Battles Live Review & Photos | Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY | May 26, 2016

by • June 1, 2016

Walter Benjamin, in his (art school required reading) book, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” might easily be confused by Battles. Where Benjamin argues only the original artwork has the “aura” of authenticity, his modernist argument falters when applied to the post-postmodern digital age. In this binary age, once sampled, the ones and zeros can be duplicated ad-infinitum. With the heavy manipulation of the audio signal, there is by default no more original, just a potentially endless array of ones and zeros. Then again, Benjamin’s work was first published in the mid-1930s and revisited and republished in its current form in the mid-1950s.

Battles is a band that could not exist before the digital age. Their music is based on the repetition of musical phrases which are looped and then built upon as the song progresses. The loop(s) then become morphed, filtered, and repurposed – not as a reproduction, nor as an original, but as a series of sampled loops of which the original is not all that important, as each phrase is now a new referent on which the rest of the song continually reinvents itself.

You could make the argument that jazz music did just that with the beginning of the song being a simply stated melody, only to then be morphed and reinterpreted each revisit through solos. But I would argue that at some point in such jazz tends to revisit the original melody, whereas Battles’ music is linear and does not revisit. It is always reinventing.

Battles

Battles

Anyway – what Battles does, and does very well, is presenting the initial loop/form and then scaffold upon that, with percussion, looped counter melody, and a whole lot of energy. I’m reminded of Steve Reich’s 1966 piece, “Come Out.” The first phrase is clear but then it continually repeats and splits until the words are obliterated and all that is left is an unintended melody. Philip Glass has built an entire canon rephrasing simple melodies.  Perhaps I have painted myself into a corner since only atonal music has no melody, and all of the rest of what we hear are melodies and counter melodies. So, never mind …

Back to Battles:

While they are a real 16-bit pleasure, they’re also analogue joy. Their live performance seems much more fun than their recorded work, and as spectacle goes, they are entertaining to watch. Looped and sampled or not, the music is compelling and impossible not to daven to. And isn’t that the whole point?

John Stanier plays the drums really well.

John Stanier plays the drums really well.

Some other thoughts on Battles in no particular order:

  • John Stanier, the drummer, is spot on but looks in pain almost the entire performance. I have never seen a human sweat as much as he.
  • Ian Williams has a guitar that looks like a Gibson SG but is actually a Gibson SG Future Tribute. I’ve never seen one before.
  • Dave Konopka plays a three pickup Les Paul. His guitar looks heavy.
  • The new album, La Di Da Di, has received favorable reviews and is all instrumental. Even for those of you who enjoy Battles, this release is even farther left of center. Battles itself is an acquired taste and La Di Da Di may take a few listens to sink in.  But — it is well worth the effort.

Battles are trekking off to Europe but will be back in the US on these dates:

6.13 – The Independent – San Fran, CA 
6.14 – Wonderland Ballroom – Portland, OR
6.15 – Neumos – Seattle, WA
6.23 – House of Vans w Sleep – Brooklyn, NY

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Battles Live Review & Photos by Doug “Doug Igoto” Dresher, words edited by Matthew Weller.

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