Brooklyn math rock masters Battles will be releasing their new album Gloss Drop on June 7. They will begin a full world tour for the album beginning May 14th in Mexico (dates listed below). However, the group dropped by Portland’s Doug Fir for a quick pre-album release show. Local band 1939 Ensemble opened for Battles.
Simply put, 1939 Ensemble may be described as percussion duet. More accurately, they’re two wildly talented percussionists demonstrating how unnecessary anything but drums and a vibraphone are these days. The duo’s ambient, airy tunes warmed up the Fir for Battles more aggressive set. Since writing about music is about as effective as dancing about architecture, check out the vid of 1939 below.
And onto Battles themselves. One of the larger stories surrounding the last album has been the departure of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Tyondai Braxton. While the split was amicable, it certainly changed the scheme for Battles. Gloss Drop features a number of guest vocalists the fill Braxton’s void, which add variety to the album’s ranging songs. In concert, remaining guitarists Ian Williams and Dave Konopka more than made up for any possible problems. Williams handled the keys responsibilities (pic below).
Concerning the guest vocalists, while they were not there in person, a pre-recorded video montage of each singer accompanied the trio on-stage. Gloss Drop provided the meat of the set list, but a number of songs from 2007’s Mirrored were played including crowd-favorite “Tonto” (video below). Full tour dates are listed below and you can download “Ice Cream” off of Gloss Drop right here.
05-14 Guadalajara, Mexico – Festival de Mexico
05-27 Barcelon, Spain – Primavera Sound
05-28 Dudingen, Switzerland – Kilbi Festival
05-30 St Gallen, Switzerland – Palace
05-31 Marseille, France – Espace Julien
06-01 Lyon, France – Nuits Sonores Festival
06-02 Poitiers, France – Confort Moderne
06-03 Brighton, England – Concorde 2
06-04 Manchester, England – O2 Apollo
06-05 Dublin, Ireland – Forbidden Fruit Festival
06-06 Leeds, England – Cockpit
06-07 Glasgow, Scotland – The Arches
06-08 London, England – Heaven
06-09 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Melkweg
06-10 Dortmund, Germany – FZW
06-11 Munich, Germany – Feierwerk
06-12 Hamburg, Germany – Uebel & Gefahrlich
06-23 Rome, Italy – Villa Ada
06-24 Bologna, Italy – Link
06-25 Pilton, England – Glastonbury
06-26 Cardiff, Wales – Millennium Music Hall
06-27 Birmingham, England – HMV Institute
06-28 Bristol, England – The Trinity Centre
06-30 Paris, France – Cabaret Sauvage
07-01 Belfort, France – Eurockeennes Festival
07-02 London, England – Wireless Festival
07-03 Roskilde, Denmark – Roskilde Festival
07-05 Leipzig, Germany – Conne Island
07-06 Vienna, Austria – Arena
07-08 Trencin, Slovakia – Pohoda Festival
07-10 Naples, Italy – Neapolis Festival
07-15 Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Music Festival
07-16 Madison, WI – UW Madison Memorial Terrace
07-17 Iowa City, IA – Blue Moose Tap House
07-19 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
07-20 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
07-22 Victoria, British Columbia – Sugar Nightclub
07-23 Vancouver, British Columbia – The Rickshaw
07-29-31 Naeba Ski Resort, Japan – Fuji Rock Festival
08-10 Cannes, France – Festival Pantiero
08-12 Hertfordshire, England – Standon Calling Festival
08-13 Saint-Malo, France – Festival La Route du Rock
08-26 Katowice, Poland – Festiwal Nowa Muzyka
12-09-11 Minehead, England – ATP Nightmare Before Christmas