SuppliedAlbum: La Di Da Di
Artist: Battles
Label: Warp
bttls.com
La Di Da Di (no affiliation with Slick Rick) is the third full length studio album and the first without lead vocalist Tyondai Braxton, by American experimental rock band Battles. This album is confident and dynamic, and is a strong progression for the now three-piece fully instrumental group from their 2011 record Gloss Drops.
As a whole, La Di Da Di feels like an extended jam session that presents a host of layered synthesizer melodies, hard hitting drum breaks, and unusual staccato guitar licks. Individually, each track starts with simple repetition and slowly builds into an immaculate and often chaotic climax before deciding to end abruptly or descend into its original base parts. Battles finds a unique way to mesh unusual instruments together into something masterful, one example is the use of Christmas bells numerous times throughout the album. Although many of the tracks are similarly formulated, Battles demonstrates a constant stream of original ideas and interesting reinventions to possible borrowed ideas (such as the Cage the Elephant sounding intro to “Summer Summer”). Some especially notable moments include “The Yabba”, which acts as a proud introduction to La Di Da Di, “Megatouch” which features some incredibly unique ghostly sounding synths, and the roominess of the sustained guitar tones on “Cacio e Pepe”.
Overall, La Di Da Di feels like the first listenable hybrid of rock and electronic since Atoms for Peace or The Whos Baba O’Reily. Battles proves that they can continue on without Braxton.
