instrumental

Mr. Maps are a five-piece instrumental rock band from Brisbane, Australia. Since their inception in 2007, Mr. Maps have quickly earned a reputation for transcendental live performances showcasing complex layers of bass, drums and guitar lifted by lush piano and cello, and punctuated by electronic glitches and tones. Mr. Maps’ compositions are experimental and meticulous with an air of optimism and beauty, blending math-rock with elements of New York post-classical and electronics.

“I know it’s electronic music,” Brian Lindgren says, “but sometimes I feel like an old-timey traveling musician with an M-Audio Trigger Finger instead of a guitar.” As Mux Mool, Lindgren has been criss-crossing the country by himself for years, collecting records, loops, and samples, and rocking parties in towns both large and boondock-small. Lindgren is a self-confessed nerd to the bone, an incurable doodler, a Star Trek: The Next Generation fan; he lives on energy drinks and barely sleeps, spending his days working on music and his nights absorbing Internet memes by the hard-drive load.

from Cyclic Defrost: Melbourne’s MC Ivens first emerged from the hip-hop scene a few years back as a founding member of the Awakenings Crew. Ivens’ live performances resemble the intense atmosphere of a hardcore gig more than your usual hip-hop throwdown, with Ivens delivering his sharp-focused dystopian lyrical flow to audiences at point-blank range. Otherwise known as David Coen, Ivens founded Awakenings Crew alongside Hykoo, Nick Sweepah, Chasm, Aux-One, Osinaka and Grizzly Baddums.

Battles is an American experimental rock band that formed in New York City in 2002. The group is composed of drummer John Stanier (formerly of Tomahawk and Helmet), guitarist/keyboardist Ian Williams (formerly of Don Caballero and Storm & Stress), guitarist Dave Konopka (formerly of Lynx), and, until August 2010, guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Tyondai Braxton (son of Avantgarde Jazz musician Anthony Braxton).