Battles

So as usual I am hitting myself for ignoring the local music press about the show to see, it is months past and I pick up the CD and think, "I should've gone to that show". Last week as my wife and I left the Queen Anne Easy Street Records, I grabbed the latest release by Battles .

The opening high hat and side stick beat combined with looped guitar and whistling soon turns into a jazzy prog frenzy. The second song starts with a heavy tribal drum beat combined with warped carnival like vocal manipulation and guitar/ bass confusion. The third song is the closest to anything that resembles pop music, if played by a schizophrenic.

This album is amazing. If you are looking for a band that combines live sampling, solid drumbeats, synth weirdness, and total noise freak outs, Battles are for you. I won't go into the pedigree, but they have all spent time in some great bands. I now know what my music teachers were trying to introduce me to by playing Frank Zappa, Yes and ELP. This is where I want to see the future of music going ( with the use of sampling, looping, and electronic manipulation). At least the music I want to hear some of the time.