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Crystal Castles

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Crystal Castles

Crystal Castles

If you ever wondered what it would sound like if the video-game character Mario was catapulted through a plate-glass window- you'd get close to describing Crystal Castles. Cut up vocals and soothing waves of synth, live shows known for "fan riots, crowd surges, and metal barriers destroyed" Toronto electronic-punk-bleep-pop duo Crystal Castles is music that could only be made in the post-modern / post-millennium era, with a fan base that remembers the 8-bit era. Some dance music is meant to be played in the dark, but few dance bands bring their own darkness. This is dance music for sociopaths. Crystal Castles is the brain-child of Ethan Kath. The band began as a Kath solo project in 2003, but the producer recruited a 15-year-old Alice Glass to add vocals. Glass recorded rough soundcheck vocals for five tracks, which were secretly recorded by an en engineer, and Kath uploaded the material under the name Crystal Castles. After releasing a handful of demos, the band delivered their first self-titled studio album in 2008, creating a critical buzz with their unique blend of 8-bit wackiness, seductive synth-pop and brutal electronic noise.  In 2010, the band released a second LP, which featured production work from high-profile veterans like Paul Epworth and Jacknife Lee; a memorable cover of Platinum Blonde’s 1983 New Wave classic “Not In Love” – with the Cure‘s Robert Smith on lead vocals – was released as a single. The band’s final album, self-produced by Kath, was released in 2012. Unfortunately things kind of got nasty after that. Glass left the band in 2014, and in 2018 accused Kath of abuse. Kath went on to replace and get a carbon-copy of Glass and continues to tour under the name, but it's not Crystal Castles without Glass. Despite all the ugliness, what the band gave us for those first three albums was beautiful, original music. I'm not trying to hassle...

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Crystal Castles  

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