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Art of Ballistics

A Long, Winding Trajectory Leads To Art Of Ballistics

“Will Watts and Greg Reynaud both grew up in El Paso, Texas. Despite coming from the same city, Watts didn’t meet his future musical partner until Reynaud was living in Austin and playing in the promising band Lovetron. After Lovetron disbanded, Watts moved to Portland and Reynaud ultimately moved to South Korea. The duo write music under the name Art of Ballistics, and have released a new EP, “REX 84“. In this artist feature, Watts and Reynaud tell the story of how a problem with Reynaud’s passport helped launch Art of Ballistics.” — via OPB

Rats To The Middleman

Whether you’re ready for the ruckus or not, the self-titled debut and swan song from Rats On Radar will be available through major digital music distributors in every hemisphere sometime on Tuesday, January 14th. Beginning January 7th, you will be able to stream the entire “Rats On Radar” EP on our Bandcamp page and here. If you like what you hear, and choose to pre-order the EP directly from us via our Bandcamp page, will receive your download codes at the time of purchase, regardless of the January 14th release date. iTunes and Amazon pre-orders will not be made available until January 14th, and will cost you a few dollars more. The choice seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?

Sir… We’ve Got Rats On Radar

Without further ado, we’d like to welcome Rats On Radar to our burgeoning family. While the band only existed briefly, in a place that most folks will never visit, we’re getting behind this band because a) they were really good, and b) our good buddy Steven Chamberlain (Torches To Rome, The Yellow Press) plays a mean bass and absolutely shreds his vocal chords for the sake of a good take. Fans of Steven’s past projects should take notice, as should anyone who loves big, loud, in-your-face punk rock like Drive Like Jehu, Fugazi, Shellac and The Jesus Lizard.

A Decade Early, Or A Decade Too Late?

In his review of Belknap‘s “Radio Ready” EP, Tom Körp suggests that its re-release “is little more than salt in the wound,” and we couldn’t agree to disagree more. Knowing that there is such a finite amount of recorded material by such an interesting group can be a very painful thing for a fan to experience. But, from a label standpoint, this whole re-release process has been more akin to the euphoria you experience once you finally get that popcorn kernel out from between your teeth. You’re really happy once that thing comes out of your mouth, and it goes back out into the world, where it rightfully belongs. A decade too early, or a too decade late, “Radio Ready” is now available via Bandcamp, iTunes, and Amazon for your nostalgic/future pleasure.

Check & Check Mate

In addition to playing multiple instruments and writing all his own vocal parts, Greg Reynaud mixes and engineers his own recordings. As if that wasn’t enough, he paints and is known to sit in an editing bay, too. His self-produced video for the song “Check & Check Mate,” produced under the guise of “Midway In Wake” is now playing on our YouTube Channel.
Midway In Wake - The Fire Note Review

More Than A One Man Band

“One of the main strengths of the record is that it doesn’t sound like a one man band. Reynaud is able to handle himself quite well on multiple instruments, and it is indeed complex stuff. He is weaving multiple melody lines on guitar and keyboards into a giant tapestry of sound. His bass and drumming also add lovely accents to the mix.” — Kevin Poindexter @ The Fire Note on Midway In Wake‘s “We Will Remain Sedate”.
Midway In Wake - Surviving The Golden Age Review

Surviving The Golden Age of Napster

“Midway in Wake has created an album which serves as evidence of the mastery of personalized folk music. The songs may not appeal to a wide demographic, but they certainly can capture the soul and essence of their creator. This album is well worth a listen, just don’t plan on listening in passing, it will draw you in and keep you hooked.” — Zack Garceau @ Surviving The Golden Age on Midway In Wake’s “We Will Remain Sedate”
Midway In Wake's "We Will Remain Sedate" Streaming @ AOL Spinner

As American As AOL

AOL’s Spinner site will have Midway In Wake’s debut, We Will Remain Sedate, streaming in its entirety from Monday, November 21 thru Monday, November 28th, alongside a Massive Attack re-issue and the new Bad Brains album. So, dust off your dial up modem, get out your emoticon dictionary, and elbow crawl your way back into the retro-future today!
Art of Ballistics - Sputnik Music Review

The Impatient Sound of Racing Thoughts

“Art of Ballistics’ Broken Mornings is one hell of an EP. It’s atmospheric, but not droney and overly concerned with ambience. It’s panicked and urgent, but leaves room for the impatient sound of racing thoughts. There are moments of rest, but they are skillfully and scantily spread throughout each song in a way that only makes the melodies more effective. Broken Mornings embodies a paranoid sadness that somehow manages to remain hopeful and driven, like the only thing left to do is keep trying.” — Alex Knowlton @ Sputnik Music
Art Of Ballistics Makes "Cut of the Day"

Taking Sound To New Levels

“The release of the new DJ Shadow record has been met with a lot of shrugs and head scratching. The music writers and geeks of the world have expended a lot of column inches and pixels wondering how one man can continue to produce music that simply builds on the same ideas he introduced with Endtroducing but not really evolve them in any appreciable manner. In response, I want to point all of them towards a group that is taking that instrumental, hip-hop-inspired sound to new levels: Art of Ballistics.” — Robert Ham @ Willamette Week on “Broken Mornings”.
Behold The Profit - Delusions of Adequacy

The Goofy Terminator

“Only computers are perfect and precise, and therefore they lack the passion of error. Reynaud manages to channel emotion through his beats and melodies, and that is far more entertaining that precise beats or perfectly mixed samples. This EP is 20 minutes of a perfect balance between man and machine. Goofy Terminator imagery aside, this is music for people that have names for their computers and enjoy the curve of a skirt and snare with vodka on a regular basis.” — emcphail, Delusions of Adequacy