Battles Sign to Warp Records

At Intonation this past summer, the following message was frequently spotted on T-shirts and tote bags:

I have
BATTLES
in my
life.

Soon, a whole lot more of us will have Battles in our lives, as the post-rockin' instrumental supergroup has signed to Warp Records. And, of course, we're all anticipating getting into fights with our significant others this weekend.
Battles certainly don't fit into the classic dancefloor-enlightening Warp mold (see: Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, etc.), but then again, neither does Jamie Lidell's latest record or Maximo Park. The time-signature-smashing quartet, which is comprised of Ian Williams (Don Cabellero, Storm and Stress), John Stanier (Helmet, Tomahawk), Dave Konopka (Lynx) and Tyondai Braxton (sound manipulator extraordinaire), will be recording their debut album for Warp over the next few months, due for release sometime next year. In typical Battles fashion, there is very little information available regarding what to expect from the band's first full-length. However, we do know that Warp plans to gather up all of Battles' previous EPs for a compilation which will be released in the Europe on February 6. (Sorry y'all, it's import only in the U.S.).
The only live Battles show scheduled right now will take place this Friday, December 2, at the sold-out, Mars Volta-curated All Tomorrow's Parties' "The Nightmare Before Christmas" event at the Camber Sands Holiday Resort in East Sussex, England. Other acts performing during the weekend festival include Acid Mothers Temple, Antony and the Johnsons, Blonde Redhead, CocoRosie, Dungen, the Kills, Les Savy Fav, and the Mars Volta themselves.
In the meantime, Battles fans can tide themselves over with the avalanche of Tyondai Braxton-related projects floating in the ether. This past year, he contributed to Prefuse 73's ambitious recordings, published a book of poetry, participated in Glenn Branca's "Symphony for 100 Guitars" recordings and events, and gave a track called "October" to a Narnack Records compilation. We're sure he'll play at least ten one-man "self-contained ensemble" sets in Williamsburg lofts before 2005 is through.
Battles: http://www.bttls.com/
Warp Records: http://www.warprecords.com/