Comments on: “Atlas” by Battles: A Compositional Analysis

By: Christian Delahousse

Christian Delahousse — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:17:55 +0000

Please tell me if I’m wrong, but Jazz is all about beat 2 and 4. I think what you meant was that a shuffle drummer would emphasise the beats on the snare (back beat), but a Jazz drummer would use the high hats instead.

By the way, I’m a fan of the blog. Everything is super well written and very scholarly.

By: gary x. gongora

gary x. gongora — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:40:19 +0000

Good Morning just thought i would let you know that i had a issue with your blog appearing frozen also. Must be chimpanzees in the page.

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:49:03 +0000

Sorry Fuzu, we don’t appear to have received your comment. I apologize! Haven’t heard of this problem.

-Keith

By: Fuzu

Fuzu — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:20:07 +0000

Ooh gosh i just wrote a huge comment and when i submitted it it come up blank! Please please tell me it worked properly? I dont want to sumit it again if i do not have to! Either the blog bugged out or i am just stuipd, the latter doesnt surprise me lol.

By: Jourdan

Jourdan — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:04:04 +0000

Love that fact that you guys even chose this song in the 1st place. I’ve been obsessed with Battles for a few years now and they especially shine live, so see them if you get the chance.

Also I stumbled upon a song that has eerie composition similarities to “Atlas”

ween – “so many people in the neighborhood”
from the album Quebec.

Check it out!

By: FixYourMix

FixYourMix — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:41:48 +0000

@Brent- There actually was a production analysis in the works for this song, though with the frequency that we are trying to blog now, I don’t know that it will see the light of day unless we were to devote an entire sonic deconstruction week to it, which I’d love to do although we have several other songs lined up for that first.

@Martin- I agree, I could have gone more in depth but I’ve been staying busy and only had time to highlight the aspects which are most unique and useful for the average songwriter–you are correct, this post would have turned into a monster if I had taken it section by section as I have done with previous songs.

Thanks for your comments guys!

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:08:40 +0000

Thanks a lot for this, I love Battles, and your analyses are always really interesting. This one was a bit… small in scope, but I guess the song is a bit too weird to do a full-blown melodical analysis.

I agree with brent, a Production and Mixing & Mastering Analysis would also be brilliant, if you can find the time.

All that’s left to say is: Keep up the good work! :)

By: brent

brent — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:01:39 +0000

I would love love love a Production and Mixing & Mastering Analysis for this song. I would find that hugely beneficial!