With vocalist, Alice Glass, being tagged as the coolest person in music, thanks to the NME, it's perhaps somewhat surprising that more people don't know about Crystal Castles. Such a tag and being named after an 1980's video game all seems very "scene" and pretentious but it just so happens that Glass and her partner in crime, Ethan Kath have made a damn fine album.
On first listen it isn't the easiest of albums to listen to. It sounded like an alarm went off whilst playing Mario on my old Gameboy with some perserverence and with the exception of maybe two or three songs, Crystal Castles have made a very strong album. "Alice Practice" and "XXZCUZX ME" are what some people might call experimental electro but the fact is that the mellower tracks that stand out.
As electronic music starts to take a foothold in the indie world, much of it blends into one and Crystal Castles are truly the pioneers of the electro world despite principle perceptions do not conform to the fashionable electro movement at the moment.
Saturday 3 January 2009
10. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Released to much critical acclaim, MGMT have made it onto most album of the year lists. The striking feature of this album is its uniqueness. There is no other band or artist that sounds like MGMT and to their credit they manage to have a unique sound but with it they blend the simple song structures to create good pop songs.
Their singles "Kids", "Time to Pretend" and "Electric Feel" hit home immediately and are all great songs and always go down well on any indie dancefloor; however this is where the problem lies. These songs all come in the first half of the album and the other songs in this first half do stand up to the standard but the second half of the album does start to drag a little as some of the songs tend to blend into one.
Their influences do come through but in having a retro sound, it is astounding how at the same time it sounds completely fresh, capitalising on the growing demand for electro.
They're signed to a major label and their singles are instantly accessible. One of the cult albums of the year, for definite, and commercial success eagerly awaits them, surely.
Their singles "Kids", "Time to Pretend" and "Electric Feel" hit home immediately and are all great songs and always go down well on any indie dancefloor; however this is where the problem lies. These songs all come in the first half of the album and the other songs in this first half do stand up to the standard but the second half of the album does start to drag a little as some of the songs tend to blend into one.
Their influences do come through but in having a retro sound, it is astounding how at the same time it sounds completely fresh, capitalising on the growing demand for electro.
They're signed to a major label and their singles are instantly accessible. One of the cult albums of the year, for definite, and commercial success eagerly awaits them, surely.
My next 10 posts...
My next 10 posts on my blog will list and review my ten albums of the year in rank order.
Enjoy
Enjoy
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