Book Battles

Battles is the New York experimental rock duo of guitarist and keyboardist Ian Williams and drummer John Stanier, whose machine-tight grooves, live looping and electronics have made the band a standout on Warp Records. Williams founded the group in 2002 after playing in Don Caballero and Storm & Stress, and Stanier came from Helmet and Tomahawk. The band's early EPs, EP C and B EP, and the single "Tras" were gathered by Warp into the 2006 release EP C / B EP. Their first full album, Mirrored (2007), recorded at Machines with Magnets, was preceded by "Atlas," a pitch-shifted, stomping single that became a cult anthem and was named NME's Single of the Week. Gloss Drop (2011) brought in guest vocalists Gary Numan, Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead, Matias Aguayo and Yamantaka Eye, and La Di Da Di (2015) was an all-instrumental set built from layered loops. As a duo they released Juice B Crypts in 2019, featuring guests including Jon Anderson of Yes, Tune-Yards and Sal Principato. Their live shows, built around Stanier's towering cymbal and Williams's stacked loops, turn complex compositions into high-energy performances.