22 2007 8:00P Academy 2 Manchester
May 23 2007 8:00P ABC 2 Glasgrow
May 24 2007 8:00P The Barfly Birmingham
May 25 2007 8:00P Birmingham Dublin
May 26 2007 8:00P Maroquinerie Paris
May 27 2007 8:00P Le Grand Mix Roubaix, Lille
May 30 2007 8:00P MJC Oullins Oullins
Jun 1 2007 8:00P Dissonanze Festival Rome