Bleep

Few albums can match Battles' Warp debut for innovation coupled with accessibility. On Mirrored, Ian Williams, Dave Konopka and Tyondai Braxton found the subverted soul of glam, pushed it through the avant-machine (Reich, Riley), grew some overdriven metal guitar chops, listened to a whole lot of African music and consorted with the Aphex devil. It might sound like a mess written down, but the way the band pull these disparate influences together makes for some of the most continually thrilling music, even when considered several years down the line. 'Atlas' must be one of the strangest and catchiest instrumental pop songs ever made, and there are plenty of other thrills to be found here, like the playfully glinting vocal abstractions of 'Tonto' or the twists and turns of 'Rainbow'.