Battles are the Networked Band, or perhaps the-band-as-network. An island chain linked by a unique combination of artistry, experimentation, technology and singular focus. A band that holds computerized loops in their brains, leaves sweat on their machines and whose sonic heartbeat is almost brutally human. Dave Konopka, Ian Williams and John Stanier have turned the tables on themselves this time, confronted their own ideas of what Battles is – and here on their third album (out September 18), have willed an answer to that question into existence. As the name might imply, La Di Da Di is a mushrooming monolith of repetition. Here is an organic techno thrum of nearly infinite loops that refuse to remain consistent. The rhythmic genus of Battles is here as ever; full frontal, heightened and unforgiving – the gauntlet through which melody and harmony must pass, assailed at every turn.
Bo Ningen are a Japanese four-piece acid punk band,consisting of Taigen Kawabe (bass/ vocals), Yuki Tsujii (guitar), Kohhei Matsuda (guitar) and Monchan Monna (drums). Musically, they channel their country’s legacy of obscure, brain-warping heavy-psych: Les Ralizes Denudés, High Rise, Sweet and Honey and Flower Travellin’ Band are all traceable beneath their esoteric sound and a regurgitated taste for Acid Folk and Noise are hurled into their electric cataclysm along with a weighty dose of Sabbath and Nirvana.
Hundred Waters’ members (Nicole Miglis, Trayer Tryon, Paul Giese, & Zach Tetreault) formed the group in 2012 when they became housemates in Gainseville, FL. The four found themselves inclined to collaboration while living under one roof, sharing a communal mentality that yielded a beautiful blend of musical contradictions: mournful yet colorful, introverted yet aware. Their self-titled debut soon attracted the most unlikely of allies, Skrillex, who signed the band to his OWSLA label that same year and gave the album a full-scale release, leading to worldwide touring with such diverse acts as The xx, Alt-J, Grimes, & Julia Holter.
Born in 1981, Jonas Thor Gudmundsson, better known as Ruxpin first started producing music at the age of 14. In late 2006 he released his fifth full length album Elysium on Mikrolux. In 2010 he released his sixth album on n5MD, Where Do We Float From Here. Following that release came a free online release I Wonder if This is the Place, which featured remixes by artists such as Leon Somov, Biogen, Worm is Green and alongside additional tracks by Ruxpin himself. In his collaboration project with Fannar Ásgrímsson from Plastik Joy came to life with the release of their debut album Love in Times of Repetition in 2012 under the pseudonym Asonat.
In 2013 Ruxpin released his latest full-length album This Time We Go Together. This new album finds Gudmundsson adding a few more vocals to his signature brand of manipulated melodic electronica. This gives the album an even greater humanistic backbone that was only moderately displayed on previous outings.
He is currently working on his 9th full-length album, which will hopefully see the day of light in late 2015 or early 2016.
MOURN is a very young quartet formed from the friendship of Jazz and Carla, both born in 1996 in El Maresme, Catalonia, Spain. The duo armed themselves with inspiration from PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, Sebadoh and Sleater Kinney and began writing material, which they quickly released, raw and acoustic, on their YouTube channel. Despite being teenagers, they came out of the studio (along with a couple new recruits—drummer Antonio and bassist Leia) with a brilliant treatise of indie rock that has stunned those who have had the opportunity to hear it.
“East India Youth’s live set is presented with no gaps. You glance around, nervously wondering whether everyone else thinks this is as mind blowing as you. When the silence finally comes, the noise is rapturous. Magnificent… astounding… apocalyptic…” – The Independent
