Mountain Battles
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''Mountain Battles'' is the fourth studio album by American band
The Breeders The Breeders are an American alternative rock band based in Dayton, Ohio, consisting of members Kim Deal (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), her twin sister Kelley Deal (lead guitar, vocals), Josephine Wiggs (bass guitar, vocals) and Jim Macpherson ( ...
. It was released in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2008, and in the United States on April 8, 2008. The album was gradually recorded in a number of different locales including Refraze Recording Studios in
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
, by engineers including
Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...
, Erika Larson, Manny Nieto and Ben Mumphrey.


Song development and recording

The Breeders released their previous album, '' Title TK'', in 2002. The group's line-up then consisted of
Kim Deal Kimberley Ann Deal (born June 10, 1961) is an American musician. She was the original bassist and co-vocalist in the alternative rock band the Pixies (band), Pixies from 1986 to 1993 and again from 2004 to 2013. She is the frontwoman of the Bre ...
, her twin sister
Kelley Deal Kelley Deal (born June 10, 1961) is an American musician and singer. She has been the lead guitarist and co-vocalist of the alternative rock band The Breeders since 1992, and has formed her own side-projects with bands such as R. Ring and the Ke ...
, Richard Presley, Mando Lopez, and
Jose Medeles Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean *Jose ben Halafta *J ...
; at the time, the group was based in Los Angeles. That year, the Deals began demoing songs for the band's next album, including "Regalame Esta Noche" and "No Way". Meanwhile, the group went on tour in the United States and Europe. The Deal sisters continued demoing songs the following year. In 2004, Kim Deal's previous band,
Pixies Pixies may refer to: * Plural of Pixie * Pixies (band) The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim ...
, embarked on a reunion tour, and Kelley also traveled with the group. While on the tour, the sisters worked on "Walk It Off"—footage of them going through the song is included on the Pixies' '' loudQuietloud'' DVD. Around this time, Kim and Kelley moved from Los Angeles back to their hometown of
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
, and continued working on new compositions there, including "Bang On" and "Night of Joy", which came about in the spring of 2007. When developing the songs for ''Mountain Battles'', both sisters collaborated on the arrangements. Only Kim, who wrote the lyrics, received songwriting credits, although Kelley was accorded some
royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...
. During the period of 2002 to 2007—concurrently with the Deals' writing and demoing—the Breeders attended sessions with a number of
engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while consider ...
to record the album. These comprised sessions at
Electrical Audio Electrical Audio is a recording facility founded in Chicago, Illinois by musician and recording engineer Steve Albini in 1997. Hundreds of independent music projects have been recorded there. Unlike most producers, Albini refused to take any roya ...
in Chicago with
Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...
, and recording in Los Angeles and Refraze Recording Studios in Dayton Ohio with engineers including Erika Larsen, Manny Nieto, and Ben Mumphrey. By this time, Presley had left the group to sell luxury cars, so the Breeders consisted of the Deal twins, Lopez, and Medeles.


Composition

''Mountain Battles'' takes on "primitive"
art punk Art punk, or artcore, is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and ...
amidst a "raw, sparse"
lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...
sound.


Track listing

The Japanese release contains the following bonus track:


Personnel

The ''Mountain Battles'' liner notes list the following personnel who helped make the album; the liner notes do not mention which instruments the Deal sisters, Lopez, and Medeles played.


Musicians

*
Kim Deal Kimberley Ann Deal (born June 10, 1961) is an American musician. She was the original bassist and co-vocalist in the alternative rock band the Pixies (band), Pixies from 1986 to 1993 and again from 2004 to 2013. She is the frontwoman of the Bre ...
*
Kelley Deal Kelley Deal (born June 10, 1961) is an American musician and singer. She has been the lead guitarist and co-vocalist of the alternative rock band The Breeders since 1992, and has formed her own side-projects with bands such as R. Ring and the Ke ...
*Mando Lopez *
Jose Medeles Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean *Jose ben Halafta *J ...
*Steven Medina Hüfsteter – guitar on "Regalame Esta Noche" *Heather Winna – marching cymbals on "Walk It Off" *Todd Mund – background vocals on "German Studies"


Engineering and mastering

*
Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...
– engineering *Erika Larsen – engineering * Manny Nieto – engineering, mastering * Ben Mumphrey – engineering *Steve Rook – mastering


Art design

*
Vaughan Oliver Vaughan Oliver (12 September 1957 – 29 December 2019) was a British graphic designer based in Epsom, Surrey. Oliver was best known for his work with graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v23. Both studios maintained a close relationship wit ...
– art design *Marc Atkins – photography


Charts


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control The Breeders albums 2008 albums 4AD albums Albums produced by Steve Albini