Battles at Heaven

On June 8, I saw the Battles at Heaven. Before listening to the new album a couple of days before the gig, I was really looking forward to the gig... Once I listened to the album for the first time I was a little disappointed, it wasn't as good as I expected. Anyway, I was still really up for going to the gig, I had seen the Battles play live twice before in London in the last 9 years and was really curious to see how they would perform missing one of their members.

The gig was amazing! The vibe was good and the tracks sounded so much better live than on the CD. I really liked what they did with the guest vocalists, having them projected in the background.

Battles new music video

Battles' new music video of Ice Cream, one of the tracks of their new album Gloss Drop, featuring Matias Aguayo. Such a cool track and such a cool video! The album is expected to be released on 6/7 June. Copies can be pre ordered at Bleep or by choosing the £20 option ticket for their upcoming shows at Heaven in London on 8 June or at HMV Institute in Birmingham 27 June.

Battles at ICA

The Battles... I have been following them for quite a few years now, I think probably from the very beginning... I first saw them about 8-9 years ago, if I remember well, at the then dark basement gig space, now quite a trendy road level bar; Bardens Boudoir, in Stoke Newington and then again in 2009 at the Warp20 party at The Coronet.

Tonight they are playing their sold out gig at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. This gig marks the long awaited finish of recording their new album; Gloss Drop, which is to be released on 6th June. The last 2 years have seen the band struggling with finishing this album and losing their vocalist, Tyondai Braxton. I think tonight will be very interesting to see how they perform without Braxton and I'm also really looking forward to listening to the tracks they made with guest vocalists and of course to know which these guest vocalists are. Here is one of the tracks of the new album...

Ice Cream (Featuring Matias Aguayo) by BATTLES

Good news for all of us that didn't manage to get tickets for tonight is that... on Saturday 9 April the Battles announced a new London Show! It will be at Heaven on 8 June and it's not sold, that is... not yet! So go grab those tickets, I've already got mine!

And if you are interested in seeing what Tyondai Braxton is doing these days, you can catch him on 7 May at the Barbican, where he will be performing at the Reverberations: The Influence of Steve Reich - Session 3.