Cannibal Cheerleader

THE ‘CRYSTAL THEFT’ CONTROVERSY


There appears to be growing controversy around the suspicion that Cannibal Cheerleader favorite Crystal Castles have not properly credited some artists in the “chiptune” community after sampling their songs for such songs as “Insecticon”, “Mother Knows Best”, and “Love and Caring”. Here are some links to articles that detail the specifics here, here, and here.

Here is a quick video trying to make the case that “Insecticon” (a tune which can be found at the Lies Records Myspace) mimics a song by electronic artist Lo-bat.

Crystal Castles Steals Music, Breaks Creative Commons from Paul Herbig on Vimeo.
This song has since been renamed to Lo-bat vs. CC on the Myspace.

Also the Covox song “Sunday” does bear some resemblance to the music in “Love and Caring” (you can here Covox’s version of the tune here).

These articles all seem to claim that Crystal Castles has broken a fundamental rule of the Creative Commons agreement, that is, the original artist needs to be credited.

Here’s the Cannibal Cheerleader take on the situation:

First off, these blogs seem to claim some sort of unity to the “chiptune” community, a musical collective that comprises of artists who use videogame consoles to create sounds. However, such is the basis of electronic music – the sampling of basic blips and whistles from instruments (usually created by others) in order to form your own hooks and rhythms. The chiptune community clearly thrives on swapping these sounds, both from the original video game console designers and with each other. So why the hubbub about Crystal Castles sharing a few of these beats?

One word: money. As soon as a “chiptune” band became successful enough, the free-love that was swapping beats suddenly took a backseat to profiteering. Having lost sight of the original intent of music-making (enjoyment!) the chiptune community is quick to back stab one of their own as soon as they make it big. Most of the tracks in question haven’t even received a proper commercial release but these articles seem biased against an artist that is in reality just following the spirit of swapping beats. Much like the Trevor Brown controversy there seems to be quite a few people vying for attention over compromise when it comes to dealing with the up and coming Crystal Castles.

Lastly, the articles commit a logical fallacy by somehow suggesting that Ethan Kath and Alice Glass are stealing these beats with malice intent. These are not evil people, just music-makers looking to make the best tunes possible. It’s not that they don’t have the money to pay for a few hooks that fall outside of ‘fair use’ (heck, I saw a guy downtown in Austin this past Thursday with a Crystal Castles shirt and not ten minutes later another man bicycling down the street listening to “Courtship Dating”), it’s that they believe in the spirit of sampling. Just my two-cents.

Now that THAT’S out of the way, here are a few Castles treats for CC readers. First off we have a video from what was one of our favorite shows of the year, the Crystal Castles SXSW ‘08 performance.

(Anyone know the name of this awesome song?)

Next here’s an mp3 of CC vs. Goodbooks. Enjoy!

Crystal Castles vs. Goodbooks – “Leni”

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BRING WHISPERTOWN2000 TO AUSTIN!


Here’s a Myspace update from CC faves Whispertown2000:

“Hello, good friends~

Well, it looks like our album will be released August/Septemberish!
We would like to tour in celebration and to share with y’all!
If you, or someone you know, books a club or a college, or plays in a band with a local draw, and could help to set up a show, please reply to this post!!

Can’t wait to hear from you guys and come to your cities!!

m

p.s.
I’ll post some new songs soon!”

A new album and a new tour! If you’re a club promoter here in Austin definitely book these guys! Their blend of Rilo Kiley-esque country folk with a more lo-fi edge (think older RK) fits perfect here in the ATX. Contact them via their Myspace! Here’s hoping they’ll swing through town and we’ll be posting any tracks they upload.

Whispertown2000 – “Intentions”

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NEW HOLD STEADY SINGLE


What does the Hold Steady have to do with Austin? The lyric “Subpoenaed in Texas, Sequestered in Memphis” from their newest single should be reason enough to post this one. Enjoy!

The Hold Steady – “Sequestered in Memphis”

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