試聽: http://www.myspace.com/battlestheband

MIRRORED, the band's debut full-length makes its intent clear from the onset--to ingest 50 years of rock history and regurgitate it as fractilized micro-symphonies. Rhythms bounce whimsically from motorik krautrock beats to glammed up T. Rex shuffles; such stop-on-a-dime surprises seem to be offered up at every turn. Tyondai Braxton's bizarre vocal gibberish--pitched up and looped in real-time--recalls similar experiments by the Animal Collective, while simple, repetitive note progressions give way to full-on guitar bombast (courtesy of Don Caballero's Ian Williams). But the Battles-plan cannot be reduced to mere quiet verse/loud chorus formula. Featuring a generous dose of improvisatory interplay, MIRRORED is tightrope-walking post-rock with a technology-driven edge.

英國電音作者 Squarepusher (aka Tom Jenkinson) 第十張個人專輯。繼《Ultravisitor》後再度展現他峰迴路轉、天馬行空的音樂縫合功力，將jazz /ambient/breakbeat/drum n bass自由拼貼出絢爛奪目的音樂萬花筒！！

Just in case the thread connecting auteurs such as Aphex Twin and Squarepusher to the fathers of 20th Century avant-garde (Steve Reich, John Cage et al.) wasn't pronounced enough for you, this double CD will knit in any gaps...and then some. Renowned within the classical world for tackling some of the most challenging music in contemporary composition (Schoenberg, Ferneyhough etc.), the London Sinfonietta are no stranger to furrowed brows and bemused glances; a state of affairs that undoubtedly continued when they announced a hook-up with the Warp crew.

Yet whilst on the surface such a relationship seems diametrically baffling, dig a little deeper at it begins to make perfect sense - with both regarded as leading lights within their field, bringing a relatively populist touch to what are otherwise closed-gate aural communities. Originally conceived as a one-off event, the first London Sinfonieta/Warp showdown took place on March 10th 2003 and featured György Ligeti, Conlon Nancarrow, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Charles Ives rubbing shoulders with the trainer-footed masses of Squarepusher, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin. Considered an unqualified success, the shin-dig was resurrected in 2004 with Jamie Lidell and Jenkinson making live appearances, before the whole thing was topped off with a third show later that year.

Spread over two ample discs and accompanied by some suitably extensive sleeve notes, 'Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters' is a genuine fusion of classical sensibilities and modern techniques (both in terms of composition and production), moulded tightly around an avant-garde heart.

(延伸閱讀)