Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (Dig)
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Crystal CastlesEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2008-03-18
Music Label: Last Gang Records
Soundtracks:
- Untrust Us
- Alice Practice
- Crimewave
- Magic Spells
- Xxzxcuzx Me
- Air War
- Courtship Dating
- Good Time
- 1991
- Vanished
- Knights
- Love and Caring
- Through the Hosiery
- Reckless
- Black Panther
- Tell Me What to Swallow
Free Music Notes for Crystal Castles (Dig)
Free Music Review: Electronic Meltdown
Hit: 5 Stars
There's a lot that can be said of Crystal Castles. You could call them ignorant in reference to their alleged illegal use of Trevor Brown's artwork on T-shirts and posters. You could even call them pompous for claiming to have no influences whatsoever. Call them what you choose, but you'd be foolish to say their self-titled debut is anything short of top notch new rave. Ethan Kath and Alice Glass may be reckless with their egos, but they bring the goods when it comes to their music.
Their self-titled debut, turns its face on the robotic, emotionless stereotype of electronic music and injects within it attitude and raw edge. That's in part due to the vocal styling of Alice Glass. Rather than sing effortlessly over computer-generated beats, Glass screams and pleads in a punk-like fashion through lyrics riddled of pent-up aggression and uninhibited angst. The debut does have its calmer moments, but if you are looking for an album with a consistent pace, you most certainly won't find it here. "Untrust Us" opens the album with a modestly up-tempo approach centering around two lines of Spanish, informing that cocaine isn't good for your health. Possibly a drug awareness campaign or a recognition of bad habits... who knows? The album shifts into high gear with the barely audible XXZXCUZX ME. The track sounds of a 1980s videogame, 8-bit meltdown. And as if that weren't enough to listen to, Glass' lyrics ride the line of madness. "Just because we don't feel flesh, doesn't mean we don't fear death." But fear not, because the album slows from running full speed ahead to nearly a crawl on its closing track. Tell Me What To Swallow brings the album to a haunting, almost shoe-gazing atmosphere, with its whispers, vulnerability, and overall sense of emptiness. Not quite the expected ending, but if Crystal Castles wants you to know anything, it is to expect the unexpected.
Although a bit overwhelming, Crystal Castles does successfully push the envelope of electronica while managing to be more innovative than irritating. If you're wanting something a bit more challenging and above what's on the electro/dance shelves in your favorite music store, jump into Crystal Castles. The album may lack an overall consistency in terms of pace, but it's always interesting, never dull, and unnervingly catchy.
Crystal Castles (Dig) Poster
Electronic music is constantly ready to evolve, a point Crystal Castles seem determined to prove on their self-titled debut. They come from a heavily retro/electro place in the spectrum, wallowing in bits of debris from the ?80s: video game bleeps and pixilated sounds found deep in the Casio archive. But it?s all twisted up, prodded past redundancy or homage to a state that feels genuinely innovative. How do they manage this? Part of the answer is in Alice Glass?s vocals, which are endlessly malleable; she can punk-scream her way through blizzards of squeaky noise ("Alice Practice," "Love and Caring") or get cute ("Good Time") without breaking character. But the real secrets to their reinvention, ironically enough, are in old-school details like melody, hooks and unpredictable, fun songwriting. All the boops, bleeps and whirs in the world can?t distract from the catchiness of songs like "Black Panther" and "Air War." Still, it must be said that listening to the record is vaguely unnerving at times; you feel a bit like Pac-Man stuck in his blocky maze. And yeah, some songs stretch invention into irritation (the unlistenable "Xxzxcuzx Me"). On the other hand, it never fails to be interesting and repeated listens smooth out the edges just enough to appreciate the band?s careful shading and confidence. So open your mind, enjoy the rampant creativity, and don?t eat the ghosts until they turn blue. ?Matthew CookeAlternative Rock Music CDs
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