Battles @ The Liquid Room

Battles really broke through this year - the Warp-signed supergroup-of-sorts blew 2007 apart with their debut single Atlas in February, and first album Mirrored in April. We gave the album a rare 5-star review and six months later, it's definitely still worth that - one of the most original and definitive albums of the year, it's a shoe-in for our Top 10 come Christmas. Excitingly, they're coming to Scotland to tour this marvel, though it might be difficult to fit eight and a quarter drum-kits on stage. We could go on about Mirrored's krautrock rhythms or math-rock meters; how it's both instrumental prog-Rock (with a capital R) and Aphex-inspired IDM; how it sounds like some futuristic alien race has sent us their iPod playlist, and some of their singers too. It's both, it's all four, all six - it's like nothing else out there, so go see for yourselves at the Liquid Room. [Ally Brown]