In December, it’s almost nothing but reissues, “deluxe” editions and compilations being released. Still, let me give you some sort of rundown of things to look out for in your local record store or online this week. New or remastered material from Atoms for Peace, Blur, Can, Interpol, Memory Tapes, Mogwai, Scott Walker, Smashing Pumpkins and Wiz Khalifa. Short list, right? Well, Pick Your Poison is regular sized, though later this month it’ll be going on a brief hiatus for the holidays. For now though, we’re in good shape. Please enjoy tracks today from Circle, Communist Daughter (covering The Mountain Goats), Do Make Say Think, Prudence Rees-Lee, Shelf Nunny and TKTTSM. In the Soundcloud section, stream some delightful bits from Brother Dege, Kate Boy, Rick Ross and Stepson (El-P and Nick Diamonds).
Happy December! I’m excited to report that as is the case every year, it’s officially list-making season. The music industry shuts down and stops releasing new material just so everyone can focus on the previous 11 months and distill the best songs and albums from it. Here at Faronheit it will be no different, and the yearly period I like to call “Listmas” will officially kick off later this week. To give you an idea of what the timeline is like, all next week I’ll be revealing my Top 50 Songs of 2012. The week after that, aka the week before Christmas, I’ll be unveiling my Top 50 Albums of 2012. It’s an exciting time, and I’m really thrilled to be able to bring all this to you. It also means more content on the site, because it could really use some more (I am not being sarcastic about that). So please sit back, relax with a warm mug of hot cocoa by your fireplace, and enjoy the year-end delights that are “Best of” lists about anything and everything. Ooh, but Pick Your Poison, that’s all new leading up to Christmas. Great stuff to look out for today from Evil Eyes, Gliss, Helado Negro, Marble Lion, and Superhuman Happiness. Please also enjoy streaming good songs in the Soundcloud section from Girls Names, Linus Pauling Quartet and Julia Holter (covering Fleetwood Mac).
Okay, here’s something a little bit out of the ordinary. Ironically enough, the event is part of a series called “Normal Crashers,” if that tells you anything about it. But it’s happening this upcoming Monday, December 3rd at 6:30pm in Chicago. It’s a free (stripped down) show from Twin Shadow, in a place you might not expect. Where exactly? I don’t know, but it’ll be somewhere in Wicker Park. That’s all part of the fun little mystery that goes along with this show. And hey, Twin Shadow is coming off a great new record this year with Confess, and seeing them for free is just icing on the cake. Throw in an unconventional location with a 100 person capacity and you’re set for an unforgettable intimate experience. All will be revealed shortly before the show on Monday. To get the 411 with complete details, RSVP to the show on Facebook. Now let’s talk about a weekend-starting edition of Pick Your Poison. Recommended tracks today come from Cheatahs, Cliff Dwellers, Dominic Lord, Flume, Novi, and Parlour Tricks. In the Soundcloud section, stream some good tracks from Alexander Spit, Golden Grrrls and Metz. Have a great weekend!
The small subgenre of music known to most as post-rock seems to have run its course. That’s not to suggest that the steadied and beautiful hands that craft such intricate melodies have stopped doing what they do best. No, like any particular style of music, there are ebbs and flows, and what was once popular suddenly becomes shunned by the fickle masses as they search for the “next big thing.” You take a look at bands like Sigur Ros and Mogwai, and simply glancing at their catalogues will show you how the quality of their recordings appeared to drop compared to their earlier, late ’90s efforts. Of course the more you create the more material there is for comparison and criticism. Had there been more Nirvana or Beatles records, maybe their legacies wouldn’t have heen as strong as they are today. And while some of the disdain for many modern-day post-rock efforts stems from recycling old sounds and failing to make forward evolutionary progress, nobody seems to be entirely sure where to go next. A band like Swans certainly qualifies for the post-rock label, but have always had a large following among heavy metal, industrial and post-punk fans too, and being able to keep toes dipped into multiple pools has benefited them greatly. It’s helped their new record The Seer rank among some of 2012’s best. But when you break the genre down to its basest instincts, the ultimate goal is to make primarily instrumental music that speaks to our emotions and sends chills down our spines. You don’t even need to be original if what you’re creating pushes the right buttons. That principle applies to all music, with the understanding that it’s better to be good than cool.
In a sense, with their return from a hiatus along with their first album of new material in 10 years, Godspeed You! Black Emperor are filling a void we didn’t know was there in the first place. Though their music has little to no vocals save for the occasional sound clip, the band’s mission is far more politically oriented than you might expect. They’ve never shyed away from commenting on world issues, and the collective’s unofficial frontman Efrim Menuck has been called an anarchist on more than one occasion. They insert themselves into this commentary and these situations even though you won’t hear it addressed in the songs that they play. Well, as they argue (and it’s one of the reasons they took nearly a decade off), their music is created based on both physical and political pain happening around the world. They vanished about a year after 9/11 and as the U.S. was starting to become involved with Iraq and Afghanistan. You’d suspect these things would inspire the band, and their 2002 album Yanqui U.X.O. was its own political statement, with missiles on the album cover and interior artwork drawing connections between major record labels (AOL Time-Warner, BMG, Universal) and various arms manufacturers. There’d be plenty more political fodder and terror to draw from moving forwards for the band, but they chose to explore side projects and other avenues of creation for awhile. Now with the U.S. all but out of Iraq and Afghanistan wrapping up as well, one would hope that a period of relative peace was right around the corner. Yet Godspeed came back to life in late 2010 bigger and bolder than ever, though existing solely as a touring entity. Then came an October surprise. At the start of the month they announced there’d be a new album called Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!, and that it would be released in two weeks’ time. They dropped that bomb on everyone.
Yet GY!BE would save their biggest shocker for those that actually listened to the new album. They haven’t changed their sound or done something drastic and unexpected. Quite the opposite in fact. These new songs sound more focused, beautiful and impressive than just about anything they’ve ever done. Nobody quite sounded like them during their initial run in the late ’90s and early ’00s, and nobody still sounds like them today. To those that would say this is a classic case of absence making the heart grow fonder, there’s an equally compelling argument to be made that expectations have only grown for the band in their time away. Just take groups like Pixies or Pavement as examples. Both went away for awhile and left some seriously important and great music in their wake. Upon their return, they chose to tour and only play their old stuff. Pavement has once more vanished into the ether, a band of myth and legend, while Pixies continue to tour and rake in cash almost exclusively because they can. But for so many success stories that don’t want to or are afraid to mess with their back catalogue and legacies, there are the ones that push forwards and hope for the best. Dinosaur Jr. and Guided By Voices are two good examples of bands with solid second halves of their careers (so far), while grunge stalwarts like Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden seem to be having the opposite effect with their “comeback” records. But getting back to Godspeed, perhaps they avoided some of the backlash that’s associated with comeback records because of the quick turnaround they pulled. Announcing a new album and then immediately selling it at shows followed by a traditional store release two weeks later didn’t give anybody time to react. With prejudging almost entirely removed from the equation, the collective listening experience has been tempered and thoughtful and understandably gobsmacked at how excellent these songs really are.
It’s a huge help that two of the songs on Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! are tracks the band was playing around with since 2003. There are live recordings of “Mladic” (formerly known as “Albanian”) and “We Drift Like Worried Fire” (formerly known as “Gamelan”) from the pre-hiatus period, making their studio recorded inclusion here a satisfactory note for long-time fans. What’s most fascinating is how much both of the songs evolved due to time and the addition of new players. They’ve kept many of the same parts so they’re recognizable as the same songs from years ago, but so much has also been re-imagined and re-purposed to give these songs a fuller and more dynamic feel. “Mladic” is heavier and more visceral than ever, slowly building over its 20 minutes with Middle Eastern-style guitars before hitting its stride in the final seven minutes with pure noise and intense orchestral changes. Rarely have GY!BE gone so dark, but it’s also immensely important that they do take those emotions to heart as part of a healthy balance with the lighter fare. It’s an exploration and ultimately expulsion of their demons, filtered through the glasses of an influential band like Swans. Once all that hand wringing finishes in dramatic fashion, relief and calm take over and provide solemn guidance through the rest of the record. “We Drift Like Worried Fire” is positively placid by comparison, and in fact shows off the band’s tender and minimalist side. Starting with precious few notes on a guitar, the track accrues more and more elements to create a lush stew of infinitely measurable beauty that is likely to make the boys in Sigur Ros jealous. At that point in time, about 10 minutes in, a peak is hit and there’s a sudden explosion of joyous emotion and sonic glory that is just about enough to restore your faith in humanity whether you lost it or not. The whole world suddenly fades away so you can be fully present in that moment because it is a knockout punch.
Naturally, the two shorter tracks on Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!, clocking in at 6.5 minutes apiece, can feel like stopgaps compared to the duo of big showcase 20 minute monstrosities. If you buy the album on vinyl, “Their Helicopters’ Sing” and “Strung Like Lights at Thee Printemps Erable” don’t even make the main 12″ but are instead relegated to a separate 7″. That doesn’t make them outcasts though, and if you buy a digital or CD copy of the record their placement at tracks two and four creates a nice buffer between the longer pieces and allows the group to continue to throw curveballs and variations in their already distinct sound. Both tracks are drones that are positively hypnotic when listened to with eyes closed and a clear mind. “Strung Like Lights at Thee Printemps Erable” shows off a little more instability than its nearly equal length counterpart, but both bear an eerie sonic resemblance to some great moments on the F#A#∞ record. It’s just another great reminder that no other band has quite the mastery of sound or has carved such a distinct place for themselves in the world of post-rock. No matter the state of the genre right now or in the future, there’s very little that can change the power and emotional wallop this record packs into its four tracks and 53 minutes. We’ve missed you, Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Welcome back.
It’s been about three years since we’ve heard anything from Sweden’s Shout Out Louds, and while they’ve been missed, I’m pleased to inform you they’re back with some new music. You can stream their new song “Blue Ice” in the Soundcloud section at the bottom of this post. That’s all well and good, but what really caught my eye (and in some respects, my ear) was the unconventional way they unveiled this song to the world. See, they put together 10 special “kits” that were distributed to friends and special people in the music community. These kits contained two things: a bottle of water and a hollowed out circular tray about the size of a 7″ record. According to the instructions, which are explained in this video, you’re supposed to pour the water into the circular tray and then stick it in the freezer. After a few hours, it should have hardened into a block of ice, which you can then place on your turntable and listen to the new song that way. Have you ever heard what a record made of ice sounds like when the needle goes down? The video lets you hear the song as played on ice. In short, it’s a really cool thing to do, and part of me wants one of those special kits. If that interests you too, the band’s label Merge Records is giving away one of the ten kits to a fan. Send an email to merge@mergerecords.com with your mailing address and the subject line “Blue Ice Giveaway” by December 3rd for your chance to win. Good luck! Other tracks you’re going to want to hear as part of today’s Pick Your Poison include gems from Die Mason Die, The Easton Ellises, Elephant 12, The Emperors of Wyoming, Rice Cultivation Society and Touche’s cover of Prefab Sprout. Besides the new Shout Out Louds track, in the Soundcloud section you can stream good new music from Bleeding Rainbow and Madrid too.
I haven’t featured a hot, upcoming Chicago show on the site in a couple weeks, so let’s return to that tradition today. Coming up this Saturday at Beat Kitchen is a night of ’60s style psychedelia with a couple of really good bands. Chicago’s own Secret Colours seem to be the opening band for show after show in town these days, and that’s a very good sign for them. Their garage rock sound filtered through psychedelic textures only gets sharper with time, and it’ll be interesting to hear what their upcoming full length will bring to the table. In the meantime, you can hear their older stuff via Bandcamp and download their excellent cover of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” for free there as well. But headlining this Beat Kitchen show is Elephant Stone, a Montreal band formed by Rishi Dhir. You may not be familiar with Rishi by name, but you’ve likely heard some of his work playing the sitar on songs from Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Black Angels, The Horrors and a whole lot more. Basically, he’s the go-to sitar guy, and Elephant Stone is his full band exploration of psych-pop. That’s resulted in a strong 2009 debut record The Seven Seas, which was among the nominees for Canada’s Polaris Music Prize. There’s been an EP since then, and a sophomore album will be out this upcoming February. You can hear the new record’s opening track “Heavy Moon” by clicking here. It’s good stuff, and I hear Elephant Stone also puts on a very interesting live show. If you’d like to go see them at Beat Kitchen this Saturday, tickets are $12 and can be purchased here. The show starts at 9, and you’ve got to be 17+ to attend. Okay, let’s do some mid-week Pick Your Poison! Today I’ll recommend tracks from Donovans, Dream Curtain, Grave Babies, Lawrence Arabia, Midnight Magic, Pearl Necklace, The Reflections and The Wonder Revolution. In the Soundcloud section, stream delightful tracks from The Hotelles and Shugo Tokumaru.
This final week of November sees even fewer new releases than you might expect. If you’re on the prowl for new music, there’s stuff out this week from Atlas Genius, John Zorn, Mouse on Mars, Panos, Robin Guthrie, Sleeping Bag and Teen Mom. Rage Against the Machine are also putting out a 20th anniversary edition of their self-titled debut album, filled with all sorts of extras like demos and live material. It’s definitely worth looking into at least if you’re a current or former Rage fan. Outside of that, it’s pretty quiet, though this edition of Pick Your Poison sure isn’t. Don’t miss some good downloads from Algernon Doll, Brooms, Chromatics, Maitland, Nicolas Jaar & Theatre Roosevelt, and Wall (covering Karen Dalton). In the Soundcloud section, be sure to stream good stuff from Big Boi, Buke & Gase, Ditt Inre and Free Energy.
Phew, what a Thanksgiving holiday. I don’t know about you, but I did NOT want to have things return to normal today. Of course it’s not really “normal” if you’re participating in Cyber Monday, which is apparently one of the biggest detriments to progress in the workplace every year. People are too busy shopping online for themselves and others to be bothered with the work they actually have to do. Sure, I bought a couple things myself, but more out of a weird sense of obligation rather than a desire to scoop up some amazing deals. What I bought were a couple things I really wanted and knew I’d need to buy in the near future, so I figured I might as well get it out of the way on Cyber Monday. Most of them weren’t even on sale. Whatever. I hope you had a buying frenzy and got some cool stuff. If you need a soundtrack to your browsing, please enjoy today’s edition of Pick Your Poison. Featured tracks come from David Bronson, New West (covering Twin Shadow), Starlings, TN (for some holiday cheer), and Zoe Boekbinder (covering Leonard Cohen).
It seems like a much longer period of time, but it’s only been about 2.5 years since we last heard from How to destroy angels_. What has the band been doing in that gap? Well, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have been creating the soundtracks to The Social Network and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo for starters. Progress with Htda has been slow to say the least, but at least there’s a good excuse as to why. Their 2010 self-titled debut EP wasn’t exactly a bold statement of originality, but there were some solid starting points that they could have worked from to build something fantastic and wholly worthwhile. What’s surprising about the new An omen_ EP is that they seem to have forgotten about that earlier material completely. You’re not going to turn this on and confuse it for another band, but subtle changes have been made to their approach that change your expectations for the project. Most specifically, they seem to be moving away from energetic songs with danceable rhythms that are ripe for remixing, and instead working with calm but very dark atmospherics that feel much more emotionally draining. For better comparison, the first EP was like Nine Inch Nails hit singles “The Hand That Feeds” or “Only,” while this new EP more crosses NIN’s Ghosts record and Reznor’s work with fellow Htda bandmate Atticus Ross on the soundtrack for The Social Network. So you’ll not get anything as fun as “Fur Lined” or The Knife-like as “BBB” appeared to be. The closest thing to a single An omen_ has is opening track “Keep it together,” which rolls past on a minimalist arrangement that’s one part skittering beat and another part bass vibration. The song title is the chorus hook, which gets chanted over and over by Mariqueen Maandig and Reznor until it sticks with you. Just because it’s the most memorable song on the EP doesn’t mean it’s the best though, because that honor goes to what immediately follows it – the seven minute “Ice Age.” The song takes this band to an entirely new place, but filters it so well most people won’t even notice. Peel the track down to solely the banjo and Maandig’s vocal, and you’ve got a very slight country song. With percussion, loops, static and electric guitar it becomes an ambient and precariously balanced musical thinkpiece that subtly challenges our preconceptions about this band and our expectations from Reznor.
By contrast, the rest of An omen_ falls into very familiar territory. “The sleep of reason produces monsters” and “The loop closes” are both primarily instrumental tracks, though Reznor does chant, “The beginning is the end and it keeps coming around again,” a bunch of times in the final 90 seconds of the latter song. Those words may remind NIN fans of the song “The Beginning of the End” from the Year Zero record. There is no direct correlation to it, but it serves as a good reminder of Reznor’s fixation on endings and beginnings. As he pushes his old band and previous work into the background and tries to start fresh, it’s nearly impossible to avoid looking back and making comparisons. This unending loop is both a help and a hindrance to How to destroy angels_, because unless they try something completely wild and unexpected, there’s a built in fan base both latching on and harshly judging at the same time. If you’ve been having trouble liking Reznor’s post-NIN work, this new EP isn’t going to win you over. Though they don’t sound too similar to one another, the two EPs Htda have put out so far share one common flaw: Maandig’s vocals. She doesn’t have a bad voice and can certainly hit all the notes as needed, but she falls short when it comes to injecting emotion into the songs. Most often she comes off like an actor that gets cast in the wrong role. These are dark, grimy and brooding arrangements, and her lilting voice has an innocence that doesn’t quite get to that same level. Reznor’s already proven himself in that regard, which is why his less frequent vocal work more often than not shows how great this band could be when firing on all cylinders. Since Reznor is married to her, Maandig isn’t likely to leave or get kicked out of the band, so it’s best just to accept her shortcomings and hope that with time she improves. The band’s debut full length set for 2013 would be a great place to start.
As the year draws to a close, the new release list gets thinner and more compilation/greatest hits oriented. If you’re grasping at straws for some new music though, let me see what I can do about pointing you in the right direction this week. Keep an eye out for releases from Coldplay, Dinosaur Jr., Elbow, Elvis Costello, The Evens, The Faint (featured below), Gospel Claws, Jason Isbell, Led Zeppelin, Midway in Wake, O.A.R., The Pharmacy, Takka Takka, The Twilight Sad and Tim Hecker with Daniel Lopatin. If those choices don’t satisfy, maybe some songs from today’s Pick Your Poison will. Good stuff today from ExDetectives, The Faint, Matt Pond, Parquet Courts, Qurious and SISU. In the Soundcloud section, stream some excellent tracks from Holly Herndon and Majical Cloudz.
My relationship with Interpol has been put through the ringer these past ten years, as I’m sure many others have dealt with the same feelings. After their first two albums, things started to move in the wrong direction for the band, and they’ve yet to recover from some of those mistakes. That doesn’t stop us from celebrating a record like Turn On the Bright Lights though, which turns 10 this year. To commemorate such an occasion, Matador (in conjunction with the band) are doing what so many have done before – releasing a remastered deluxe anniversary edition of the record. It is a seminal record of the early 00s, and arguably one of the ten best of the last ten years. That’s really the only reason I’m mentioning this re-release. There’s a bunch of extras that go along with the remastered version of the album, including bonus tracks, demo versions and a Peel session. I already own much of it, but if you don’t, it’s well worth owning. There’s a hardcover book that comes with the deluxe edition too, featuring glossy photos and generally nice packaging for either the vinyl or CD versions. The whole thing will be out on December 4th, just in time to buy it as a Christmas present for a young relative that doesn’t know what good music is. Please also enjoy this demo version of “Roland” as a compelling reason to buy this record for the first (or second) time. Okay, now let’s deal with Pick Your Poison stuff. Today’s delights include songs from Big Harp, Dark Colour, Frank Rabeyrolles, Midway in Wake, The Sharp Things and Warning Light. The Soundcloud section is super great today too, and you shouldn’t miss streaming tracks from Black Moth Super Rainbow, Guards, The Mary Onettes and Zola Jesus (covering Rihanna).
Happy Friday before Thanksgiving! Yes, the big turkey day holiday is less than a week away. I for one am excited, not only for the meal and the family that comes along with it, but for a couple days off work. The sweet relief of sleeping until noon and spending days watching football is a time honored tradition that the Pilgrims started way back in 1492 at the first Thanksgiving. I’ll talk more about Thanksgiving next week, when the holiday is even closer. For now though, it is the start of a regular 2 day weekend, and that will satisfy. I hope you’ve got some grand and exciting plans, because mine are nothing short of nonexistent and that’s how I like them. Maybe you could spend some time with some new music though? Tracks from Bad Breaks, Gospel Claws, The Peach Kings, Run Forever, and Their Only Dreams make for some highlights of this set. In the Soundcloud section, allow me to suggest streaming tracks from Angel Olsen and Marissa Nadler, plus Thallie Ann Seenyen. Have a great weekend!
For those of you that don’t know (because I don’t often tackle topics on here that aren’t music related), I’m a huge fan of Louis C.K. To those that already love the man, this seems like a no brainer. But believe it or not, there are lots of people out there that don’t care for the guy or his brilliantly subversive show Louie. I’m sure Louie has plenty of superfans out there that see him do stand-up every time he comes through town or make sure to see/buy everything he attaches his name to. Don’t quite lump me in with that group…yet. I watch his show religiously, I own the DVDs and I’ve seen almost all his TV stand-up specials. Yet I’ve never seen him perform live in person. The worst part is that I don’t know why that is. He’s been through Chicago a few times in the last few years, and I’ve never even thought about buying a ticket until this new tour. I do feel it’s special though that he’s decided to take ticketing into his own hands to shut down gigantic service fees and scalpers selling things at an inflated price. Much like some of his shows, which are available for download at a very cheap $5, he’s doing everything he can to make his comedy affordable to the general public. That’s extremely admirable, in my opinion. So I felt like now more than ever was the time to see him in person. The show is tomorrow, and I’m remarkably excited. If you’re like me and want to see Louis C.K. when he comes through your town, check here for tour dates. Now let’s do today’s Pick Your Poison. Highlights today include tracks from Angel Haze, The Curious Mystery, Loveskills, Thieves Like Us and Wires Under Tension. There’s also a great new Mister Lies track streaming in the Soundcloud section if you’re so inclined.
In music news, I’m happy to report that the always forward-thinking Trent Reznor did a Reddit AMA yesterday, during which he answered quite a few questions from fans. I don’t know about you, but I’m always excited to hear what the man behind Nine Inch Nails has to say. Most assuredly he’s doing the occasional press bit as part of promotional duties for the new How to destroy angels_ EP, but it’s great to pick his brain about many music-related things. During the AMA session, Reznor admitted he was working on a track with Queens of the Stone Age, which will likely be on the next QOTSA record (along with Dave Grohl, who’s taken over on drums as he did for the band’s seminal Songs for the Deaf). He’s also putting the final touches on a How to destroy angels_ full length debut album while “starting rehearsals for two bands.” The use of the word rehearsals seems to suggest that Reznor will be performing live again in the near future, most likely first with HTDA and then later in 2013 with Nine Inch Nails, because there’s also new NIN material “in the works.” When Reznor quit touring back in 2008 following a series of NIN farewell shows, he basically said he’d keep making NIN music but wouldn’t tour around it because it’s a grueling, complicated and expensive exercise that wasn’t worth the trouble for a man of his age. Apparently he’s had a change of heart. That can only be a good thing, because of the handful of times I saw NIN live, there wasn’t a bad show among them. In other AMA news, the long gestating remastered reissue of NIN’s double album The Fragile is still in the works, as it has been for years now. Apparently the remastering 5.1 mixes are done, but the artwork and other packaging elements aren’t yet. Also the Year Zero TV show that was supposed to be in development with HBO or some other cable channel, is currently on hold while Reznor and Rob Sheridan either write it themselves or find a writer that is more creatively attuned to their vision for the show. It’s going to happen eventually, just don’t put a timetable on it. Finally, after winning an Oscar for his work soundtracking The Social Network, Reznor also said he’d be willing to do more soundtrack work (he also did the soundtrack to 2011’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), but only if director David Fincher were involved with the project. Both film scores he’s done so far have been for Fincher films. So those are the AMA highlights. Read the whole mess of it here. Now, let’s get to today’s Pick Your Poison. Don’t miss tracks from Alex Vans, E4RTH, inc., JAN, Midnight Magic, Stumbleiene and Widospeak. In the Soundcloud section, tracks from Holopaw and Lady Lamb the Beekeeper are great for streaming too.
Crystal Castles make songs that are so beat and synth intensive, it’s tempting to think that the duo just sits in front of a computer and pastes a bunch of samples together underneath Alice Glass’ vocals. That dark wave sound has served them well through two full lengths, as they’ve also gone from a small and obscure act to powerful stars of the electronica world in a very short time period. Their success has been a bit perplexing too, because of how experimental and weird their music can get. If you listen to a lot of what’s popular in EDM these days, whether you include or exclude dubstep, most everything is built on similar principles and structures that keep ears pleased and bodies moving. Crystal Castles defy that logic by embracing the abrasive and muddled. They turn left when expectation tells them to go right. The critical acclaim that’s been heaped on their last two efforts Crystal Castles and (II) is understandable because they stand out in innovative and exciting ways. When Glass breaks out her high pitched scream and is subsequently drowned in a digital bath, it’s noticeably uncomfortable but great once you get used to it. In today’s hyperactive music scene, most don’t invest the time to adapt their tastes, so that so many have done so for this group is in part a testament to their excellence. Now we’re blessed with their third full length, appropriately titled (III), and it continues to try and take this odd musical conversation to a new level.
First of all, Glass and her counterpart Ethan Kath claim to have traded in their computers and gear while in the studio so as to step out of their comfort zones and into fresh concepts. Such a gamble winds up doing very little for them, because from note one of opening track and first single “Plague” you can’t confuse these songs for anything but Crystal Castles. Part of it is Glass’ distinct vocal approach, her yelps so covered in distortion that you can rarely understand a word. The other part is Kath’s staccato synth work, which is equally distinctive. So with or without their old gear and computer assistance they still find those same sonic paths, though there’s a certain focus that comes into play on this new record that we’ve never experienced with them before. Like a live band that’s just starting out, the more times they do something, the better they get at it. Three albums in, they know the drill and are now efforting to perfect it. The problem with that is their innovative tricks are no longer so innovative, and popular music has caught up with those sensibilities. In other words, Crystal Castles run the risk of becoming irrelevant if they don’t continue to adapt. For now, (III) streamlines what they’ve already got going, and it makes for their most easily digestible record to date.
Of course just because the album goes down smooth doesn’t mean it’s some cheery dance record you can get euphoric with in a club somewhere. On the contrary, beneath the glossy exterior of these songs are deeply troubled and disturbing lyrics about genocide, disease, corruption and oppression. It’s near impossible to understand most of what’s being said thanks to filters and distortion, but technically speaking it’s there. It begs the question – if Alice Glass makes some important statements about our world but nobody can make out what she’s saying, do we really care? From a different perspective, if we could make out every word, would it change how we listen to this record? Well, when the words can’t convey a clear message, the music itself does. “Wrath of God” comes across as the title suggests, as does “Violent Youth” and “Child I Will Hurt You.” Songs like “Pale Flesh” and “Mercenary” are witchy and wrought with a feeling of dread. Even the songs that are easiest on the ears like “Kerosene” and “Affection” carry with them a sense of despondency that’s not exactly charming. So though (III) isn’t as instrumentally experimental and challenging as the band’s previous two efforts, their approach and subject matter gets darker and more alien to offset it. The trade-off turns out to be not worth as much as you might expect, suggesting that maybe now is the time Crystal Castles need to really sit down and figure out how they’re going to proceed from here. The money is reasonably good and their popularity continues to rise, so maybe that will blind them from the truth that their novelty is starting to wear thin. The quality of what they’re offering can’t be considered poor by any stretch of the imagination, but you can see the sword of Damocles hanging above their heads and the winds shifting to some crazier and more fun EDM acts. Perhaps that’s the real reason why this record is so foreboding.
