Battles
Battles is an American experimental rock band that formed in New York City in 2002. The group is composed of drummer John Stanier (formerly of Tomahawk and Helmet), guitarist/keyboardist Ian Williams (formerly of Don Caballero and Storm & Stress), guitarist Dave Konopka (formerly of Lynx), and, until August 2010, guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Tyondai Braxton (son of Avantgarde Jazz musician Anthony Braxton). Battles released three EPs in 2004, each on a different record label (Cold Sweat, Monitor and Dim Mak). These were rereleased on the influential Warp label in 2006. Preceded by the Atlas EP ( “single of the week” in NME), and with hype building, the LP Mirrored was released on the 14 May 2007 to widespread critical acclaim. Among the many positive reviews, the album received a score of 9.1 in a Pitchfork Media review and a glowing write up in the UK’s Clash Magazine, where comparisons were made to Glitter Beat. The band scored its first UK cover feature in May 2007, talking to Plan B Magazine about the making of Mirrored.
The Groove is music.nw’s own measure of renown — not an opinion, a fact computed from the record. It weighs reach (how many people engaged) against acclaim (how highly they rated it), balanced so a handful of votes can’t outshout a lasting favourite.
Computed the NeuraWeb way, across the whole record. The same yardstick for everyone — which is why the little-known can out-Groove the famous in their own corner.
How Battles moved
Genre belongs to the record, not to the artist. Every album’s Groove is shared out across the genres it actually is — by how the raters tagged it — so nobody is 100% one thing. Stack that by decade and a career draws itself.
