Battles

Battles
Background information
Origin	New York City, U.S.
Genre(s)	Experimental rock Math rock Post-rock Progressive rock
Years active	2003–present
Label(s)	Warp
Associated acts	Helmet Tomahawk Don Caballero
Website	www.bttls.com
Members
Ian Williams John Stanier Dave Konopka Tyondai Braxton

Battles is an American math rock band.

Biography

Following a string of EPs, the band released their debut album on the Warp Records label in February 2006, which was titled EP C / B EP. It is a compilation of their increasingly hard-to-find early releases, EP C and B EP. The group's line-up 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 avant-garde jazz musician Anthony Braxton), who also plays guitar and keyboard and creates live voice samples.

Their first full-length album Mirrored, recorded by Keith Souza at Machines with Magnets, was released on May 14, 2007. The first single from the album, "Atlas", was released on February 21, 2007 as streaming audio, and the accompanying streaming video was released on February 28, 2007.

The single "Atlas" was voted "Best Single of the Week" by NME magazine,^[1] and received a glowing review in the British Clash Magazine, where comparisons were made to Glitter Beat.

More recently, Battles released a streaming video for the track "Tonto+", in which they collaborated with celebrated lights artists UVA (United Visual Artists). The accompanying single is to be released in late 2007.

Battles scored their first UK cover feature in May 2007, talking to Plan B Magzine about the making of Mirrored.

Members

• Tyondai Braxton - guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Dave Konopka – guitar, bass
• Ian Williams – guitar, keyboards
• John Stanier – drums

Discography

Albums:

• Mirrored (Warp Records, May 2007) - #70 (UK)

EPs:

• "EP C" (Monitor Records, June 2004)
• "B EP" (Dim Mak Records, September 2004)
• "EPC (JAPAN ONLY special mix edition)" (Dotlinecircle, October 2004)
• "EP C / B EP" (Warp Records, February 2006)
• "[[Tonto+]]" (Warp Records, October 22 2007 World, November 6 2007 USA)

Singles:

• "Tras" (June 2004, 12")
• "Atlas" (April 2007, 12")
• "Tonto"

References

External links

• Official Battles website
• Battles at All Music Guide
• Battles at Last.fm
• Interview/Photos with ignore Magazine
• Battles at MusicBrainz
• Interview from Hate Something Beautiful
• Concert photos
• 'Musical Mathletes' The Guardian Interview May 19 2007

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