Tuesday 25 May 2010
QBiM SPiNS: Crystal Castles Crystal Castles [2010]
When I first heard Crystal Castles‘ “Celestica” I ranked it right next to “Vanished” (from their first self-titled release) as a bloody great dancefloor-filling romp in the hay. It was everything I first loved about the band rolled into one: breathy, ambiguous vocals, symphonic synths, and hypnotic beats. That’s the yin side of Crystal Castles, the infectious side that can stand repeated plays. There’s also a yang to Crystal Castles, the infected side that contrasts the beats with the beasts and scares the shit out of my cats when I put it on. For a sample of their yang listen to “Fainting Spells”, the opening track on their latest self-titled release (which I’ve decided to call Crystal Castles [2010] for clarity). The cryptic static-cum-screaming that opens the track eventually bleeds into a more beat-orientated wall of electro-babble, but I would hardly consider it club-worthy material, not that I believe for a second it was ever intended to be so. Crystal Castles [2010] is music to move to and music to move your mind, and it strikes a decent balance between the two, sometimes even within the same song.
“Not In Love” is the bastard love child of early 80s synth-pop and mid 90s electronica, inheriting melodic elements from the former and euphoria-inducing rhythms from the latter. It never quite crosses into that classic dance realm completely, but you could definitely imagine hearing it as the festivities wind down and things start to chill out. “Doe Deer” on the other hand wants to pogo and rock with the safety-pin crowd, defining “electro-punk” in the progress. Over the course of it’s 5 minutes (the longest song on the album) “Vietnam” gets the balance right. It’s master of the beat and servant to the sound-collision. Ingested on their own, the individual songs could definitely be hard to palate. The first time I heard the record, I did a bit of cherry-picking, listening to bits and pieces, randomly jumping around the sequence, and that was an injustice to Crystal Castles. Listening to the whole thing in proper sequence made a huge difference; suddenly I realized that this was indeed a complete album and not a patchwork of songs.
Crystal Castles [2010] certainly doesn’t disappoint those looking for an electronic record that strives to be more than just a disco soundtrack. Ethan Kath and Alice Glass have definitely moved the genre forward a notch, and brought their kinetic energy and cerebral impulses a bit closer together. Regardless of the recycled title, the beats are fresh, which comes as a bit of a surprise given how instantly familiar their sound has become. It’ll take a few listens to acclimatize your ears to the rougher edges, but once you do, I think you’ll find some pleasure in the pain.
MP3: Crystal Castles “Celestica”
Myspace: Crystal Castles
Facebook: Crystal Castles
Twitter: Crystal Castles
Tweet
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 8:30 am and is filed under MP3, QBiM SPiNS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
