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MagnetOct 14, 2015[A] consummate artistic triumph. [No. 125, p.56]
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Sep 15, 2015However you decipher the 1s and 0s, the songs comprising La Di Da Di are timeless vestiges of sound, and by that virtue alone are going to be around for a long time.
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Sep 18, 2015The players clearly thrill in wringing every possible sound out their instruments, making La Di Da Di one of the year’s most satisfying trips into the sonic unknown.
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Sep 18, 2015Without any voices swimming around the noise, the record does lack the variety that came before. Instead, this is a stubborn embracing of all the weird things that make up this unique trio.
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Sep 18, 2015As Battles evolve, they remain true to their unique mix of brains and brawn, and La Di Da Di just might be their most engaging music yet.
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Sep 17, 2015It’s a record that you have to take in as one complete whole. You’ll enjoy individual slices, but won’t be truly fulfilled unless you take a deep dive straight in and luxuriate in all its sonic weirdness and insane brilliance.
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Sep 16, 2015Battles thinks hard and kicks harder.
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MojoAug 26, 2015This is easily Battles' best album to date, the one you've always hoped they would make. [Oct 2015, p.95]
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UncutAug 26, 2015This is an engaging piece of minimalist minimalism: Steve Reich with a battering ram. [Oct 2015, p.71]
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Oct 2, 2015At 50 minutes, it's maybe a bit too long: when you're working with coiled energy, you can't afford to lose momentum. That said, when they're in the zone, there's not much like it.
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Sep 22, 2015On La Di Da Di Battles feel like they are, slowly, finding their way in the right direction.
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Sep 21, 2015Perhaps they still haven’t quite gotten there with La Di Da Di, but they’ve come somewhere close.
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Sep 17, 2015Far from being an emperor’s new clothes situation, it simply feels like the band is settling into a sound built for endurance rather than excitement.
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Sep 17, 2015Unlike Mirrored or 2011’s underrated Gloss Drop, La Di Da Di is where Battles demonstrate their competence rather than their virtuosity; there’s never that moment of dominos falling to their death or the mutated instruments and real-time looping opening portals to parallel dimensions.
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Sep 16, 2015Their sound now possesses a withering, caustic wit instead of a joyous, ostentatious cackle, and the suspicion is that it's only the start of an enticing middle chapter. We'll see better still from them as they develop.
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Sep 15, 2015This is a confident record that focuses on beat and melody, while still allowing the group space to throw in other musical ideas.
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Alternative PressSep 1, 2015La Di Da Di urges you to dance and then challenges you to keep up with every bob, weave and time signature shift. [Oct 2015, p.98]
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Sep 11, 2015There are some growing pains to be heard.... When they shuffle enough elements around on La Di Da Di, it’s a thrilling experience to try to keep up with.
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Sep 30, 2015The album would feel more complete if they’d included at least one nod to the warped pop music that made them famous.
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Sep 21, 2015For every urgent tune like the cinematic Non-Violence (whose bass jabs are pretty muscular), there are inspired variations, like the dreamy calm of Cacio e Pepe or the bejewelled hamminess of Megatouch.
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Sep 11, 2015La Di Da Di comes across a tad too studied, never lifting out of the complex math of the group’s music.
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Sep 10, 2015Third album La Di Da Di is comprised of 12 entirely instrumental tracks that feel less like stand-alone songs and more like strange sonic experiments cooked up in a lab.
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Sep 9, 2015In terms of the surface tones and textures, the tracks in question are interesting enough--pretty, even. The underlying structures that govern these tones and textures, however, don't allow for anything approaching the band's typical intensity.
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The WireSep 1, 2015On occasion, stupidly fun. [Sep 2015, p.44]
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Aug 26, 2015The beguiling and unique pop element he [Tyondai Braxton] brought to the table left with him, and Battles haven't quite figured out how to replace it. La Di Da Di is an energetic step in the right direction. [Aug-Sep 2015, p.61]
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Q MagazineAug 26, 2015It's perhaps not a career peak but it's not too far away. [Oct 2015, p.102]
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Sep 21, 2015It's something more functional, familiar and safe.
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Sep 14, 2015La Di Da Di however limits the potential for “free-thinking” with a series of stagnant, self-conscious ideas and motifs. Unfortunately, Battles have not mastered the art of repetition on La Di Da Di.
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Oct 13, 2015La Di Da Di is full of very cool timbres and some incredible drumming, but its arrangements leave a lot to be desired.
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Oct 2, 2015Like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz, La Di Da Di too often feels like a soulless automaton tearing around on autopilot. If only it had a heart.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 16 out of 24
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Mixed: 6 out of 24
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Negative: 2 out of 24
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Sep 25, 2015
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Sep 21, 2015
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Sep 20, 2015As skittish, fascinating and unique as ever, Battles have created their least accessible album yet, but one still rife with brilliance and creativity.