Sunday, June 24, 2007

The Bulge, Iwo Jima, Bunker Hill and Agincourt


That sultry Dusty didn’t have long at the top. I have a new favourite today. Mirrored by Battles is playing as I write this, cranked up as loud as a man living in a suburban semi-detached abode dares. This is music for itchy feet and itchy brains. It is driven by a relentless krautrockesque riddim. This is clever and precise music and the ‘math-rock’ tag fits with the album’s hypnotic feel drawing the listener in as he or she (‘he’ in my case, forsooth) ponders the ‘is it rock or is it electronica or is it, Good Lord, both?’ question. The vocals are effect heavy and are used, effectively, as an extra layer of instrumentation over quiet-loud-quiet playing that remindeth this punter of noisy and provocative Scottish noise provocateurs Mogwai. File under ‘Challenging’ but cross-reference under ‘Uplifting’ and ‘Big’. This is a stimulating group. This is a stimulating group.

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