Crystal Castles
by: Crystal Castles
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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 Cooke
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 Cooke
Disc 1:
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Grandaughter's taste
This was bought as a gift for my teenage grandaughter so did not partake in the listening of such cd....sorry
Rating: 
- Electronic Meltdown
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 ... Read More
Rating: - A huge uneven mess like an ADD attack
Crystal Castles debut disc is possibly one of the most over rated CDs of 2008. I give it 3 stars though, only because there's two tracks I really dig: Crimewave and MagicSpells. Outside of that, it's an uncohesive mess as if they couldn't decide what genre to go with so they mishmashed it all into one album. I mean the tracks are all over the board like an ADD attack. There's punk rock next to downtempo next to electro vocoder house next to acoustic next to shoegaze next to 8bit Nintendo sample heavy huh? ... Read More
Rating: 
- Eh. I expected more.
I really expected more from these two. The cd was so hyped up...i got it and listened to it the same day only to be disappointed.
What I'm trying to say is if i could go back in time i wouldn't buy it.
Rating: - enjoyable
every song is very enjoyable, dancable and fun. may not be the most creative but it does the trick.i'd rather listen to their track then Fi'ty anyday...
- Grandaughter's tasteThis was bought as a gift for my teenage grandaughter so did not partake in the listening of such cd....sorry
- Electronic MeltdownThere'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 ... Read More
- A huge uneven mess like an ADD attackCrystal Castles debut disc is possibly one of the most over rated CDs of 2008. I give it 3 stars though, only because there's two tracks I really dig: Crimewave and MagicSpells. Outside of that, it's an uncohesive mess as if they couldn't decide what genre to go with so they mishmashed it all into one album. I mean the tracks are all over the board like an ADD attack. There's punk rock next to downtempo next to electro vocoder house next to acoustic next to shoegaze next to 8bit Nintendo sample heavy huh? ... Read More
- Eh. I expected more.I really expected more from these two. The cd was so hyped up...i got it and listened to it the same day only to be disappointed.
What I'm trying to say is if i could go back in time i wouldn't buy it.
- enjoyableevery song is very enjoyable, dancable and fun. may not be the most creative but it does the trick.i'd rather listen to their track then Fi'ty anyday...
