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Toronto-based duo Crystal Castles, i.e. singer Alice Glass and multi-instrumentalist Ethan Kath, came up with an exhilarating mix of psychotic vocals and
digital beats to concoct the futuristic rave music of
Crystal Castles (PIAS, 2008), that basically collected the singles
of the previous four years.
The music exploits two simple ideas: 1. the noise of vintage videogame consoles
of the 1970s and 2. the jovial beat of synth-pop of the 1980s.
Most songs are built around either or both of these excuses.
Hence the ping-pong beat for the anthemic melody of Untrust Us,
the pounding beat and frenzied cacophony for the desperate shouting of XXZXCUZX Me,
the booming elastic drum-machine and videogame-like synth lines for the dejected litany of Crimewave,
the syncopated ballet and shrill tonefest for the wordless Air War (2007),
the abrasive and quasi-comic synths for the childish rant of Courtship Dating,
etc.
Here the digital hardcore of Alice Practice (their debut single of 2006)
is a reminder of how they used to push the envelope.
When they stray away from their standard, the results are disappointing,
whether the harmless ambient intermezzo Magic Spells or the
melodic mid-tempo ballad Vanished.
And,
with the exception of the exuberant Black Panther,
the last six or so tracks are disposable variations on the old singles.
The music of this album is highly derivative of the 1980s but just edgy enough
to target a new generation.
Crystal Castles II (Fiction, 2010) opens with a far more austere
declaration of intents:
Fainting Spells,
a symphonic nightmare that revolves around expressionist screams.
The grotesquely abrasive and aggressive Doe Deer ranks as their most punkish moment yet.
Birds is a darkly incoherent slab of abrasive noise kept under control,
and I Am Made Of Chalk explores the border between ambient music
and musique concrete.
For pure dance acrobatics, the winner is the instrumental Intimate.
However, it's the
easy-listening melody and the steady disco beat of Celestica and
Pap Smear
that
clarify the new course:
dispensing with videogame cacophony, the focus has shifted towards a simpler
strategy to conquer the dancefloor.
Hence, a number of trivial and sometimes truly tedious variations on
the midtempo ballad format, from the trancey Empathy to
the atmospheric Vietnam.
Even Baptism, theoretically their wild rave novelty,
is, in reality, relatively uneventful house music.
It is telling that the highlight of the second half of the album is a
cover of Platinum Blonde's rousing Not In Love.
Whichever album one prefers (the harsh and mostly instrumental one or
the soft and mostly sung one), the role of the vocalist has greatly diminished.
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