868 Battles - Mirrored (2007)

Studio Album - Math Rock

About the Act:

Battles are an Experimental Rock band from New York, and have been in existence since 2002. They have been slowly losing members since their inception, when they had 4. They now have 2.

About the Album:

This was the band's first album, while they still had 4 members

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

Before embarking on this titanic undertaking to review the best 1000 albums ever (according to some lists), I did a similar thing with Prog Rock, and so listened to quite a lot of complex, self-indulgent music. I came across the genre Math rock in that enterprise.  This, however, is the first time I have come across Battles.

The music is complex, often overlaid with different complexities. Especially rhythmically, it engages the brain as you try to analyse it. Generally, don't think of this as dance music, or soul music, or emotion music, but head music. There are times when the idea of harmony is thrown out of the window, and extended and alternate approaches to such ideas abound. There are no tunes to speak of, but lots of textures. Texture is king. It is definitely experimental, and really will not be for everyone. It is, frankly, weird.

But it's my kind of weird. I really like it. It reminds me most of all of King Crimson after 1980, with all sorts of hard-to-play experimental weirdness, but there are times when it reminds me of other things too. The single from the album was "Atlas" which reminds me of a track by Muse. In amongst all of teh complexity and weirdness there is a sense of something that is intended to be listened to. There are textures, and rhythms, there are even grooves. It has an aesthetic as well as intellectual quality that makes it something I would choose to listen to. It would be good driving music, it has energy and excitement.

There are some lyrics, they are mostly inaudible. They certainly don't seem that consequential.

There is something that I feel very strongly about, so I should tell you. There is a kind of foodie that will insist that the most inaccessible and extreme foods are the most delicious. There is also a music fan who insists that the most inaccessible music is the most sophisticated, and that somehow being a fan of this stuff makes you a better person, more in-the-know, more educated, more cultured. They look down their nose at pop, and in fact at anything popular. 

I happen to like this kind of weird music. It is true that it is an acquired taste, and I probably wouldn't like it as much if I were not used to King Crimson and other experimental music. I don't think it makes me a better person, and if you hate it then I get it, and that's fine. I don't want you to think that I am a musical snob, at least not in this case. 

8/10 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0X8vBD8h1Ga9eLT8jx9VCC

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL85D6390E2C295FD1

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirrored