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| | Crystal Castles | | | Music Artist : | | Crystal Castles | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Last Gang Records | | Release Date : | | 2008-03-18 | | Store Price : | | $13.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $12.99 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Untrust Us
2. Alice Practice
3. Crimewave - Crystal Castles, Health
4. Magic Spells
5. Xxzxcuzx Me
6. Air War
7. Courtship Dating
8. Good Time
9. 1991
10. Vanished
11. Knights
12. Love and Caring
13. Through the Hosiery
14. Reckless
15. Black Panther
16. Tell Me What to Swallow
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Good Producer....Terrible Vocalist
Submitted on: 2009-08-07 |
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| Crystal Castles have some real gems on this CD. The producer has really done a good job blending an 80s dance feel with a modern electronic sound. Unfortunately, this CD is a package deal. It comes with a great producer, but also with a god awful vocalist. This girl can't sing what so ever. There are some songs when she'll scream for three minuets straight. It's unbelievable that anyone would use her voice in a song. The only one that's good with her in it is "Crimewave," and that's because the vocals are manipulated to have a robotic tone to it, and she's not throwing a temper tantrum like in some of the other songs. I also got a chance to check these guys out live at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. The same thing applies for this group live as it does on their album. Great music with a screaming banshee to ruin it. Crystal Castles aren't going to be great until they find a vocalist with talent, and this girl as none. |
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 Post-Mod Dance Electronica
Submitted on: 2009-07-22 |
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| Blurring the line between electronic, indie, and rock music, Toronto duo Crystal Castles have delivered a post-mod homage to Atari and video games. Mixing ancient looped video game samples from 1982, drum machines and digitalized, cut up vocals, the result is overwhelmingly successful on many levels. The music is heavily textured, glitchy, raw, and unrestrained filled with bleeps, blips, and electronic pulses. Video game fanatics who enjoy electronic music will undoubtedbly find a match made in heaven here, but for those who dig deep enough, there are rewards to be uncovered. As with any music this complex, repeated listens will expose the buried treasure underneath. At first listen, the music is challenging and may seem overwheming, but subtle melodies and structured arrangements being to slowly reveal themselves through the madness. This is abstract music at it's core, relying on the most basic elements of composition, harmony, and rhythm. The vocals, which are indistinguishable at times simply blend into the painting, becoming just another element. The first half of the album is borderline unlistenable until "Courtship Date" which is a stunning, danceable, track with a neon glowing chorus custom made for hipster video game nerds. "Good Time" is catchy albeit repetitive, but succeeds because of how creativly the track is built sonically, making for an extremely interesting listen. Interlude "1991" is a pulsating, vibrating, humming, cut and paste, sample, that won't let go. "Vanished" is one of the standout songs. Featuring catchy songwriting that complements the digitalized atmosphere, it pulls you in like a tractor beam and won't let go. The chorus is engaging, and the track is more three dimensional than most of the songs on the album. "Through The Hosiery" is a super electric, pulsating, begging to be thrown onto the dancefloor. Truly fresh and original, CC is one of the most innovative and releases in a long time, easily one of the best of 2008. |
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An Addiction I'd Rather Not Give Up
Submitted on: 2009-07-17 |
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| This CD, along with the duo, is a great and unique addition to a genre that already has such phenomenal music in it. Ethan Kath, also known for various remixes, has a very creative mind for music composition, while Alice Glass brings appeal with ear splitting vocals that have no business in electronic music, but increases the quality still yet. Musically, the album is tremendous. I've yet to hear an album from 2008 to pack such musical ferocity and still maintain a beautiful uniqueness. Nearly every track is something new and surprisingly addictive. Lyrically, while it isn't Dylan, it's certainly a step up from the majority of electronic muscians in both meaning, and structure. Tracks like Air War, which is easily the best literary reading(the lyrics are taken from James Joyce's Ulysses) in any song I've ever heard, Alice Practice, XXZXCUZX Me and Black Panther make the album worth the buy. There are only a couple misses.. Magic Spells is a little dragged out, both musically and lyrically(which was taken from the TV show V) and sometimes, while very crucial to the music, the distorted vocals can get a bit unnerving. At the end of the CD however, you come away knowing you've heard something new. Something that'll be in your head for a long time. Something that you'll compare future bands of the same genre to. Most importantly, you'll come back for another listen. |
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 Grandaughter's taste
Submitted on: 2009-07-01 |
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| This was bought as a gift for my teenage grandaughter so did not partake in the listening of such cd....sorry |
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Electronic Meltdown
Submitted on: 2009-06-29 |
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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. |
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