Crystal Castles "Crystal Castles (III)" (2012)

Crystal Castles (III)
release date: Nov. 12, 2012
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,20]
producer: Ethan Kath
label: Fiction Records - nationality: Canada

Tracklist: 1. "Plague" (4 / 5) - 2. "Kerosene" - 3. "Wrath of God" (other video) - 4. "Affection" - 5. "Pale Flesh" - 6. "Sad Eyes" - 7. "Insulin" - 8. "Transgender" - 9. "Violent Youth" - 10. "Telepath" - 11. "Mercenary" (4 / 5) - 12. "Child I Will Hurt You"

3rd studio album by Crystal Castles. All the band's three studio releases are simply just called Crystal Castles - for convenience labeled I, II, and III. The music is unchanged in regard to the previous release, and I think it would be nice with some development of some sort in their otherwise fine electroclash compositions. For a long time I found that this was a lesser release, especially compared to the band's 2010 release, but now I find that it's really a fine but also both complex and somewhat sinister album.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian 4 / 5, Slant 2,5 / 5 stars ]

Crystal Castles "Not in Love (feat. Robert Smith)" (2010) (single)

Not in Love (feat. Robert Smith), single
release date: Nov. 14, 2010
format: digital
[single rate: 4,5 / 5]
producer: Ethan Kath
label: Fiction Records - nationality: Canada

( live at Reading 2011 )

<  Unfold video content... >

Peaches "Fatherfucker" (2003)

Fatherfucker
release date: Sep. 15, 2003
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Peaches
label: XL Recordings - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "I Don't Give A ..." - 2. "I'm the Kinda" - 4. "Kick It" (feat. Iggy Pop) - 5. "Operate" - 7. "Shake Yer Dix" (feat. Mignon) (live)

2nd studio album by Peaches, again produced by herself, is bettering her 2000 album The Teaches of Peaches by being better produced and having better and more original material. Also, I like the stronger electroclash and dance-punk style on this.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars - Album of the Year 74/100 % ]

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US alt. cover

Crystal Castles "Crystal Castles" (II) (2010)

Crystal Castles
release date: May 24, 2010
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,40]
producer: Ethan Kath, Jacknife Lee, Paul Epworth, Alex Bonenfant
label: Fiction Records - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "Fainting Spells" - 2. "Celestica" (4 / 5) - 4. "Baptism" - 5. "Year Of Silence" - 11. "Pap Smear" - 12. "Not in Love" (4 / 5)

2nd studio album by Crystal Castles. The album marks a shift of style and is the duo's best effort as well as its most homogeneous and mainstream sounding album. It's still electroclash but I find that the experimental side is less dominant and the individual songs are generally more melodic. A few tracks scattered throughout the album are like electro-punk flashes in between beautiful compositions, and makes the whole experience more exciting. The track "Not in Love" is a cover of a song by the Canadian band Platinum Blonde, which was originally released on the debut album Standing in the Dark (1983). The track was later that year remixed featuring Robert Smith of The Cure featuring on vocals, which was Crystal Castles' biggest single hit.
[ allmusic.com, Spin, PopMatters 4 / 5 stars ]

Crystal Castles "Crystal Castles" (2008)

Crystal Castles [debut]
release date: Mar. 18, 2008
format: digital
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,20]
producer: Ethan Kath, Matthew Wagner, Squeak E. Clean
label: Lies Records - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "Untrust Us" (3 / 5) - 9. "1991" (2,5 / 5) - 10. "Vanished" (3 / 5)

Studio debut album by Crystal Castles, a Canadian duo consisting of musical composer and instrumentalist Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass. The music is experimental electroclash with incorporation of samples. The album is actually a collection of unreleased material and singles compiled as the band's first album. I mostly find it annoying and of little interest. Apparently, the band wanted to re-use the cover art from their first ep Alice Practice (2006), which featured artwork by Trevor Brown but wasn't granted permission.
[ allmusic.com, NME 4 / 5 stars ]

<  show cover art >

Album cover art
by Trevor Brown
for "Alice Practice", 2006.

Peaches "The Teaches of Peaches" (2000)

The Teaches of Peaches [debut]
release date: Sep. 8, 2000
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]
producer: Peaches
label: Kitty-Yo / XL Recordings - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "Fuck the Pain Away" - 2. "AA XXX" - 4. "Set It Off" - 5. "Cum Undun" - 8. "Lovertits" - 10. "Sucker"

Studio album debut by Peaches [aka Merrill Beth Nisker] but her second studio album, as she released Fancypants Hoodlum in 1995 as Merrill Nisker. I haven't come by her actual debut, which I have seen enlisted in the genre of post-punk, and this is far from that. Peaches is a Canadian performance artist mainly associated with electronic genres as electroclash, electro-disco with elements of glam rock. I also find an evident use of industrial in her first two albums as Peaches. She currently lives in Berlin, and knowing that it may seem easier to associate her with Nina Hagen. Like the German "art punker", Peaches make use of shock and provocation as means in her musical shape, and she also refers to and speak much about sex - both as subject, as well as part of her language. This is not bad. it really has great beats and tracks but some of the songs seem like fillers. Anyway, the overall rating may not do justice to the originality of this.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Tying Tiffany "Dark Days, White Nights" (2012)

Dark Days, White Nights
release date: Jan. 27, 2012
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "New Colony" - 2. "Dark Day" - 3. "Drownin' " - 5. "She Never Dies" (3 / 5) - 7. "Unleashed"

4th studio album by Tying Tiffany is interesting Italian electropop, electroclash with a nice touch of Crystal Castles, mh-hmm, me like! This is better than her debut album Undercover (2005), which appears as a sketch of something or a demo, but she has made two other albums, Brain for Breakfast (2007) and Peoples Temple (2010) that I haven't heard yet. In fact she's a bit of a mystery, it seems. No one really knows her actual birth name (of course some does, but the press hasn't found it yet) and that she's from Padua in Italy, and her older albums are really hard to get hold on to but I keep looking...

Reptile Youth "Reptile Youth" (2012)

Reptile Youth
"Reptile Youth" (2012)

[debut album]

"Speeddance"

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Zoot Woman

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Zoot Woman: Formed 1995, London, UK; A band known for being forerunners in shaping what has become known as electroclash. Initially just a duo with Stuart and Jonny.
Band members: Stuart Price, Jonny Blake, Adam Blake (1999-present), Beatrice Hatherley (bass, synthesizers, 2004-present).

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Things Are What They Used to Be

Release date: Aug. 21, 2009

Formats: digital

[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

Living in a Magazine

Release date: May 28, 2001

Formats: digital

[album rate: 2,5 / 5]

Debut album by Zoot Woman as a trio.

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