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Crystal Fighters @ Music Hall of Williamsburg and Webster Hall 3/19/12 and 3/20/12 - STOPPED WEAKNESS Shows - 4.16.12 |
Alright this has taken us too long to write up but that is mainly due to the hurt these shows laid on. The shows were better than expected, and expectations were high, and the pre and post show parties sealed the deal for a week worth of drinking depression. Was on bed rest for at least a week after the shows. The first night was at Glasslands and while most people who attended both shows agreed that it was the better night, I was too drunk by the time the show started and it seems more of a blur. An awesome blur, but a little hazy nonetheless. That was caused by a good number hours before the show at Radegast, a beer garden a few blocks away, and while I was rather enjoying myself, the next morning I was very happy that my girlfriend and sister got me to go home right after the show around midnight. I was talking to the guitar player, Graham Dickson, before the show, discussing post show plans and he said it wasn't going to be a late night as they have to play another show the following night. Talk about a stinging slap of jealousy - oh you aren't going to have a late night tonight because in 24 hours you have to play another show, which consists of hanging out drinking beforehand and getting up and doing what you love.....well, I have to wake up in 6 hours to go to work and drinking off my hangover before I show up is typically frowned upon. Oh to live the life of a rockstar. The next day we were hungover, wishing for death and all day it seemed like there was no chance we would make it to the show that night. The show was at Webster Hall in Manhattan, and since Crystal Fighters in the US is a rare thing, we had to make it. We met up with the band beforehand at a bar nearby, and like any normal person, we drank heavily to attempt to eliminate the hangover and get in a condition where we could enjoy the show. This was accomplished and the show was fucking awesome. Really fucking awesome. I tried to capture some video of the show but was ROCKING WAY TOO HARD to get decent shots. We put some clips up, so check them out. Even with the shakiness I think it gives a good idea of the energy here. As for the post show activities....I don't even want to get into it. All I know is that I got home around 3:30AM, after convincing one of our friends, who had no money, not to deal with the subway back to Brooklyn and to jump in a cab with us....only to then realize I had no money in my pocket when he dropped us off and stuck him with the cab fare. Everything in between was, well, pretty much standard stereotypical post show "partying with the band" (nice nice). Playing rock star for the evening, pretending I didn't need to be up in 3 hours to go sit in front of a computer all day.
So, yeah, felt horrible, but it was well worth it. I had never seen these guys play live, and, though I've seen videos of live shows, I have wondered how they would translate from their record. And the answer is that it was fucking awesome. The txalaparta, Basque percussion instrument, cuts through the mix more clearly than on the record, and the show is way more analog rock with electronic, than the other way around (the live drummer is especially awesome as well). Funny because I went up to Sebastian, the singer, post show and he asked how I liked it and I said what I just stated and that I was pumped because generally I am not crazy about full on electronic music. To this he responded, yeah, I've read your reviews before about not liking the unce unce unce electro dance stuff. Funny, but it's true, and these guys really pull it off - both live and on the record. For a band with very little US exposure, I have not seen a crowd this into it in a while. I mean, shit, for big bands with a lot of exposure, this crowd isn't the norm.
These guys are coming back to the US in May for the US release of their album, Star of Love. They are playing DC, Phila and the Music Hall of Wiliamsburg in Brooklyn (tickets are on sale now). There are also some west coast dates as well. We say this a lot, but this is really something you need to check out. These guys are the real deal and put on quite a show. Unlike anything you've seen before. They take the best parts of many different types of music and roll it all into a ball of awesomeness. They have the pure rock, electro heaviness, acoustic guitars and percussion from the Basque region, and pop hooks galore. 'twas unweak, some, like myself, may even say it stopped a lot of weakness. |
Crystal Fighters - Acoustic Star of Love EP - Real Unweak |
The unweakness of the songwriting here is often overshadowed by the energy, the dance, the beat, but when you take a step back, the melodies, harmonies, and little intricacies with the various guitars, synths, etc.....those are really where it's at. It is tough for me to say that I like these acoustic versions better than the actual record, but I think they are right up there and a must listen if you like the album already. You know what....enough of me rambling on about these tracks take a listen to At Home below, then go to the Crystal Fighters website and buy yourself a digital copy of this acoustic EP:
Crystal Fighters - At Home (Acoustic) - http://shop.crystalfighters.com by Crystal Fighters Also....people who have listened to both, what do you guys think? Do you like these acoustic tracks better than the electro album? Let us know:
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fakery Remix of Swallow by Crystal Fighters Songs / Crystal Fighters - 1.31.11 |
Alright, well, a few months ago I got the tracks to do a remix of Swallow and....it is just finally done. Different than a normal remix, but I think it fits into the category still. Anyway, the original song is great, check it out below, and then check out the remix after. Email us your thoughts too.
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All of Crystal Fighter's Official Videos Unweak Music / Crystal Fighters - 1.26.11 |
Here are all the videos Crystal Fighters have made for their recently released album, Star of Love. If you have yet to purchase this album, I highly recommend you do. It is fucking awesome. Go here to get the album: http://www.itunes.com/crystalfighters you will not regret it. Check out the review of the album here. Their newest video for At Home, which has always been my favorite track of theirs and remains so after the album was released, should be released any day now. So....check out the videos and buy the album. XSTATIC TRUTH
FOLLOW (This video is sick)
SWALLOW
I LOVE LONDON
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Crystal Fighters - Star of Love - Really Unweak/Stops Some Weakness I Didn't Think Could Be Stopped Albums / Crystal Fighters - 10.11.10 |
Though I Love London was the first track I heard and seemed to be their first song to catch on, Xstatic Truth was the first single. This song was different. There was some melody, albeit it sort of weird, and the spasticness of it didn't seem so bad. The weirdness of the melody was what made the track kind of cool. At this point I was still unsure of this band. The live show seemed to have tons of energy, but being in the US and not able to check them out, I only had a small amount of stuff on the internet to check out. I heard a streaming of a BBC show. It was great. There was live instrumentation. There was melody. Not everything had unce. It was all over the place and kind of cool - At Home and Plage were two songs I loved and looked forward to hearing on record. I Love London was the next single, but I didn't like this before, and I didn't pick this up when it came out. So onto In the Summer.....the review is on here somewhere....this was a sharp turn in the opposite direction from what had been released before, and it left a big question mark out there. This was poppy, uncey, full, less spastic and.....well, poppy. I had no idea where this band was going, and with an album release date announced at the same time as the release of this song, it got me interested - would this be a weird spastic album sans melody, a real pop uncey song, or a would it be more like At Home and Plage with more live instrumentation, melody and less unce? As we would soon find out, the answer, like the album, was tough to pinpoint and all over the place. In July 2010, Graham from Crystal Fighters was State-side and we got him to bring a copy of the album over for a track by track listen. Graham was nervous. As most musicians know, when you write a song, you go through a big love/hate mental battle - do I love this, or do I think it is horribly lame? He was in the latter state of mind. Add on top that this was a collection of tracks, and not just any tracks but his debut album, and....you get the point. I would be tweaking about it too. We sat back and let it play all the way through at top volume. At the end, I got my questions answered....sort of. This album wasn't the sparce and spastic dance stuff that the first two singles displayed, nor was it the real over the top, big sound pop of In the Summer. It was a mix of everything. These guys threw it all in there and made it work. The stranger tracks were offset nicely by the bigger pop tunes, and there were a handfull of tracks like Plage and At Home, which were a nice mix of both. I was very pleased after going through the album that day and have been listening pretty consistently ever since. As I went through this album, I came to like I Love London, which I never thought I would. I Do This Everyday was another track that goes back a few years and I never liked....but this version slays. Changed my mind completely. I thought it was another spastic tweaking club track that was not my thing....but on the album version there is a real heavy guitar line in there that changes the dynamic big time. This is one of my favorite tunes on there now - check it out and listen to the that guitar track. What else haven't I talked about yet.....Champion Sound. This track was new to me that day when we listened with Graham. This is the only song on the album that was not produced by the band, and it kind of stuck out as such. It is a cool toned down number and I like it. That brings me to a good point - I think the band choosing to produce this on their own worked in their favor. It gives that lack of professionalism that makes a debut album awesome. More raw, less polished and perfect, and exciting. Had they brought in a big time producer, the pop songs could have been too big and uncey to the point of bad....and the weirder songs probably would have been made less weird. Overall the album would have just been bland. More polished maybe, but not better. As I said before, the band threw everything in the mix here, and somehow made it cohesive and good. There are a lot of good melodies in here, most often in the breakdowns - think Follow, Xstatic Truth, At Home, Plage - and combined with the weirdness, it somehow makes the unce acceptable. You have heavy guitars at times, lots of spanish nylons and ukuleles, with heavey effects of course, and lots of percussion outside of your typical drumkit, such as bongos and wood blocks. All of this is thrown over synth madness. So yeah, buy this album. If you put on a song like In the Summer and can't handle the unce, try out At Home or Plage. From there maybe throw on Champion Sound or Xstatic Truth. Then maybe Swallow or Follow. Work your way through and before you know it I think you too may like something with unce. Here, I will help you. Click these to buy from - iTunes, Amazon, and HMV |
Crystal Fighters - In the Summer - Not Weak Songs - 7.29.10 |
Alright, so this single goes a little more pop than the previous singles, but I think it's great. I may not like it more than Xstatic Truth, but I think it beats out I Love London for sure. It also gets you wondering what the album will be like as it takes a pretty big turn from what's been released before. You can download the song on their website and buy the vinyl there too if you want it. Cool video too:
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Crystal Fighters - New Album, New Single, New Website New Newness News - 6.11.10 |
Alright, so there is a lot going on with the Crystal Fighters these days. They have an official website that doesn't take a long time to load like their myspace page, which is nice, and they are giving away free shit there. That free shit is a new single, In the Summer, which will be released in the summer - July 6th to be exact. Also on this website is a video preview for the song, and also an announcement that the band will release their debut album sometime in September. I read somewhere on ye ole internet that sometime is September 13th, but don't quote me on that. SO...go to their website and check this shit out. Oh yeah, the song is pretty sick too.
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Have You Listened to This Yet? Crystal Fighters - At Home (Live at SXSW 2010) - Stops the Weakness Song Review - 4.2.10 |
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Crystal Fighters - At Home - Stops the Weakness
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Can I say this one last time? Please just go listen to this song. You will love it unless your ears hate you. |
This is a great album to buy if you have tried to get into the Crystal Fighters but can't get past the dance factor. It can be tough I know. It took me a little while myself. That being said, I am a huge fan of Star of Love because the unce unce dance factor is only one part and there are many other parts thrown into the pot that make you not even notice the unce after a while. Basically, at the heart of it all, these are some very well crafted songs.
When I first heard Crystal Fighters, I pretty much thought they sucked. It was 2007, maybe early 2008, and there were just a few songs up on Myspace. I think I Love London was the first song I heard.....I just really could not get into it. It had way too much dancey unce unce unce, no melody - singing or otherwise - and....well that's it....there didn't seem to be any substance. I thought it was a gimmicky London anthem, picturing a euro club scene, rolling and tweaking, screaming I Love London in some lame spastic bliss. It was not my thing. I didn't listen to electro dance music, and I didn't like anything that unced. But I followed along and here it is, 2010, and I am really liking this album..... and I can now say I like something with unce....and that is a tough weakness to stop.
I posted this a while ago, and only had a link to their myspace page, and there was only a minute long clip of this song. Now you have 
Alright well, these guys played a few shows in NY back in November and I missed them. I was pissed. I wish I could get a full version of this song to link up to, because At Home is so fucking ill it is ridiculous. The best I can do is post their