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Product details
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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Fainting Spells | |||
| 2. Celestica | |||
| 3. Doe Deer | |||
| 4. Baptism | |||
| 5. Year Of Silence | |||
| 6. Empathy | |||
| 7. Suffocation | |||
| 8. Baptism | |||
| 9. Year Of Silence | |||
| 10. Empathy | |||
See all 14 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Suffocation | |||
| 2. Violent Dreams | |||
| 3. Vietnam | |||
| 4. Birds | |||
| 5. Pap Smear | |||
| 6. Not In Love | |||
| 7. Intimate | |||
| 8. I Am Made Of Chalk | |||
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Looking back over my wayward musings I gave Crystal Castles'
eponymous 2008 debut a brief but favorable review. With their
second delivery 'Crystal Castles II' I see no reason to abandon
them. Ethan Kath and Alice Glass are back with a collection of
fourteen uncompromising but highly accessible compositions.
The overall sound of the album is "crunchy". The treatments of
Ms Glass' voice conceal more than they reveal; this, despite the
often jolly dance-friendly nature of the arrangements, brings a
nicely sinister flavour to the proceedings. (The artwork is pretty
creepy too!)
'Celestica' has an almost-pretty breathy vocal floating over the
insistant beats. Waves of melancholy synth chords flow in and out
of the mix helping to sustain an uneasy dreamlike ambience.
'Doe Deer', however, is the stuff of nightmares. Ms Glass screeches
like a mad witch with a bad grudge. The inner-violence of the track
may be a tad unnerving for the faint-hearted. Uneasy-listening.
'Year Of Silence' is another sombre slice of stripped-down techno.
(Miss Kittin came to mind more than once). The thumping rhythm
would doubtless go down well in some of the darker corners of
contemporary urban clubland. (The kind of place where everyone
wears black and never smiles!)
'Suffocation', despite its ponderous title, delivers a glimpse of
warmth here and there with its almost-uplifting, anthemic theme.
'Birds' is a particularly interesting confection. The squelchy
beats, great crashing grungy chords and demented vocals outline
a territory which would have interested the venerable Mr Hitchcock,
were he still with us today.
Mr Kath has a turn behind the mike for their reworking of
Platinum Blonde's 1983 composition 'Not In Love'. It is one
of the album's high-points, despite the vocal sounding very
much as though it is being performed by a chipmunk.
(Listen and believe!!)
Final track 'I Am Made Of Chalk' brings the project to an
extraordinary close. The ravings of a savage or suffering
long-forgotten underwater creature would appear to have been
captured on tape and inserted into this deeply disturbing mix.
Not the sort of thing to listen to just before bedtime.
A willfully weird and totally thrilling listening experience!
Highly Recommended.
eponymous 2008 debut a brief but favorable review. With their
second delivery 'Crystal Castles II' I see no reason to abandon
them. Ethan Kath and Alice Glass are back with a collection of
fourteen uncompromising but highly accessible compositions.
The overall sound of the album is "crunchy". The treatments of
Ms Glass' voice conceal more than they reveal; this, despite the
often jolly dance-friendly nature of the arrangements, brings a
nicely sinister flavour to the proceedings. (The artwork is pretty
creepy too!)
'Celestica' has an almost-pretty breathy vocal floating over the
insistant beats. Waves of melancholy synth chords flow in and out
of the mix helping to sustain an uneasy dreamlike ambience.
'Doe Deer', however, is the stuff of nightmares. Ms Glass screeches
like a mad witch with a bad grudge. The inner-violence of the track
may be a tad unnerving for the faint-hearted. Uneasy-listening.
'Year Of Silence' is another sombre slice of stripped-down techno.
(Miss Kittin came to mind more than once). The thumping rhythm
would doubtless go down well in some of the darker corners of
contemporary urban clubland. (The kind of place where everyone
wears black and never smiles!)
'Suffocation', despite its ponderous title, delivers a glimpse of
warmth here and there with its almost-uplifting, anthemic theme.
'Birds' is a particularly interesting confection. The squelchy
beats, great crashing grungy chords and demented vocals outline
a territory which would have interested the venerable Mr Hitchcock,
were he still with us today.
Mr Kath has a turn behind the mike for their reworking of
Platinum Blonde's 1983 composition 'Not In Love'. It is one
of the album's high-points, despite the vocal sounding very
much as though it is being performed by a chipmunk.
(Listen and believe!!)
Final track 'I Am Made Of Chalk' brings the project to an
extraordinary close. The ravings of a savage or suffering
long-forgotten underwater creature would appear to have been
captured on tape and inserted into this deeply disturbing mix.
Not the sort of thing to listen to just before bedtime.
A willfully weird and totally thrilling listening experience!
Highly Recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I saw Crystal castles 'perform' as the opening act for Rock Ness festival in 2010. They didn't even play any music, she just staggered round the stage with recently finished bottle of Jack swearing and getting the sound turned off as it was supposed to be live on radio 1. 'rock and roll' no just utterly terrible, and not a good start to the festival. I saw them at Glastonbury in 2011, and i was prepared to hate them, it was pouring with rain and they came on late. However to my surprise, i enjoyed them! So took the plunge and bought this album. I really like it. i like the stomping techno side, i like the Blondie throwback disco beats, and i like the punk shouting. The muffled 'in the background' nature if the vocals takes some getting used to. On the whole i love it! 'Baptism' is a fantastic song.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Ethan Kath has been using atari 8-bit sound chips for his synths for a few years now,which creates a unique synth sound, here on the second Crystal Castles album, the canadian duo have created a softened but also improved sound.
The angry screeches and synth squeals have been replaced by symphonic variants, akin to the european house sounds of the last 15 years but fear not, there is still the atari sound chips and the buzzing,frenetic,glacial 'Castles sound.
To improve on their remarkable debut album was always going to be difficult but this album is a rich cathedral of sound, with fewer samples and a direction towards a more mature sound.
Its difficult to compare anyone to these two in modern alternative music, they fit well into the alternative scene but nobody comes from such an interesting angle ,using '80's computer chips!. The sounds created are anything but limited and in fact the atari chips give the synths a unique sound,tinnier but also somewhat fresher than modern synths,.
The angry screeches and synth squeals have been replaced by symphonic variants, akin to the european house sounds of the last 15 years but fear not, there is still the atari sound chips and the buzzing,frenetic,glacial 'Castles sound.
To improve on their remarkable debut album was always going to be difficult but this album is a rich cathedral of sound, with fewer samples and a direction towards a more mature sound.
Its difficult to compare anyone to these two in modern alternative music, they fit well into the alternative scene but nobody comes from such an interesting angle ,using '80's computer chips!. The sounds created are anything but limited and in fact the atari chips give the synths a unique sound,tinnier but also somewhat fresher than modern synths,.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Present for my granddaughter
This item arrived, direct to my granddaughter in time for Easter, which delighted her no end! Thank you for making her one happy young lady.
Published 23 days ago by Nina
Stunning in Parts
Crystal Castles came to my attention a couple of years ago with their distinctive high frequency sound and unique style. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Grantona
Crystal Castles
Crystal Castles are an interesting band and I've liked both the albums so far.
My only issue is do they really need to be almost an hour long?! Read more
My only issue is do they really need to be almost an hour long?! Read more
Published 13 months ago by Stoker
BANGING
Take no notice of bad reviews,i have done my research on the naysayers and this isnt their scene.This is a bangin album a real leap from the first. Read more
Published 13 months ago by mister joe
Dark dance music! But alas the song I bought it for is not on it...
This album is quite unique, unlike anything else I've ever heard. If I really had to compare them to anyone, I'd say Crystal Castles are a little like the Prodigy in their early... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Sara Greatorex
CRYSTAL CLEAR
My first exposure to CC was via the tracks Untrust Us and Crimewave that were made available through a free Nine Inch Nails Tour ep download. Read more
Published 22 months ago by The Black Regent
Awsome
This band has a very unique sound, no one is like them (that i know of). This is an excellent follow up to their preivious album, you can tell its crystal castles but this album... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Rt Giles
great buy!
fab quality :) came in 2 days, will defo cum bk to buy more :) and very cheap!!
Published 23 months ago by lukebunney1
All surface with no heart.
Crystal Castles are an electronica duo from Toronto. The singer is a cooler-than-thou woman who alternates between shouting and cooing. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Captain Cowchucker
A very good second outing
I first saw Crystal Castles in a Skins episode a few years ago and instantly loved the harsh completely unique styling of their music. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Stampy
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