when i saw them they sucked, although they did have sound problems and crappy festival organistation meant their set was cut way short.

Zero, I was only there for 4 days... i lived in Byron from october 06-october 07...

Butcher, I saw them in a nice venue... festivals can ruin bands sometimes

battles get old really fast. amazing on the first couple of listens then a tired chore.

there's better bands and better musicians. i miss orthrelm.

battles on record = brilliance
battles live in the flesh = incredible brilliance

battles are astounding musicians and so what if they have "broken thru" to becoming extremely popular. its a great sign that great music reaches far beyond the chin strokers of the alternative scene. i mean battles have been used in many tv programme soundtracks including football and motorsport recently.... amazing band, amazing records and im not going to pretend im too cool to like them anymore!!!

don cab are also amazing but its a different thing to battles...... and i prefer mirrored to the e.ps, the e.ps have amazing songs but too much filler.

The title of the thread is kind of funny as Battles' music is too dehumanized for me to enjoy them.

Yeah, at first it's like, "Ok, pretty fucking tight....nothing TOO insane" and then he throws in some insane fill that kind of defies your eyes.

Has he always been the Mars Volta drummer? I could never really get that much into them....I've heard their first album, but I don't recall hearing any drums like the shit in that video.

He's also on the cover of DRUM! magazine this month....I haven't gotten around to reading the article yet.

I fucking love The Battles.

Battlesmania, y'all...

No, Jon Theodore was the drummer for Tremulant EP and the first 3 albums, then he left, they played some shows with a 2 more drummers and then found this guy. He's the drummer that plays on "The Bedlam in Goliath". The drums parts on that album are insanity. I never knew gospel drummers were so crazy. I might have to start listening to more.......but probably not.

battles are technically talented but their songs aren't that amazing. good producer and great drummer though!

I see, I see. Well, this dude has intrigued me enough to sample the album now. Ha!

The Bedlam in Goliath is uber aggressive. It doesn't have any of the 5+ minute soundscapes that the others do. Literally, from the 1st second it's speeding at you and doesn't let up until track 6.

Awesome, yeah their other stuff kind of put me to sleep and I love long 5+ minute soundscapes!!!

Right. I've been listening to the Battles record more than I usually do for a record that's ok but not anything exceptional and I've come to the conclusion that somewhere along the lines someone has decided that Tortoise are a good idea again. Which is fine, it was a good idea the first time round.