This track arrived in the BTA email today and I was pretty stoked on it upon first listen. It comes from Shuttle, one of the the latest additions to the Ninja tune label, and features the vocals of Canada's own Cadence Weapon. Shuttle has released a number of remixes in the past of artists including Crystal Castles, Caribou, and Justice. As well as other tracks under his other alias, Etan. The title track to his upcoming EP entitled "Tunnel", opens itself up to RJD2 comparisons. But it's the "Rotten Guts" original track with it's stuterring bass and vocal sample accompanied by Cadence's flow that caught my attention.
Aside from the obvious quartet of MGMT, Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend and TV on the Radio, here are 10 albums (in no particular order) that knocked my socks off in 2008:
BTA sat down recently with White Lies frontman Harry McVeigh to discuss the band's origins, Ben Sherman, and Guitar Hero.Journalistic genius ensued.
White Lies is made up of McVeigh, Jack Brown and Charles Cave; a trio who started playing music together as 15 year olds under the moniker Fear of Flying.When asked about the name swap, Harry told BTA that the original trio was "very naive in our song writing and in the way we approached everything." After they matured as a group and got some Talking Heads covers out of their system change was in the air. McVeigh explained that White Liescame about once "the band progressed so much that we thought we deserved to be called something new."
White Lies enjoyed their first trip to the economic danger zone that is Iceland last month, where they played the Airwaves festival.McVeigh told BTA that the festival experience was great and that "Iceland is an amazing place, completely barren, there’s nothing there."Sounds like a new marketing campaign for the tourist board.
A recent tour with Canadian twosome Crystal Castles led to collaborative efforts on an amazing subterranean-sounding electro remix of White Lies’ track 'Death'.In true patriotic style, BTA asked Harry if Crystal Castles had pimped Canada to them, and were disappointed to hear that this was not in fact the case.In a possible reaction to our dejected faces Harry quickly assured us that they had actually been visiting Canadian landmarks and having a great time."We went to Niagara Falls yesterday, and we’ve heard good things about [Queen West].We also ate a few meals here," he said, gesturing loosely in the direction of McDonalds.God, I hope not.
Fresh off the festival circuit, the boys were playing a show at the Horseshoe Tavern and then flying to NY for an in-store show at Ben Sherman.While they'd done in-stores before at record stores, this clothing shop will be a new experience for them.
When asked about the band's favourite type of show, Harry mentioned that while every type of venue has its merits, festivals guarantee new fans, a definite plus for up-and-coming bands. "People tend to wander around, and so we get fresh ears," explains Harry.
The topic of new bands led to talk about Guitar Hero, North America's pop culture craze.We were curious to know if it was also big in the UK (it is) and if they themselves had played (they have).Harry even endorsed the videogame, explaining that plastic instrument mania is encouraging for the music industry as it motivates new talent.And they wouldn’t mind being a part of this phenomenon either:"I think it would be a huge compliment to have one of our songs in there."
Still young and modest, these talented lads did not seem to take their burgeoning success for granted and even went so far as to mention a couple of acts they thought we should check out, fellow Brit bands The Joy Formidable and Post War Years.
For your enjoyment, here is a live version of White Lies' 'Death'.
And the lord said...let there be new wave electro pop for all.
If you put Crystal Castles and Mates of State together in some crazy experiment, you might get something resembling Perth's Voltaire Twins. Having performed a mere fifteen or so shows and only a few demo's to speak of, the wonder twin duo have caught the attention of several labels and are currently a featured group on Australian radio station, Triple J. Catchy hooks and synth heavy bass lines are what make "Disco Intelligent Light" a fun dance beat. Having already backed some big Australian names, and heading out to support Ladytron in October, you may start to hear more about James and Tegan Voltaire. I'm looking forward to hearing more from these guys once they've recorded their debut EP, currently in the works. This will probably eliminate any of the mic or pitch issues people have with these early recordings. It will be interesting to see where they take their sound. Wonder twin powers, Activate! Voltaire Twins - Disco Intelligent Light Voltaire Twins - London!
Two four hour train journeys to and from Edinburgh over the Easter weekend provided some much needed time to catch up on the many excellent new releases of late, and give quasi-new releases multiple listenings.
I'm happy to report that Crystal Castles' eponymous debut album, released March 18th, does not disappoint. Of the dozen tracks I hadn't yet heard all are strong, particularly 'Black Panther' and 'Courtship Date'.
London indie music bible Loud and Quiet has dubbed the Toronto duo "the most exciting and original band in the world right now" and they're probably right. I strongly recommend picking the album up here and seeing them live ASAP. They're in Montreal this Thursday and Toronto on Friday. Crystal Castles return to London for the Camden Crawl in April.
We've been following the Toronto duo, Crystal Castles, for quite some time now and we are so close to their first full length it was time for them to release a video. Now, I'm not to sure if I agree with two of the fundamental things that a video needs to succeed.
First, the song: I don't think Air Wars was the wisest choice for their first video. If the point of a video is to capture a new audience into listening to your music then I thought that Crimewaves would have been the best choice. But I'm not Crystal Castles nor do I know them.
Second, the concept: I just don't understand this one. They walk around with ice cream cones substituted for heads? What is that? Are they trying to copy Daft Punk's Da Funk? Probably not, but the dog head concept is way cooler than the ice cream head.
All n' all it doesn't really matter as everyone from BTA is totally stoked for their debut.
[Video]Air Wars - Crystal Castles
Don't want to give you my real fake name because my head is about to explode and this post probably makes very little sense; Mystery Man
I don't really have time to get into the details for this post but I recently (as of 10 minutes ago) got my hands on the first track off of Crystal Castles highly anticipated self titled debut set to be released for mass consumption in March. The Toronto natives first track off their new album album is a great indication of what we have to look forward to.
Let's talk about Kitsune Maison mixtape favorites The Whip for a moment, because I don't think they get nearly enough exposure this side of the pond. The Manchester electro-whatever outfit is on tour playing shows with outstanding peers Calvin Harris, Hadouken!, and Late of the Pier. If their choice of company is any indication of their own ability, trust they can lay down some blazing cuts. The first time I heard "Divebomb" I was blown away by the simultaneous simplicity and attention to detail. By the track's end there are phaser bleeps firing on all cylinders from ten different directions, raining down on any ear within range. For our London readers, check these guys out Oct. 10th and 18th at the Astoria and Fabric. If our own a.m.p.m. gets a chance to check out either show, you'll be sure to hear all about their live skills right here. The Whip's new album drops in '08, and new single "Sister Siam" is blowing up. Check out the video for "Divebomb" as well, which for some reason brings to mind The Edison Twins...anybody?
Crystal Castles is two kids from Toronto named Ethan and Alice who make their own music and have also created dope remixes of Bloc Party, Klaxons, Uffie, GoodBooks and Liars tracks, among others. All those remixes are great and everything, but this Sunday we have a real treat for you. The Castles take HEALTH's shrill, droning and percussion-heavy track 'Crimewave' and restructure it with a shuffling bouncy beat and their trademark 8-bit electro effects while retaining the vocal sample (albeit chopped and glitchy). Pre-order their upcoming Untrust UsEP from S.L.U. Records now and they'll throw in a bunch of free stuff. Better hurry though, it's selling like hotcakes.
