“When touring their highly-successful debut, Crystal Castles built a live show around speaker-shredding noise, with kohl-eyed singer Alice screaming into her microphone as wave after brutal wave of digital distortion broke behind her. As bracing as the live show was, the worrying possibility existed that the duo would carry this approach through to their second album, creating a squalling, unlistenable mess in the process. Fortunately, though, Alice and Ethan left the noise behind when they returned to the studio, choosing to explore the quieter, creepier elements of their sound instead. ‘Crystal Castles II‘ is a sinister and beautiful record, adding the pulse and hum of early ‘90s shoegaze and dream pop to the band’s base of glitchy electro pop. Empathy and Violent Dreams feature woozy melodies that recall the Cocteau Twins or My Bloody Valentine, and Alice’s indistinct vocals barely rise above a whisper, so when they do – on the rave-y Baptism and heart-pounding opener Fainting Spells – they are all the more effective. The highlight is definitely Celestica, and in a way, its naked emotion – the lyrics “when it’s cold outside, hold me tight, hold me” are amongst the only ones discernible on the album – makes it all the more surprising. Of all the trendy, over-hyped bands of the last few years, I’d never have guessed Crystal Castles would be the ones to make it out unscathed with a brilliant second album, but there you go.” — Alasdair Duncan, Rave Magazine

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OTHER NEW VINYL RELEASES:

Mission of Burma Vs.
Suckers Wild Smile
Perfume Genius Learning
Cocteau Twins Treasure
Cap’n Jazz Analphabetapolothology
Wildbirds & Peacedrums Retina
Motorhead Ace of Spades
Cream Disraeli Gears

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“Throughout the late ’00s, SoCal DIY popster Ariel Rosenberg (a.k.a. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti) released a slew of cruddy-sounding home recordings that featured fragments of dreamy soft-rock buried in dull echo and tape hiss. Now, Rosenberg has spent time in a real studio with a real band, and while the resulting album, ‘Before Today,’ is still lo-fi and crackpot, it’s remarkable how good Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti can sound with just a little cleanup. Rosenberg remains the kind of weirdo who’ll write a slinky song about fluid gender roles called “Menopause Man,” or open an album with a Roxy-esque art-disco instrumental that culminates with him impersonating Eddie Murphy impersonating James Brown. But Before Today is also much more cohesive and catchy than past Haunted Graffiti records. The thick harmonies over the chorus of “Bright Lit Blue Skies,” the buzzy synthesizer rush and weird reggae bounce of “L’estat (Acc. To Yhe Widow’s Maid),” and the measured pace and robotic sexiness of “Round and Round” more than compensate for a creepy, degraded atmosphere best suited to low-rent model shoots and dank-smelling mall arcades.” — Noel Murray, The A.V. Club

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OTHER NEW VINYL RELEASES:

Chemical Brothers Further
Health Disco2
Orgone Cali Fever
Tokyo Police Club Champ
Coliseum House With a Curse
Sonic Youth Confusion Is Sex
John Coltrane Plays the Blues
John Coltrane Coltrane Jazz
Real Mckenzies Shine Not Burn

Tags: new releasesvinyl