Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles 2

The electronic Toronto based brats, Crystal Castles, are back with a new album unfortunately to those that started to hate their diva like antics. Fortunately for those that only paid attention to the destruction in their music and not their stage antics. They’re welcome back with their second self titled new album, Crystal Castles 2. Crystal Castles comes back more focus, as if to make their artist statement, to show they’re here to stay for awhile.
Crystal Castles consist of singer/screamer, Alice Glass, and producer, Ethan Hawke sounding like a never ending game of Mario Brothers mashed with Atari on their first self titled album, Crystal Castles. They became known for their chaotic stage antics and Glass’ temper towards rude males in the audience. They were the bratty darlings of nu-wave electronic house, their music violent but danceable.
Rumor has it that the duo met well both were serving community service, their punishment for their crimes was reading to the blind. After Hawke heard Glass sing in her noise-punk band, Fetus Fatale, he decided that she was the voice he had been looking for his music. He gave Glass 60 tracks to record over and she came back with 5 that became their first EP, Alice Practice. They became involved in two controversies in art and sampling music and it seemed that they were only good for one album. It’s only so much screaming and video game noises one can take. They were screamo music to a group of young people that did not want to push each other around with the help of guitars but heavy bass and beats.
They seemed to had disappeared for awhile and in their replacement heavier but danceable bands such as Salem appeared. Salem hailing from Chicago, Illinois influenced by Southside juke music and chopped and screwed Southern hip hop along with dark gothic like imagery. Lo-fi female vocals, demonic male rhymes and heavy bass beats consisting of members, John Holland, Jack Donoghue and Heather Marlatt. They also became known for their don’t-give-a-fuck attitude towards the media but Crystal Castles returned rejuvenated and slightly pissed that no one missed them, so it was a pleasant surprise when Glass banshee- screamed on their first single, Baptism , as if to say, “you’ll never forget about is again.”
Experimenting with distortion, tight snare drum claps, shoegaze synth on tracks, Empathy, Suffocation and Celestica. Singer, Alice Glass, normal riot girl inspired yelps from Crystal Castles’ first album are only calmed down to become audio-able for the listener to understand what is being said still eerie and distorted, it’s just this time they’re maturely trying to scare the shit out of you. Almost dreamy drug enfused songs Vietnam and Year of Silence.
Crystal Castles 2 shows that Crystal Castles is willing to make leaping over the boundaries of their genre. They collaborated with the Cure, Robert Smith, on track, Not In Love, and a band like this must be taken seriously if a gothic house hold name is singing , ‘Cause it’s cold outside/ When you’re coming home/ ‘Cause it’s hot inside/ Isn’t that enough. They are becoming young household names unfortunately for the haters.

Tv On the Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes was avant-garde experimental doo wop band, Tv On the Radio, 2004 debut album and it was indeed a debut of melancholic tangled guitars, heavy loops, Motown soul harmonizing and the birth of a band that could easily straddle becoming mainstream "indie" darlings. Through each track the lyrics are well thought out and beautifully structured from soul wailers, Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone even in hidden track "You Could Be Loved"( Emptied on dirty kitchen tables/oh late night, late night/ you could be loved).

Angela's Ashes

Published in 1996 and winning the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, Angela's Ashes, was author, Frank McCourt, most well-known books. He tells of his lovable alcoholic father, worried-ill mother, Irish-Catholic guilt and of the deaths of his younger siblings during the 1930s and 40s. His story is told from the voice of his younger self, Francis (Frank) McCourt, growing up in poverty stricken Limerick City, Ireland. His voice becoming less naive and knowledgeable of the world's hardships as he matures from childhood to young adulthood in this tragic hero memoir of a hard-knock life.

Dancer in the Dark

When avant-garde director, Lars von Trier, cast avant-garde Icelandic pixie singer, Bjork, to star in the musical drama,Dancer in the Dark, they created ,together, one of the best films of 2000. Bjork stars as Selma, a Czech immigrant that moves to the state of Washington in the early 60s. Selma works in a factory to support herself and her son, Gene. She spends her free time performing in the community theatre and going to the picture show to watch her favorite musical though her vision is starting to fade. The more her vision starts to fade, the more surreal and musical the film becomes. Bjork did not only star in the film but she wrote most of the sound track, Selmasongs. When Bjork coos I've seen what I was/I know what I'll be I've seen it all/ there is no more to see, you envision the blur in Selma's eyes.