Magic Crystals

SteveK on the latest from Crystal Castles–

Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles II

I myself didn’t know what to make of what I was listening to, the first time played ‘Crystal Castles II’.  It was my first introduction to the band and to Canadian Experimental Electronic music in general.

The band has of course garnered critical acclaim and toured extensively since introducing the world to their unique sound.  They’ve supportit ed for the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Blur, and have performed festivals, including the Coachella Valley fest, Glastonbury, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, among others.

That being said, their sound is a bizarre hodge-podge of 16-bit electronic noise and asynchronous rhythms and sound effects.  Alice Glass’ shrill, hi-lo falsetto and the generalized cacophony of noise combines to make a sound unlike anything I’ve heard before.  There are times it sounds like utter chaos; at other times, like a broken Super NES videogame soundtrack.  And yet the layer of complex sound works as a whole, cohesive unit.  But the layers are so distinct one can listen to the same song over and over again and, just by shifting aural focus to a different instrumentation.

Glass’s vocals are often obscured behind the music, or just rendered incomprehensible by various sound effects incorporated into each song.  But given the incomprehensibly self-referential lyrics, that’s not a significant loss.  Yet the lost vocals too works, adding to the surreal, hallucinatory feel of this album.  ‘Crystal Castles II’ is a musical freak-out, a manic, mind-frying collection of 14 unreal tunes.  The music here is frenetic, high-energy and as addictive as any trip-inducing controlled substance out there.

This album is a mindjob for any connoisseur of messed-up music.

Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles II

Fiction Records

Steve’s Rating: 9/10

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