Battles
In Depth
ATP Nightmare Before Christmas: the DiS Review
A weekend spent at Butlins, in Minehead in early December certainly sounds like the stuff that nightmares are made of but fortunately in the hands of the boys and girls of All Tomorrow’s Parties, the Nightmare Before Christmas was anything but. No, that title goes exclusively to the journey back and the return to reality that followed. Fortunately, Alex Baker and Christopher Alcock are only going to talk about the good bit of their trip.»
Singles of the Year 2011!
Singles for wallowing, singles for solace, divvy singles - just for larks - and singles that have the frisk quite bad. It's Drowned in Sound's Top Singles of 2011! »
Treasure Island Music Festival 2011 - The DiS Review
Five Years ago, San Francisco did not have a music festival to call its own. Now it has two. While the larger event, Outside Lands, sells many more tickets every summer to those who wish only to pass out in the psychedelic haze of Golden Gate Park to art»
ATP I'll Be Your Mirror New Jersey: the DiS review
It wasn’t exactly ATP: Jersey Shore, but it’s about as close as we’ll ever get to that concept, with a series of bands delivering the most anti-Springsteen racket the good citizens of Asbury have ever heard. »
Moving Pictures - Videos of the Year: 3rd Quarter 2011
Our quarterly video round-up from a chap who watches a lot of music videos... »
La Route Du Rock 2011, Saint-Malo - The DiS Review
DiS’s journey to La Route Du Rock 2011 begins aboard a ferry out of Portsmouth, where it’s roughly 2am, and I’m trying my absolute best to grab a precious ounce of sleep. Unfortunately, what with the fellow sat opposite me working overtime to see if he can successfully self-inflict a brain hemorrhage by way of snoring alone, and my own brain working overtime to try and discover what sort of karmic retribution had been dealt unto me in my having to witness an hour of seizure inducing ferry cabaret, I’m dragging my feet across St. Malo port the following morning having had next to no shut-eye.»
This Week's Singles: 15/08/11 Battles, Darren Hayman, Toro Y Moi, Danger Mouse
Single of the Week! Battles feat. Gary Numan - ‘My Machines’ (Warp) ‘Welcome to the sound of now,’ sings Gary, even if he does say ‘toe’ for ‘to’ and ‘mashaynes’ for ‘machines’ on the chorus in the singular way only h»
Les Eurockeenes 2011: The DiS Review
DiS went to Les Eurockeenes, a festival in Malsaucy, near Belfort and the French/Swiss border. It was ruddy brilliant and in this review slash travelogue, Wendy Roby endeavours to communicate just how so.»
Moving Pictures - Videos of the Year: 2nd Quarter 2011
Our quarterly round-up of music videos from a man who really-really loves music vids!»
Spotifriday #93 - This week on DiS as a playlist ft. Lady Gaga, Suede, Gil Scott-Heron + more
This week's content themed Spotify playlist featuring St. Vincent, Death Cab For Cutie, The Antlers, Lady Gaga, Patrick Wolf and a few more, for good measure. Click here to listen to it, will you! 1. St. Vincent - 'The Party' We nearly had a party our»
Spotifriday #92: Nick Cave, Death Cab, Suede, Tom Vek, The Rapture
It's f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-fuh-Friday! Here's our Spotify playlist running down the week that was, well, it was somewhat won by re-issues and threads about pop-punk. Who says we need to be cutting edge all-day everyday? Not Napster co-founder Sean Parker, that's for sure. In fact, I'm a bit a neophobe, and sick of the constant churnover of new bands. But if you want to hear me bang on like the boringest guy in the pub, just follow me on twitter @seaninsound. »
This Week's Singles: 23/05/11 Battles, Toddla T, Herman Dune, Bibio, Villagers
This week I asked my Mum if she would like to contribute to my column. Her marks are in brackets. We do not agree on Single of the Week. »
Spotifriday #79 - This Week on DiS as a playlist
This week's content-themed Spotifriday playlist, featuring songs from Lykke Li, Razika, Beat Connection, Half Man Half Biscuit, Beady Eye and some more bands.»
Spotifriday #55 This Week on DiS as a playlist
Another edition in our weekly round-up of things what appeared on the website in the form of a Spotify playlist»
Spotifriday #47 - This Week on DiS as a playlist
More content related musical relevance. »
Spotifriday #27 - This Week on DiS as a playlist
This week's content themed Spotify playlist, featuring Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Veils, of Montreal, Battles, Animal Collective, Errors and about 12 more...»
Favourite Five of 2009 from Battles' John Stanier
Is it the end of the year already? Must be time for some summing up the year in list formats. Before we get stuck in with TELLING you what THE BEST record of the year is, we thought we might find out what some of our favourite acts' favourite records of the year were. Kicking things off is not just one of the greatest drummers of all-time...»
Muse discuss U2 US tour, The Resistance + more
A few weeks back, just before Muse played two huge homecoming shows (discussed here) and released their hugely successful new album The Resistance (reviewed here), DiS had a chat with their drummer Dominic Howard. Seeing as you've now had time to get your teeth into the album, here's what he had to say about it... »
"I love to put layers on layers." DiS meets The Field
DiS talk to Swedend's The Field ahead of the release of Yesterday and Today, his highly anticipated follow-up to 2007's From Here We Go Sublime. »
Green Man 2007 - the DiS review
From the archive... There’s something beautiful about the Green Man Festival, stowed away as it is on a Welsh hillside, children and soap bubbles flitting everywhere as sheep wander the fields behind the main stage. It also has the best festival food, bar none...»
Coachella: DiS' 2008 Review
From the archive... Powering through the desert at as close to 666mph as laws allow, DiS wonders exactly how this Coachella will surpass the mania of last year»
T In The Park Diary Part 2: Sunday 13 July
Tarnished by a brutal campsite attack, the final day of T In The Park has the potential to go belly up. Thankfully, a stellar line-up makes for a fitting curtain closer to a triumphant weekend of music»
Supersonic 2008: the DiS review
As summer colours the sky blue, events at the Custard Factory complex paint Birmingham black. Another Supersonic festival lifts the spirits»
Supersonic 2008: the DiS preview
This weekend the Supersonic Festival takes over Birmingham’s Custard Factory for a sixth year. DiS - again a sponsor - previews the festival»
Explosions' ATP: the DiS review
DiS does ATP for a second weekend, this time boarding the Minehead train for Explosions In The Sky's little lot, including De La Soul, Battles and Mono»
Explosions In The Sky's guide to ATP
This weekend, May 16-18, Explosions In The Sky curate the second ATP of the year. The band tell DiS about the background to their festival stewardship»
Math-Rock Family Tree: exploring the roots of Foals
A couple of months ago one DiS reader asked for proof that math-rock existed. Here, DiS gets itself a headache by diving into the past in order to explain the present, and the all-conquering exploits of Foals»
DiS does the Big Day Out
Festival fever starts early in 2008 as DiS heads south... further... bingo... for the annual Big Day Out festival in Australia. Our man on the Gold Coast takes in Arcade Fire and Björk while dodging questionable domestic rock acts and wrestling rugger thugs. Spirits are high and rising»
DiS's albums of 2007: 5-1 (and full top 50)
It’s been a slog – we’ve been arguing over this list for what feels like forever – but we’re here. The summit. The zenith. Et cetera. The best five albums of 2007 in detail and our full 50 in order, as ranked by the DiS editorial team from contributor nominations»
The votes are in: DiS readers' top 25 of 2007
Cast your minds back, readership: at the start of November we invited you to vote for your favourite albums of 2007 from a shortlist of 50, selected by the DiS editorial team. Now we’re pleased to present the result of the thousands of votes received: the DiS readers’ top 25 albums of 2007»
DiS's features of 2007
We’ve had our albums of the year and our tracks of the year, and here DiS bids you adieu for 2007 with our favourite features of the past twelve months, for your instant-click consumption and eye-aching reading pleasure. Starring Animal Collective (pictured), LCD Soundsystem, Battles, Panda Bear, M.I.A., Gallows, Beirut, Björk and more»
...to lose your mind to
Holy racket, Batman: 2007 brought some serious noise fuckery to our ears»
DiS's albums of 2007: reader voting is now open!
With Christmas now peeking over the horizon, DiS invites its readers to vote for your top ten of 2007, from our editorially selected shortlist of 50. Choose five of your favourites here. Voting, it will close this Friday, December 7, with the results running December 14»
Battles on reflection: "The goal was simple - just release a good record"
Clambering around awkwardly, casually shifting tones, Mirrored is something of a chameleon, unclassifiable but utterly distinct. After a year rasping away nonsensically on tour with the stellar cast of Ian Williams, John Stanier and Dave Konopka, we spoke to Tyondai Braxton to see how Battles have been dealing with the acclaim that they have garnered and the act is heading to next...»
Øya Festival 2007: the DiS verdict
Four days is a long time in festival terms, and like the sunless days that envelop the north of the country during the winter, it helps if there’s a bottle handy to steel yourself for its lingering embrace.»
Field Day: the DiS review
DiS sends five of its finest out east for the first-ever Field Day festival. On-the-day gripes aside - beer and toilet queues being the biggest thorn in the debut festival's side - in hindsight the bill was one of the best around this summer. DiS gets stuck into it...»
Øya Festival: the DiS blog, part three
Fatigue’s taking its toll, the money’s all but gone – no use denying it, DiS is in dire need of a kick in the pants.»
A Field Day Q&A: Tom Baker on London's newest festival
What’s that, looming on the horizon? Why, it’s another new festival, threatening to steal custom away from the other 3,459 day-long-or-more events clogging up the calendars of music lovers nationwide. But wait a second: Field Day is a) pretty blimmin’ special, and b) right on your doorstep. Well, so long as your doorstep’s in London, anyway. DiS’s is. Get in...»
Øya Festival, Oslo: the DiS preview
Deep into the bloated innards of the festival season and DiS is headed in a north easterly direction to Norway – again - this time for the arrestingly-titled Øya Festival in Oslo...»
Primavera Sound 2007: the DiS Review
Don’t want to read everything? Fair enough. In short, Primavera Sound ‘07 featured sun, sea, and almost no sand at all. There was some grass, and concrete, and a number of stages. Bands and DJs performed on them, and DiS danced. Yes, yes we did. And we didn’t get sunburned...»
The Weekly DiScussion: our albums of the year, so far
Six months into 2007 (almost...) and there’s already a not-so-proverbial shit-tonne of albums in contention for the coveted Album of the Year ‘gong’ at DiS – again, the winner will be selected by you, the readers, from a shortlist compiled by us. Yup.»
A Month In Records: May 2007
With Paris Hilton languishing in a prison cell somewhere in California, what better time to reflect on a month in wonderful albums? Like, whateverrrr…
ATP Versus The Fans: DiS Versus The Fans!
In keeping with the spirit of the ATP Versus The Fans festival, here we present the experiences of three DiS writers as well as three fans. Here’s hoping they don’t put the ‘professionals’ out of a job...»
Versus The Fans, the preview: The Fan's Perspective
There’s a clue in the festival’s name, you know; just the slightest suggestion that this ATP, more so than ever before, is about the fans, the men and women that make the festival ‘happen’, three times a year. Here, DiS gets the opinions of one fan on the upcoming weekend...»
DiS podcast: ATP Versus The Fans special
This special, one-of-a-kind, ATP Versus The Fans preview podcast comes at you with presenter Mike Diver trying his best not to swear and failing. Perhaps you'd like to listen to it on the way to Minehead...»
Battles: Tyondai Braxton talks Mirrored
On Monday, NYC quartet Battles release their long-anticipated debut album, Mirrored. Abandon all your ‘super-group’ tags and math-rock pigeonholes: Mirrored is the sound of a super group, and anyone attempting complex mathematics while it’s playing is likely to wind up with their grey matter dribbling out of one ear while the other dances to what’s certain to be one of 2007’s finest albums...»
DiS Radio: DiScover five: tours and shows and stuff!
This instalment of our regular DiScover podcast – let’s call it DiS Radio: DiScover five – finds Sean and Mike playing some top-quality tracks from up-and-coming types alongside a handful of ace songs from bands doing DiS things soon. Like tours. And shows. Mainly tours and shows...»
DiS does ATP's Nightmare Before Christmas
The road was both long and winding – and not even a road but a railway line, if we’re being entirely accurate – but DiS finally made it back from The Mars Volta-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Only now have we regained strength enough to put our experiences into words; to reassemble the muddled memories into some kind of coherent piece...»
SuperSonic Festival: jubilations, irritations and evacuations
SuperSonic 2005 might’ve ended in unsettling evacuation, controlled explosions reverberating the tarmac outside, but as Birmingham’s city centre was cleared amid security alerts, shockwaves from two perception-altering acts remained most lasting. Lucky that dropping sonic bombs is the only terrorism we’re interested in round these parts, then.»
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