Crystal Castles
Crystal Castles

THE REVIEW

My first encounter with music dates back to, and this might seem very silly, the time when I first got into video games. It was 1994 if I'm not mistaken, and my parents gave me a decidedly outdated console: a Sega Master System II. An 8-bit console, in an era when even the 16-bit ones were about to run out of steam. No matter. From that moment, my love for video games was born, as well as for the accompanying music composed by true geniuses of the music score. Think of the legendary Super Mario Bros theme, the (beautiful!) techno tunes of Sonic The Hedgehog, the magnificent orchestral compositions of all the Final Fantasy episodes curated by that genius Nobuo Uematsu.

Now that 15 years have passed, my passion for video games has greatly mellowed while my love for music has monstrously expanded. You'll understand the pang of emotion I felt when I started this record. "Untrust Us" is my electro madeleine: it starts with a tweet-tweet that seems directly produced by one of those old consoles that entertained me so much as a child. But once the nostalgic effect fades, I already realize that this track is much more; a little vocoder-like voice weaves in, and suddenly I'm swept away by the incredibly danceable rhythm in the background. And the further it goes, the better it gets.

This first album by Crystal Castles consists of 16 tracks of electronic music with a very high danceability factor, all composed with a blend of retro sounds and modern technologies. Not to mention the countless background sound effects: electronic pops that seem taken from Space Invaders, incomprehensible little voices that seem about to say "Bonus life", ultrasonic farts, etc.

There are also tracks that are less dancefloor-oriented but still make your head and hips pulse, like "Good Time", or decidedly pop tunes like the magnificent "Vanished". In the twelfth track, "Love and Caring", an effected and angry female voice appears, seemingly coming from a broken intercom, as well as from any Atari Teenage Riot disc.

And then comes the last track, and as if to say "we're not just sitting here basking in this blend of minimal sounds", the album concludes with a gentle melody on acoustic guitar and a very pleasant echo effect voice. At which point, delighted, you want to press the start button, pardon, play, once again.

In short, an excellent electronic music product from a band that can be considered an heir to Daft Punk, just as much as Justice or Digitalism, and a must-have purchase if you appreciate these "modernariato" sounds as much as I do.

GAME OVER. INSERT COIN.