Battles - Tonto +

Battles, "Tonto (The Field remix)" (YSI link)

Battles, "Tonto (Four Tet remix)" (YSI link)

The end of the year is nearly upon us and I have a feeling that the Battles LP, Mirrored, will make on a few end of the year releases. Perhaps to keep them in the mind of the blogosphere's voters, they recently released the Tonto + EP with some remixes, live songs and a DVD.

Not surprisingly, the band chose interesting remixers for their song "Tonto," eschewing the typical new-electro guys like MSTRKRFT for two artists that seem more comfortable with the experimental side of things. The Field is another of 2007's biggest names, responsible for one of the biggest techno LPs of the year on Kompakt. Here, he delivers a glitchy remix of the original, taking out the guitar picking, adding a bass drum and stuttering, noisy, swirling synths. The repetitive sound actually slowly moves, great stuff. The Four Tet remix sticks a lot closer to the original (the guitars and weird vocals are back!) Four Tet, a.k.a. Kieran Hebden, adds a rumbling bass to the mix, some bubbling, space-y effects and a generally more consistent sound and pacing. I feel like this one is a good way into Battles music for those coming from the electronic/dance side of things.

Grab a copy of this EP/DVD at Turntable Lab, but I'd recommend buying the LP first and digging into the band's post-rock/jam band-y music, as it's well-worth the time and money. Will it end on the Pound for Pound end-of-year list? Actually, that's a really great question, imaginary reader. I have no idea what that list is gonna look like.