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Battles, "B EP"
These four musicians completely overcome the wedge so often forced between musical excellence and immediate accessibility. Too many buckets of wank and showmanship have been filled in the pursuit of making a technically demanding record that simultaneously sounds and feels exciting. "SZ2" laughs in the face of that problem with bravado.
A low hum of potential chaos buzzes down the opening strings of the B EP from Battles like a wind of revenge descending the storm-drowned mountains to the west. When the jolt of the percussion strikes like the bitch-slap that it is, the flurry of an electronic menace comes with it, the sound of apocalyptic and deformed trumpets screaming over everything. The energy in "SZ2" is a bit mind-bending. These four musicians sound as though they're attempting to weave in and out of each other's performance like running between raindrops in a torrential downpour. The music sounds busy but Battles defy the edge and shake addictive songs out of their frenzied craftsmanship. "Tras3" and "Ipt2" are brief, but feel weighty. "Ipt2" is an especially fun mesh of snapping drums and whistling keyboards. They sound as though they're a part of "SZ2" more than anything else and they wind the toil of that track down so that "Bttls" can begin its slow burn. Radio interference and the rumble of a determined machine ooze underneath an accompaniment of bouncing wood blocks and a spider-like toy crawling through a dream. Demented and subtle vocals howl distantly into the fabric of the song and then a gash of reversed percussion and Kodo-worthy pounding leaves any possible survivors of this apocalypse too weak to care anymore. The whole track is just a bit unsettling and, like the rest of the EP, doesn't bother with unnecessary extension or superfluous appendages. "Dance" ends everything in a hail of spitting rhythms and wailing melodies. Where "SZ2" attacked like a cold, exact incision, "Dance" rockets by in a flurry of drunken fists and irregular stabs. There's a lot of diversity on this EP and Battles manage to keep everything together while making sure that this doesn't end up being just another "impressive" record that sits on the shelf because it isn't catchy enough or because it's only worth listening to for the impressive technicality that saturates it.
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WZBC's 30th Anniversary Bash
It's no wonder that one of the world's most internationally renowned college radio stations is based in one of the world's most internationally renowned area for its colleges. Based in Boston, WZBC celebrated 30 years of groundbreaking radio last year (beat that, Resonance!). This week is the irregular pledge week and to support them, a video document of the 30th Anniversary Bash has been assembled from footage taken by students and DJs, edited by Jon Whitney and current WZBC Operations Director Amar Ashar. Performers at the bash included Keith Fullerton Whitman, Quasi, Lightning Bolt, Out Hud, Due Process, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Tunnel of Love, Landing, Bardo Pond, Christopher Willits, No Neck Blues Band, Hella, and Nautical Almanac (many appear in this mini-documentary). Watch the video, then tune in afterwards at www.wzbc.org (or tune in if you're local) and hear for yourself! Support innovative non-commercial radio. Thanks!13 Minutes, Quicktime Streaming Video
