Audio By Carbonatix
Artist: Crystal CastlesTitle: Crystal Castles IIRelease date: May 25Label: Fiction
Exactly 36 seconds into the new record by Crystal Castles, I said to myself, “This is way fucking better than Sleigh Bells.”
I’m sure many of you are saying, “Quit being an asshole about Sleigh Bells; why do you feel you have to compare Crystal Castles and Sleigh Bells? They don’t even sound that much alike.” (At this point, please allow to me interject regarding a comment on my Sleigh Bells post, written by one Joseph Guisti. Please read it. That’s how you write a truly great comment. The guy’s a good, thoughtful writer, and I enjoyed his comment so much that I went back and listened to the Sleigh Bells record again.)
Granted, they don’t sound a lot alike, but they do have a lot in common — both are electro-based, both are boy-girl duos, both are super-hyped by tastemaking critics, both have records released within one week of each other, both became popular without even really having a body of work by which to judge them.
So, yeah, in a taste test, I’m taking Crystal Castles. More original, more clever, less ephemeral. Anyone who reads this blog post regularly knows I’ve hinted that electronic music acts tend to sound a lot alike. Crystal Castles sounds like no other electronic act I’ve heard this year. Eminently danceable but aggressively rock-oriented — even industrial — in parts, this record seems unconcerned with the genre’s confines.
I gleaned very little from the female singer’s vocals, which, even when not distorted beyond recognition, are used more as another instrument than the conveyor of words, ideas, and messages.
No, the best thing about Crystal Castles is their ability to pair the ugly and abrasive with the pretty and smooth. This juxtaposition is all over this records: sexy and lush synth backdrops with strokes of distortion and grimy videogame noises splattered on them. It’s not something I’m going to listen to a lot, but Crystal Castles have made a fairly compelling record.
Crystal Castles – 05 – Year of Silence by Brii
Best song: “Year of Silence,” which vaguely reminds me of New Order and Siouxsie and the BansheesRotation: Low-mediumDeja vu: Disorientation.I’d rather listen to: Any other electronic record I’ve heard in 2010.Grade: B-
“Nothing Not New” is a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 41-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert recordings) and write about it. Why? Because in the words of his editor, Martin Cizmar, he suffers from “aesthetic atrophy,” a wasting away of one’s ability to embrace new and different music as one ages. Read more about this all-too-common ailment here.
The “Nothing Not New” Archives
June 2 — The Cool Kids: Tacklebox (B-)
May 27 — What Cheer? Brigade: We Blow You Suck (D)May 26 — Stone Tempe Pilots: Stone Temple Pilots (C)May 25 — Karen Elson: The Ghost Who Walks (C+)May 24 — Damien Jurado: Saint Bartlett (B)
May 21 — Woven Bones: In and Out and Back Again (B-)May 20 — Band of Horses: Infinite Arms (B-)May 19 — Sleigh Bells: Treats (D-)May 18 — The Black Keys: Brothers (B+) May 17 — LCD Soundsystem: This Is Happening (A-)
May 14 — Odds ‘n’ Sods: CocoRosie, Natalie Merchant, The Sadies, and moreMay 13 — Male Bonding: Nothing Hurts (B)May 12 — Flying Lotus: Cosmogramma (B-)May 11 — The Dead Weather: Sea of Cowards (A)May 10 — The National: High Violet (B+)
May 7 — Shapiro: Shapiro (C)May 6 — Gogol Bordello: Trans-Continental Hustle (C-)May 5 — Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Record (A-)May 4 — The New Pornographers: Together (B-)May 3 — The Hold Steady: Heaven Is Whenever (A-)
April 30 — Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: I Learned the Hard Way (A)April 29 — Hole: Nobody’s Daughter (D+)April 28 — Odds ‘n’ Sods: Toro y Moi, Merle Haggard, Freedy Johnston, and moreApril 27 — Unnatural Helpers: Cracked Love & Other Drugs (B+)April 26 — Harlan T. Bobo: Sucker (A-)
April 23 — Roky Erickson and Okkervil River: True Love Cast Out All Evil (A-)April 22 — Caribou: Swim (D)April 21 — The Apples in Stereo: Travellers in Space and Time (C-)April 20 — Jakob Dylan: Women + Country (D+)April 19 — Cornershop: Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast (C)
April 16 — Frightened Rabbit: The Winter of Mixed Drinks (B+)April 15 — Coheed and Cambria: Year of the Black Rainbow (D-)April 14 — Foxy Shazam: Foxy Shazam (D, later changed to a B)April 13 — MGMT: Congratulations (B+)April 12 — Odds ‘n’ Sods: Robyn Hitchcock, RJD2, Scorpions, and More
April 9 — Murder by Death: Good Morning, Magpie (B-)April 8 — Harlem: Hippies (C+)April 7 — Slow Club: Yeah, So (B)April 6 — Black Francis: NonStopErotik (B+)April 5 — Growing: Pumps! (F)
April 2 — Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs: Medicine County (B)April 1 — Dum Dum Girls: I Will Be (A-)March 31 — The Dillinger Escape Plan: Option Paralysis (B+)March 30 — Local Natives: Gorilla Manor (B)March 29 — The Bird and the Bee: Interpreting the Masters: Hall & Oates (C)
March 26 — Eddy Current Suppression Ring: Rush to Relax (C+)March 25 — Let’s Wrestle: In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s (B)March 24 — Goldfrapp: Head First (D)March 23 — She & Him: Volume 2 (A-)March 22 — Broken Bells: Broken Bells (C+)
March 19 — Locksley: Be In Love (B)March 18 — jj: jj no. 3 (C-)March 17 — Xiu Xiu: Dear God, I Hate Myself (D+)March 16 — Drive By Truckers: The Big To-Do (B-)March 15 — April Smith and the Great Picture Show: Songs for a Sinking Ship (C)
March 12 — The Morning Benders: Big Echo (C+)March 11 — Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Beat the Devil’s Tattoos (B)March 10 — Acrassicauda: Only the Dead See the End of War (C-)March 9 — Titus Andronicus: The Monitor (B+)March 8 — Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: The Brutalist Bricks (A)
March 5 — Liars: Sisterworld (A-)March 4 — Gorillaz: Plastic Beach (A-)March 3 — Johnny Cash: American VI: Ain’t No Grave (B+)March 2 — High on Fire: Snakes for the Divine (C)March 1 — Joanna Newsom: Have One on Me (C)
Feb. 26 — Freeway & Jake One: The Stimulus Package (D)Feb. 25 — Past Lives: Tapestry of Webs (B-)Feb. 24 — Shout Out Louds: Work (B)Feb. 23 — Brian Jonestown Massacre: Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? (B+)Feb. 22 — Shearwater: The Golden Archipelago (D+)
Feb. 19 — The Strange Boys: Be Brave (B+)Feb. 18 — Tindersticks: Falling Down a Mountain (A)Feb. 17 — Lightspeed Champion: Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You (C-)Feb. 16 — Adam Green: Minor Love (B-)Feb. 15 — Juliana Hatfield: Peace & Love (B+)
Feb. 12 — Massive Attack: Heligoland (C-)Feb. 11 — The Watson Twins: Talking to You, Talking to Me (C-)Feb. 10 — Hot Chip: One Life Stand (B+)Feb. 9 — You Say Party! We Say Die!: XXXX (B+)Feb. 8 — Allison Moorer: Crows (B)
Feb. 5 — Joe Pug: Messenger (C)Feb. 4 — The Soft Pack: The Soft Pack (A)Feb. 3 — Polysics: Absolute Polysics (B-)Feb. 2 — Pierced Arrows: Descending Shadows (A-)Feb. 1 — The Brunettes: Paper Doll (B-)
Jan. 29 — Basia Bulat: Heart of My Own (C)Jan. 28 — Priestess: Prior to the Fire (B)Jan. 27 — The Magnetic Fields: Realism (B)Jan. 26 — Four Tet: There Is Love in You (D)Jan. 25 — Delphic: Acolyte (C+)
Jan. 22 — The Hot Rats: Turn Ons (B+)Jan. 21 — Los Campesinos!: Romance Is Boring (A-)Jan. 20 — Midlake: The Courage of Others (D-)Jan. 19 — Laura Veirs: July Flame (B+)Jan. 18 — Beach House: Teen Dream (C)
Jan. 15 — Charlotte Gainsbourg: IRM (B)Jan. 14 — OK Go: Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (D)Jan. 13 — Eels: End Times (A-)Jan. 12 — Spoon: Transference (B)Jan. 11 — Editors: In This Light and On This Evening (D+)
Jan. 8 — Surfer Blood: Astro Coast (B+)Jan. 7 — Yeasayer: Odd Blood (C-)Jan. 6 — Cold War Kids: Behave Yourself EP (B+)Jan. 5 — Vampire Weekend: Contra (D+)Jan. 4 — Texas Tornados: Está Bueno! (B)
Jan. 1 — Scanners: Submarine (B-)
