battles - ep c/b ep
what to say about this strange beast that is known as battles?
well, for one thing, the band consists of various folks from other bands (tomahawk probably being the most well known), they have released 2 eps stateside and these have been bundled up in a beautifully packaged double foldout cardboard cd by warp for the rest of the world to hear.
the track titles are as obtuse and indecipherable as the music at times, 'sz2', tras 3', 'ipt 2' etc. hmm great !
and the music itself ? abstract random ambient drones, mixed with instrumental band jams which throw in a little funk here and a guitar groove there. as is the nature of this stuff, when it works (opening part of 'sz2' is gorgeous for example), then you begin to think that the band could take over the world, but when it drifts into self indulgent excess, (the drawn out drone section of the 13 minutes of 'battles') then the patience is tested to the limit. to be honest though, i have been told that the bands real strength is in the live front and that the funked up jams really hit home.
so, i suspect that this release is warp catching up with the bands history, knowing full well, that their next recordings are going to slay us. that's my hope anyway, as there are several sections that show that this is a band that could really get some fascinating collisions of art-rock, funk and weirdness sorted.
check the bands official website for more detail, it's as beautiful as the packaging and will hopefully put in the mind to hear more.