6 Months on a LEAKY Boat

By the looks of things the debut Crystal Castles album has oozed out much like the blog version of Melbourne's Underbelly, and luckily I have a little taste for you! Just something to whet one's

whistle, here are four songs from the album that your ears probably haven't been blessed with.

It's unfortunate that we've practically heard the album already due to the leaky/friendly nature of the CC Music Factory... their isn't really anything new that is out of the ordinary or extraordinary for CC, but it's a damn solid castle these kids are building... even if their boat needs a little work.

Pre-order the album here cunts, and check out their shit hot new tees at their myspace, Slick has dibs on black... Sickest!!!

Crystal Castles - Courtship Dating

Crystal Castles - Vanished

Crystal Castles - Black Panther

Crystal Castles - Through The Hosiery

Future Love

Greetings. Recently I have been harking back in history to peruse the precursors to many of the songs and styles that bring me aural delight in this day and age, just to keep me interested, as sometimes it can get rather tedious sifting through mountain ranges of music just to find a diamond in the rough (or two or three) to share with you all. So the next week is probably going to be a massive orgy of outrageously awesome OG space disco and italo disco classixxx, because I say so.

To kick things off we have one of the paradigms of prime cut Italo Disco. Basically, Italo Disco songs were simple, catchy and laden with vocoders and space age sounding synth, combined with nonsensical vocals in English by people who don't usually speak English, and when you could osmose a meaning from them, they typically centred around love, robots and space. This song was the epitome of it - it had it ALL.

Charlie - Spacer Woman

It has recently been covered by Ear Pwr, a fresh sounding spaced out electro group hailing from the U.S who have done gigs with Crystal Castles, and definitely worth checking out! (I'm loving DiamondsLiquorLeather, with the lyrics "Jump up like Shaquille O"! OH SNAP!)

Ear Pwr - Spacer Woman

OG film clip ;)

CCTV!!

YEOWWWW!! VOTE 1! crystal castles.... Let's get ALICE'S hot mug on BBC ;)

VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE


p.s even though me and mike didn't win there comp pfft

Oh wait, Oh Eight (Part iii)

So we come to the last segment of the best of 2007 music. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

5. Friendly Fires - On Board (Nic Nell NTronica Remix)

British trio Friendly Fires are probably more well known for their tune 'Paris', but I think 'On Board' takes the cake - a marvelous concoction of dance and post punk. Nic Nell adds just enough of the colder glitchy tech element to compliment it rather than overpower it, and Gee Wizz does it work, combining with the vocals and bass line to form some sort of controlled chaos.

4. Late of the Pier - Bathroom Gurgle

Part of the great Moshi Moshi singles club (along with Friendly Fires - Paris), Bathroom Gurgle (produced by Erol Alkan) is like a Jekyll and Hyde song, managing to mix 80s synth pop in the same vein as Human League with a grand Rocky Horror Show finale. How you could not lose your b-a-n-a-n-a-s to such a song is inconceivable. A great sound that is bang on the money whilst still being original.

3. Foals - Hummer

If you are a Forward Russia fan like I am, you will love Foals (for some reason Foals have their own section on a Forward Russia forum, they just go together like peas and carrots). The dance punk-band have now built up an awesome portfolio of tunes, and Hummer, probably the most dance friendly of the pack, makes everyone stand up and notice/dance.

2. Scenario Rock - Perfect Love Antidote
Scenario Rock - Perfect Love Antidote (Hey Champ Remix)

Remember that old classic Skitzo Dancer? Well this is another classic from French duo Scenario Rock (aka Mehdi Pinson and Ludovic Therrault). The Justice remix of Skitzo Dancer gained cult status here in Australia, and the favour was returned as Mehdi Pinson laid down the vocals for Justice's DVNO. The brand new Perfect Love Antidote is slightly off kilter to the whole electro banger thing they had going with Skitzo Dancer, but that is just the thing that makes it sooooo great. They tell a great story through their tracks and their humour and style can turn any frown upside down. And don't forget the Hey Champ Remix, which stays true to the track (crap effort Bobmo) whilst delivering a more club friendly sound. Simply awesome.

1. Crystal Castles vs The Little Ones - Lovers Who Uncover

How apt. This song was my ring tone until 11:50 pm on New Years Eve when I fucked my phone up carrying an esky from car to house. So this song sort of has to be number one for nostalgic purposes, regardless of quality. Though it wouldn't have been my ring tone if it were shit. Hrmmm.....

Who cares. It was totally the best song of the year.

People in glass houses...

Fuck them! Let's talk about people in Crystal Castles... they are visiting Gee Wizz here in Melbourne town! All of us in Gee Wizz love these guys and their innovative icy cold 8-bit synth sound, and all of us have different favourite songs... pretty much because they are all that and a bag of potato chips - both their productions and their remixes. Crystal Castles will only be playing at Gee Wizz endorsed Streetparty events whilst in Melbourne (besides the Meredith festival), exclusively at Pogo at Geddes Lane on the 20th of December, then on the 22nd at Click Click... you can buy tickets from us, so let us know and book it in children!

Here are our favourites:
Nic - Crystal Castles - Loving & Caring (7inch) (zshare)
Jesse - Goodbooks - Leni (Crystal Castles Rmx)
Mike - Crystal Castles vs Health - Crime Wave
Liz Satincrack Sweetcheeks Houston Shoegazer - Crystal Castles - Alice Practice (Futurecop Rmx)