7/27/09 – Modern Science

This entire album is fun… almost too much fun.  (It’s kind of an pop-electro-funk hybrid.)  The sound is SUPER polished for a local act, and… I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get picked up by a major label sometime soon.  The only thing I disliked is that the album ends with a ballad… such an upbeat, danceable (and again, fun) experience ending on a down note leaves a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

7/25/09 – Ocean Eyes

I really dislike when albums are semi-decent… except for one glaring thing that ruins the whole experience for you.  “Ocean Eyes” is actually a pretty interesting listen… it sounds like the bastard sound child of Hellogoodbye and The Postal Service.  So what ruins it?  There isn’t a single moment on the album where Adam Young’s voice isn’t pulled through auto-tune.  *sigh*  Kids and their technology these days.

1/23/09 – Fantasy Black Channel

I had a post written for this album already, but then I had time so I listened once more.  After that, the original post didn’t seem right at all.  I can’t think of a better way to describe this album than “electro-boogie cranked to 11″.  A sound akin to The Bravery, only louder, bouncier, quirkier, and taking itself way less seriously.  This album singlehandedly put me in a good mood.  It’s that good.

1/20/09 – You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into

“Does It Offend You, Yeah?” is kind of a musical chameleon on this album, with two constants: lots of synth and dance beats.  A couple of the tracks remind me of a dancier version of Death From Above 1979.  “Dawn of the Dead” has that sound that The Killers would… um… kill for.  This is the most rock’n'roll dance album released in 2008, I’d say.

1/16/09 – 808s & Heartbreak

Okay, so the production is great.  Some of the beats on this album are some of the best Kanye’s ever made, I think.  However – and this might sound a bit harsh – if I wanted an emo T-Pain album, I’d listen to “Thr33 Ringz” while cutting myself.  I love Kanye’s hip-hop albums – maybe so much that I really didn’t give this a fair chance – but I’d file “808s” under “horrendous abuse of autotune”.

SPECIAL BONUS:

Here’s the best use of autotune I’ve seen or heard… ever.

Kevin Pereira, you win.

1/15/08 – Modern Guilt

Have you ever listened to Beck and just thought, “Man… I wish he would just let loose and be a whole lot weirder.”  I did while listening to Modern Guilt.  It’s not bad, by any means – with the exception of “Chemtrails” (which damn near put me to sleep) I loved every song on the album.  It’s definitely good – but I’m waiting for another classic from Beck, and this disc doesn’t have it.

Day 5: Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles

So, I knew this was going to happen, but I didn’t know it was going to happen so soon.  I’ve listened all the way through this album multiple times – and it kind of has me flabbergasted.  I know I like it – I know I like it a lot.  Yet, I don’t know where to begin as far as trying to dissect it.  Well, I’ve gotta start somewhere – I’ll start with the music.

I’ll lay it out here – if you don’t like 8-bit samples and synthesizers, you’d probably do well to steer clear of Crystal Castles.  The album (from a musical standpoint) is made up almost entirely of said elements.  I think one of the reasons it’s so hard for me to dissect is because it seems like those two things are ALL that make up the album.  Sure, there’s a little bit of production flourish with the layering done on all the different tracks.  There are insane bleeps and bloops bouncing off one another in what should sound chaotic; but then you add in a thumping dance beat, and everything just falls into place perfectly.

The album features vocals by Alice Glass, which are a mystery to me.  Sometimes they blend right in and interweave with everything else that’s going on.  Other times, the contrast between her vocals and the music is jarring; it almost seems like a competiton to see who can be louder – Glass, or the machine.  (Most of the time, Glass wins.)  Sometimes, that switches back and forth many different times in the same song.  Never to say that the vocals ever seem out of place – they don’t.

Without even knowing the lyrics, the music almost sounds robotic.  Reading the lyrics while listening to the album… the words seem like they were written by robots on drugs, obsessed with sex and death.  That in mind, I HAVE to label Crystal Castles “Music For Rock N’ Roll Robots”.  It only seems right.  I can see Futurama’s Bender listening to this kind of stuff during an all-night robot rave.  (That’s a rave I would definitely want to be in attendance for.)

Overall, I think the album’s great.  When it’s not making me reminisce about the good old days of NES music (like every other band out there that samples 8-bit stuff), it’s making me nod my head and shake my groove thing just a little bit.  Some people might be turned off by the vocals, but I think even if that’s the case, it’s easy enough to look past that to enjoy the album as a whole.  If you enjoy Crystal Castles, I highly encourage you to do a little searching and find some other 8-bit stuff.  There is a THRIVING community of 8-bit artists out there who are just as talented (some even more).

You can watch the video for “Courtship Dating” here, and listen to “Untrust Us”, “Crimewave (Crystal Castles vs. Health)” and “Through The Hosiery” for free here.