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Crystal Castles
 
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Crystal Castles

Crystal Castles
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews) More about this product

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Frequently Bought Together

Crystal Castles + In Ghost Colours + Oracular Spectacular
Price For All Three: $32.96

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  • This item: Crystal Castles ~ Crystal Castles

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  • In Ghost Colours ~ Cut Copy

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  • Oracular Spectacular ~ MGMT

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (March 18, 2008)
  • Original Release Date: March 15, 2008
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Last Gang Records
  • ASIN: B0013KCCKC
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,864 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #94 in  Music > Indie Music > Dance & DJ > Electronica
    #99 in  Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Electronic Pop

 
1. Untrust Us
2. Alice Practice
3. Crimewave - Crystal Castles, Health
4. Magic Spells
5. Xxzxcuzx Me
6. Air War
7. Courtship Dating
8. Good Time
9. 1991
10. Vanished
11. Knights
12. Love and Caring
13. Through the Hosiery
14. Reckless
15. Black Panther
16. Tell Me What to Swallow

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews
5 star:
 (17)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars More solid beats than experiments, April 30, 2008
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
- House drum patterns throughout
- Ranges from happy electro to punkish glitch to introspective house
- Strong 80's dance pulse
- Very pleasant form of bleep-bloop music w/o much ugly noise
- Like a more human / DIY version of The Knife
- Experimental compared to most indie-pop, but very poppy compared to most noise groups
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent., May 12, 2008
By Brian Lange (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
It's early, but I'm already going to claim this album of the year.

Since purchasing this record, I have not been able to put it down! Know that it is definitely not for everybody... some people won't be able to stand the weird assembly of glitchy atari sounds, but it is done in such a seamless way... and it becomes reminiscent of driving at night to some underground discotheque in Europe.

Ethan and Alice are the duo behind CC, and they do not disappoint. Alice's voice mimics that of "cute little girl tries to scream and sing on garage record (a la. CSS)" but I find her voice to be very appropriate, however it may be interpreted. Sometimes screaming, sometimes lulling... and the same goes for the music. Sometimes overwhelming, often soothing.

A definite buy.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, March 25, 2008
By J.D. Gaff "Stupid, Paranoid and Panicked" (The Middle Of It All, And Hating It) - See all my reviews
I first saw/heard of Crystal Castles when they were opening for Metric in the fall of 2007, and ever since I've been in love. Despite a crowd that was not into them they still managed to rock out and put on a show. I had never seen an opening act as good as Crystal Castles, and I'm not sure I will again. This album is unbelievable, and sort of undefinable. I like to call it Industrial Electronica Nintendo Goth Art Music. You know a band is good when they don't even need coherent sentences or words at all to make a good song, and Crystal Castles pulls this off like pros. If your taste in music leans toward the somewhat abnormal and open to anything way then Crystal Castles is for you.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Producer....Terrible Vocalist
Crystal Castles have some real gems on this CD. The producer has really done a good job blending an 80s dance feel with a modern electronic sound. Read more
Published 3 months ago by mwattack77x

5.0 out of 5 stars Post-Mod Dance Electronica
Blurring the line between electronic, indie, and rock music, Toronto duo Crystal Castles have delivered a post-mod homage to Atari and video games. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Brian B

5.0 out of 5 stars An Addiction I'd Rather Not Give Up
This CD, along with the duo, is a great and unique addition to a genre that already has such phenomenal music in it. Read more
Published 3 months ago by T. Winstead

3.0 out of 5 stars Grandaughter's taste
This was bought as a gift for my teenage grandaughter so did not partake in the listening of such cd....sorry
Published 4 months ago by M. J. Harris

5.0 out of 5 stars 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. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Andre Reynolds

3.0 out of 5 stars 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... Read more
Published 5 months ago by bowery boy

2.0 out of 5 stars 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. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Knick Banas

4.0 out of 5 stars 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...
Published 6 months ago by J Lamar

5.0 out of 5 stars Rad Debut Album!
This is my new favorite CD. I listen to a lot of electronic/beak beat dancy stuff i.e. daft punk, dj icey, ferry corsten, baby ann, polish ambassador, and this is my absolute... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Dane A. Negrey

4.0 out of 5 stars Great intriguing danceable alt electronica
At first I bought this and didn't take to this album it was too much electronic noise, but I heard a track at a club, Crimewave, and fell in love with the great driving 80's... Read more
Published 9 months ago by number16

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