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Battles :: "Atlas"From Mirrored (Warp; 2007)
Timothy Saccenti’s aesthetically dogged video for Battles’ “Atlas,” above, reminds me of a lot of things. It reminds me of 2001, of Cube, of the hall of mirrors sequence from Enter the Dragon, of the mirrors sequences in a dozen movies inspired by the hall of mirrors sequence from Enter the Dragon, of the mirror scenes from Rihanna’s “S.O.S.” video, of Magneto’s plastic holding cell from the X-Men movies; but most of all it reminds me of Superman II. Word, I am indeed referring to the “Phantom Zone,” the Kryptonian quarantine that held General Zod and his troupe flat like bacteria between microscope slides. It’s just that now there are four miscreants incarcerated instead of three, and not one of them gives me the hots like Ursa.
Their music does, though. Ursa might have been a man-hater, but that she was attractive while bad and probably capable of breaking necks with eye-blinks, in conjunction with her spiteful rejection of affection, made her all the more cool and desirable. I think Battles have a similar appeal working for their music -- that of irregular beauty putting the skin on terrifying muscle controlled by a mischievous mind. Some Battles fans have accused “Atlas” and new record Mirrored in general of attempting broader accessibility, to which I say, “what.” No question mark, just a period: I know we’re talking about the addition of Tyondai Braxton’s (usually processed into helium delirium) vocals, but those vocals aren’t meant to ease or salve or endear; like every other element here, the vocals are a weapon, a flesh-piercing judo chop or an optical laser beam in the face. That, yes, happens to sound like munchkins singing about the Lollipop Guild.
But the vox kinda have to sound that way in order to find a fitting place in the track’s broad yet limited range and to keep step with the bounding pace established by drummer John Stanier. Here’s the other reason this reminds me of Zod and family laminated: because, while you’d think a cube of mirrors would increase perceived spatiality, the actual result is something more disorienting, a squashing of reality in a sort of Moebius effect where the true three-dimensional image is lost in the conflux of two-dimensional planes. On “Atlas” Battles acknowledge the confines of their music and then use the confines as a means of reworking the music; this is where they kick Zod, Non, and Ursa’s asses. Dave Konopka and Stanier maintain a rhythmic linearity while Ian Williams and Braxton create perfunctory surface noises whose reflections multiply as the ripples spread outward. Konopka starts doing double duty as Williams and Braxton buckle-down for the incredible build from 2:50 to 5:35, and Stanier brings his drum kit to understated climax. And that’s what I love about Battles: they don’t need atomic blasts to free their cacophony; they’ve studied the dimensions and resonance of their glass cage, and they’ve learned how to make superhuman rock that sings and kills from within and through it.
Chet Betz :: 6 March 2007 |
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