Battles, Mary Timony

Battles (First Set) at ATP
Originally uploaded by Oye.

at the Black Cat, 3/23/2007

I had to work at an ACF concert that night, so didn't make it over to the club until Mary Timony's set was almost over. Fortunately, I got to hear two songs. Her trio lineup (with Devin Ocampo, drums, and Chad Molter, bass & keyboard) is terrific. They sounded much much tighter than at Fort Reno last summer. The little bit I heard sounded great and I'm sorry I missed most of the set.

Battles were terrific. I'm a total sucker for "math-rock" so it's no surprise that I gobbled up everything they served us and still wanted more. Ty Braxton was totally on. Adding processed vocals to their arsenal seems to make a lot of sense. It's hard to imagine a band that would be a better fit for Ty. It sounds to me like a logical extension of his solo music, but I haven't heard his recent solo work. This was the first time I heard him play since, was it 2003? Could be that long ago... Both Ty and Ian Williams did lots of playing keyboard and guitar simultaneously (left hand tapping on the neck of the guitar, right hand on the keyboard). Sometimes doubling the same material, sometimes playing different material with each hand. Nifty trick.

You can hear their new single, "Atlas" on myspace or catch the video on pitchfork or youtube.