Battles- Mirrored
Prologue: Anyone remember me? No? That’s okay. I’ve been very busy enjoying law school and life more than usual. But now it’s time for a mental health break, which usually means this blog if I’m not on vacation. I’m surprised I experienced writer’s/listener’s block when I got to Battles. Mirrored is a fantastic display of inventiveness, vibrant energy, texture, and all sorts of other things that should facilitate the writing process. Suffice it to say that I had to get law school under my boot for a while.
Mirrored
This album probably couldn’t start off any better than it does with “Race- In”. Like an overture showcases the main themes of a symphony at the beginning, this song displays the electricity, texture, and obliqueness that make Battles one of the most fun bands to listen to in a long time. Every mixture of idea and sound brims with excitement; whenever this album sounds too frantic for its own good, it usually convinces you that you are the one going too slowly, and that you need to get your head right and keep up.
Battles often develops several themes within a song, mixing and matching them together obliquely for various effects much like electronic artists (Daft Punk’s Homework comes to mind). In “Atlas”, for example, different themes in the voice, drums, guitar, and bass line swirl together to create different levels of drama and excitement. These mixtures are “oblique” in that they strive neither for the most perfect sounding harmonies nor intentional disharmony (see especially the guitar/synth/whistle harmonies in “Ddiamond”). The mixtures simply happen, and intent becomes irrelevant as sense and experience dominate the landscape of this album.
The traditional drum sound particularly interests me. Listening to the other voices, you might think this sound would comport electronic drums. Here, the ferocity of the ex-Helmet drummer, John Stanier, often dominates the sound and counters to the more playful journeys of the guitars, voices, and synthesizers. Although it sounds like a push and pull kind of relationship, no one part of the band ever really loses the others.
The use of voice in this album is the most creative singular method used by Battles. In “Tonto”, an insane counterpoint between the different vocal lines adds depth to the primarily groove-based tune. The mind-bending slides of the vocals in the latter portion of “Rainbow” pulls the plug out from an emotionally intense journey, resulting in a disorientation that is pleasing if you are inclined towards the more disturbing forms of music.
As distinctive as Battles’ sound is on this album, Mirrored is far from a one act show. The thoughtful ambience in “Leyendecker” signals a darker, less accessible turn in the album to follow. “Rainbow” turns towards the Romantic era of music, using disorienting ebbs and flows in the beginning, slowly building up to the bombastic centerpiece that strikes out in an emotional release. The song then deconstructs itself, only to take a similar course with even more emotional turbulence and unrest than the first half of the song. “Bad Trails” strikes down form into shades of ambience and themes that seem familiar and yet not, like someone you pass in the street, sure that you might recognize him, but never get the chance to find out.
“Snare Hangar” brings us out of the deep dark jungle with a return to the joyous form found earlier in the album. “Tij” might start out as a drummer showcase, but the unbridled intensity of this track never fails to ensnare me through its entirety. The crazy thing about this song is that the true climax is minimalistic compared to the hugeness of the beginning (around the 5:40 point). Again, this is Battles exploring elements usually found in electronic music to create an interesting hybrid, at least in theory, of natural and synthesized music. After everything this album takes me through, “Race- Out” sounds more like a preview into another world than an ending. I have always loved this song, but I’m failing to see its functionality as an ending (possibly because listening to “Tij” is so incredibly taxing). However, the amount of focus shown in this track speaks for itself. The engine of ambience, in the beginning, turns over into the type of groove, interplay, and oblique music-making that Battles established throughout this entire album, which reminds you who and what you are dealing with as this mind-bending, taxing, experience comes to an end.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
Epilogue: Normally, I try not to simply go through each track in an album review, but it seemed oddly appropriate in this case. I just never knew how good this album was until (1) I gained the maturity of musical appreciation that I did through my work so far on this blog and (2) devoted time to listening and understanding this album as a whole. Just like in my review of Adult., I really gained access to an album I used to listen to only for the pure thrill. My favor towards this album speaks to how much I love it when music takes me someplace rather than just chugging along. Here, there is a nearly perfect combination of recording quality, creativity, virtuosity, and use of theme and texture that elevate this album above the general mush of music that inundates all of us today. Maybe my senses have been dulled by the internet, but I really need something to strike me in a piece of music for it to enthrall me as Mirrored has.
Next: Bauhaus- Crackle
