Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles II

The second Crystal Castles formal release, both releases simply going the self-titled route, so I'll make sure to denote that this is a review of the most recent version released this year (2010). The duo that forms Crystal Castles are founder Ethan Kahn (all instrumentation and production) and Alice Glass (vocals). Both from Ontario, Canada. They've toured quite extensively since there inception, and have quite a following growing. A polarizing band to say the least, but I think it has been played up a bit too much (but everything gets played up too much).They play a sort of caustic dance music roughened up by both Alice Glass' vocals and Kahns choice of sounds/samples. Though this album sees them exploring Glass' vocals quite a bit more and to the point softening it up at times giving it an almost Euro-dance quality. I'm still getting a good feel for this album but I definitely like a few standout songs alot and see some of the other songs growing on me.


Crystal Castles - "Celestica"

"Celestica" is a good example of the changes appearing on this album compared to the previous. I really liked the little blips appearing early on panned hard left in the mix. Next we are greeted by softer sung vocals from Glass, while the music builds toward an expansive dance beat and aural experience. Thankfully the beat is broken up a bit and allowing for a chorus that brings this back to being more song like in structure as opposed to dance anthem (which isn't my sort of thing per se and really good for dance clubs but not so much for live shows and regular listening). The song length (3:47) is another key to making it work within the album, nice and short without being too full of itself. The abrupt transition by the next song on the album which happens to be my second choice of songs presented here is spot on as well.


Crystal Castles - "Doe Deer"

The almost "horn section" sound that is chopped up to fit the drum beat blasts right off the top of this song. This is the stuff that really catches me. Its a short song (1:38) that revs things up. Glass' screeching vocals run through the post-production gambit and come out in position to powerfully carry the high-end over Kahn's ultra-fuzzed out low-end creations. Nuanced sounds creep in and out as the song progresses, both in regards to the instrumentation/sounds and in the vocals.

Crystal Castles II contains 14 songs within with only one reaching beyond the five minute mark so it avoids becoming too bogged down. Addmittingly my least favorite song is "Year of Silence" which samples a Sigur Rós song and I just find annoying (to be clear I generally like Sigur Rós). I think the fact that I can find songs like Doe Deer so enjoyable on the same album plays to band's polarization at times, but I think the ultimate end result is better for it even though it means a few clunkers.

Here's a link to their website, Crystal Castles Official Site. You can find a link to purchase the album in both cd and mp3 formats. The 'ole myspace page has a few more songs for listening pleasure as well.