Crystal Castles - Vanished (Last Gang)
4/5
By: Mike Harounoff
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Times have changed. And we have to stop thinking it's the sixties. Guitars and drums have been swapped for laptops and synths. There are NO GUITARS left in shops. Crystal Castles are the face of this wave of music, effortlessly cool and very exciting.
Fresh from a mild controversy surrounding their use of music from the 8BitPeoples/chip tune community, with 'Vanished' Crystal Castles are on the thieve again, this time sampling Van She's 'Sex City'. We guess this was done with permission. Regardless, Ethan Kath's talent to be able to rework a tune is already establish with the band's role as remixers for Bloc Party and Health, but 'Vanished' is very much its own entity.
Quite a far cry from debut single 'Alice Practice', 'Vanished' shares more in common with other early release 'Crimewave', the bleepy rhythm and coolly hypnotic bass lines feel like the music that would soundtrack opening your eyes after a fifty year coma, as slowly you wonder what's become of the world. As the track progresses and you explore your new surrounding, you resolve that 'hey, if the music's this cool, then what the hell?'
There are two sides to Crystal Castles. One is a sweaty, pill induced rave and the other is in its own way quite ambient. We already know they have the former down (see YouTube footage of Alice Glass almost getting pulled offstage by security at Glastonbury). But judging by what the latter sounds like, (clue: it sounds like 'Vanished') they're awesome at that as well.
Artists in this article: Crystal Castles
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