We’ve had one or two posts before now about the Crystal Castles “Crystal Theft” Controversy (you know, the one where member of the ‘chiptune’ community have accused Ethan Cath and Alice Glass of stealing beats from chiptune artists’ songs and not giving proper credit to their original creators). Well it seems that music blog giant Pitchfork Media has also weighed in and posted an exclusive article featuring communication with members and management of Crystal Castles on this subject, the full text of which is below. Also, hey, thanks for mentioning Cannibal Cheerleader Pitchfork, looks like we’re getting noticed here in Austin!
From Pitchfork:
“Today, however, we present the case of Crystal Castles vs. Various Members of the 8bitpeoples Collective, a group of “chip music”-makers and software/hardware developers inspired by classic video game sounds.
Our story begins in 2004, when a fledging Crystal Castles were still honing their craft. At that time, according to the duo, they relied exclusively on samples, and a few of those samples from that period were lifted from chip music artists.
A bit of background: Like many in the chip music community, 8bitpeoples artists routinely post their music on the collective’s website for free download, with the stipulation that said music is protected under a Creative Commons License. The license provides for free copying, distribution, and transmission of the works in question, provided the person doing the copying/distributing/transmitting:
1. Properly attributes the work 2. Does not use the work for commercial purposes 3. Does not “alter, transform, or build upon” the work (aka create derivative works)
It’s also worth noting that any of these conditions can be waived given permission from the artist behind the work in question.
So, back to Crystal Castles. 8bitpeoples alleges that the duo “violated every term of the [Creative Commons] license” in its use of music created by one of the collective’s artists, a musician called Lo-Bat. They also claim Crystal Castles employed a drum beat from another chip music artist, Covox, “in no less than four…songs.”
Others in the chip music community have chimed in with accusations. A writeup on blog Gameboy Genius lists several more instances of perceived beat-jacking on the part of Crystal Castles, even going so far as to analyze a pair of audio tracks side by side.
But here’s the thing: First, as mentioned, Crystal Castles admit to the sampling. What’s more, according to them, none of the music that contains uncleared samples has been released.
As Crystal Castles member Ethan Kath wrote in an email to Pitchfork, “These infringing songs are early unreleased tracks which were never performed. They are the most awful tracks associated with the band and [vocalist] Alice [Glass] herself hasn’t heard most of these tracks. I put these tracks together myself and then discarded them because I thought they were too poor for release. Labels were interested in collecting these sample-based tracks but we did not want to release these tracks because we did not like the songs. And even if we did like the songs, there were too many samples to clear. Three of the tracks sample early Madonna, three of the tracks sample Joy Division, two of the tracks sample the Stooges, three of the tracks sample Lo-Bat, four of the tracks sample Covox.”
According to the band, the controversy stems from the appearance of several unreleased Crystal Castles tracks online. At least one– which is titled “Insecticon” (erroneously, apparently) and samples Lo-Bat– appeared on the MySpace page of Lies Records, the label to which CC originally licensed their self-titled debut album.
Explains Kath, “One of our earliest tracks is a noise-guitar track called ‘Insectica’. While teaching myself how to use a computer music sequencer program, I mashed it up with a Lo-Bat track. It somehow appeared online as ‘Insecticon’. I assume it was named for someone mishearing Alice sing the opening line ‘I, Insectica.’ Someone else posted the track as ‘Bitter Hearts’ after learning that we have an unreleased track called ‘Bitter Hearts’ and [assuming] they had found it. If I had put the song online myself I would have called it ‘Insectica (Crystal Castles vs. Lo-Bat version)’ but unfortunately I did not upload it. I do not regret this, the publicity we are receiving four years later is priceless.”
The song in question, though still titled “Insecticon”, is now credited to “CC vs. Lo-Bat” on the Lies Records MySpace. It now includes a Creative Commons License acknowledgement as well. Crystal Castles also insist that Lo-Bat has contacted their manager and expressed that he does not mind the sample and finds the controversy “ridiculous.”
In a statement to blog Cannibal Cheerleader, a Lies Records rep notes, “I myself wanted to release ‘Insecticon’ but I could not find Lo-bat to seek his permission.”
Furthermore, Kath writes, “The artists who have been sampled have agreed that the 8bit community is making too big a deal about this, plus they do not want publicity for this, they do not want to be known as the bands that Crystal Castles sampled. Instead, they want to be known for their own great music. We are trying to help with this, we are organizing a compilation of our favourite 8bit songs for release on Lies Records.”
So yes, Crystal Castles did create derivative works based on the music of chip music artists without proper attribution (though the attribution wasn’t the band’s doing)– two Creative Commons agreement no-no’s. But since they didn’t release or perform the works– and deny that they were responsible for disseminating them– it would be hard to mount a case for the third Creative Commons violation (”commercial gain”). And indeed, even the other two Creative Commons conditions wouldn’t apply to experiments that were intended to remain in the bedroom/studio.
We may never know how most of the early Crystal Castles material made it online, but since Kath and Glass insist it wasn’t their doing– and since they’ve made clear their intention to not release any of the sampled material without permission– we think it’s high time to call off the witch hunt.
In other news, Crystal Castles have loads of touring to attend to this summer, including a round of dates with Nine Inch Nails. They’ll release a new UK single for “Vanished” in 7″ and digital formats via Different Recordings on July 21. They also hope to issue a new EP and a collection of remixes in the fall. “
Once again, thanks for the shoutout Pitchfork! The article pretty much sums up the issue from inception to ‘Insecticon” and they’ve come to the same conclusion as us down here at Cannibal Cheerleader, that we need to end this senseless argument over what are essentially Ethan Kath’s home recordings. You can read the original Pitchfork post here.
Also, as you can read from this update, Crystal Castles hope to be releasing a new EP and a remix LP sometime this fall. Awesome news! I imagine there will be a lot of comments on this article so since you can’t post public comments over at the P4K, bring them here. What do people think about this one?
Crystal Castles – “Alice Practice (Future Cop Remix)” ******************************************************************** CONOR OBERST SOLO LP/TOUR WITH JENNY LEWIS According to Stereogum, Conor Oberst is revealing more and more about his upcoming Conor Oberst LP and his tour with the Mystic Valley Band. In fact you can head over to Mr. Oberst’s site http://www.conoroberst.com/album/ right now and check out two additional tracks from his upcoming release, “Souled Out” and “Danny Callahan”. Also, according to Pitchfork Conor Oberst will be touring with none other than Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley for some of his fall tour dates in support of his self-titled album. The tracks here sound more upbeat than Cassadaga but certainly don’t dissappoint with their creativity or spirtuality. As Stereogum said, “Nothing like some alien sightings to bring some joy back to the songwriting process”.
Jenny Lewis and Conor Oberst will both be playing solo sets at this year’s Austin City Limits Fest so maybe we’ll get our first glimpse of the two together during one of their respective sets! Here’s another Conor Oberst track taken from a Mystic Valley Band live show that’s been circling the Internet for a while. Enjoy!
******************************************************************** THE ROLLER PLAYS THURSDAY @ RED 7 And you know we’ll be there to check it out, camera in hand! Just wanted to announce this as The Roller are fast becoming one of Austin’s preeminent metal acts, so catch ‘em now before they’re too big to catch!
The Roller – “Rattle of the Shaman” ******************************************************************** MAXMILLION DUNBAR AKA VULTURE V Seems that emcee Vulture V from Baltimore’s Food For Animals (http://www.myspace.com/thefoodforanimals) has a side project as a producer under the moniker Maxmillion Dunbar, and his first 7” featuring two new tracks just dropped via Future Times. Check out this first track “Outrageous Soulz” – quite a summer sizzler if we do say so ourselves!
Maxmillion Dunbar – “Outrageous Soulz” ******************************************************************** ACTION DESIGN DEBUT NEW TRACK ON MYSPACE Our favorite post-Tsunami Bomb female fronted pop-punk act the Action Design (yay for Agent M for getting back on her feet!) has a new track on their Myspace, a cover of grunge act Seaweed’s track “Kid Candy”, and believe us, it plays in the spirit of few punkers today. Action Design sound like what reading the Love and Rockets comic book feels like – the story of punks growing up, getting smarter, and looking inside for something deep amidst all that rage. Great stuff and it’s what made us include Action Design as one of our top ten new bands this year so far. Definitely check the band out at their Myspace and listen to “Kid Candy” – you won’t regret it!
NEW RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS SONGS/VIDEOS Today’s recurrent theme seems to be bands that one can devote their entire lives to, starting of course with Austin punk giants the Riverboat Gamblers, who just played their first show in Austin in six months this past Saturday at Red 7. Of course Cannibal Cheerleader was there camera in hand and once again the Gamblers put on a fantastic set fitting of the greatest live punk act this reporter has ever seen. Lofty praise maybe but it only seems fitting for a band whose boundless energy outlives rocky lineup changes and a music industry constantly on the verge of collapse. The Gamblers showcased some new tracks from their as-of-yet-untitled fourth LP, including “Alexandria” as shown below. Check out these videos and tell us what you think!
Riverboat Gamblers – “Alexandria”
Riverboat Gamblers – “Black Nothing Of A Cat”
Riverboat Gamblers – “Rattle Me Bones”
******************************************************************** CRYSTAL CASTLES UPDATE CC favorites Crystal Castles recently responded to a request for a statement regarding the ‘crystal theft controversy‘, which is a series of accusations leveled at the band that decry them as thieves of samples from the works of ‘chiptune’ artists on some of their tracks. Here’s what Andy from their Toronto label Lies Records had to say:
“In 2004 CC was 100% samples. They stopped using samples in 2005 and started using their own sounds. The band became popular 2 years later thanks to their remixes for Klaxons, GoodBooks, and Bloc Party. Their success has nothing to do with these early obscure sample-based tracks. These songs have not been heard by many people until now.
I myself wanted to release Insecticon but I could not find Lo-bat to seek his permission. There is no contact for him on his website. Ethan Kath in an interview dated June 2007 says Insecticon will remain unreleased because no one can find Lo-bat to ask permission.
Lo-bat himself has talked to the band’s manager on the phone and said that he himself thinks the controversy is ridiculous. It is clear that the band has never profitted or performed these ancient tracks.
The track Insecticon is actually a mash-up which uses the vocal track from the CC guitar track “Insectica” and mashes it with Lo-bat’s “My Droid” for fun, not profit.”
For my money this statement, along with the other Crystal Castles facts uncovered in the comments section of the previous post on the subject, clears up the controversy as we know it. However, I feel that this will not be an end to the argument so I am, as always, interested to hear comments from readers.
In other news Crystal Castles will soon be trekking through North America (but missing Texas, grr!) and then it’s on to the UK in late summer. Swing by Austin again you two!
******************************************************************** YEAH YEAH YEAHS STUDIO UPDATE – LP3 ON THE WAY
Here at Cannibal Cheerleader we always swell with excitement whenever we hear any tidbit of news from one of our favorite bands the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Today’s update concerns a recent post by the band on their Myspace that reads as follows:
“Smells Like Record 3…
COOKING IN THE KITCHEN
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been hopscotching down the road less traveled- from a barn in the Northeast to a ranch in the Southwest on our journey for the next sound. Why go RURAL? We’re not yet sure ourselves, but one thing the city don’t have that the country got is SPACE and there has been plenty of spacing out in the studio as of late.
KITTEN FACTOR
Fuzzy soft muses aka kittens have played a major role in the writing process of YYYs current and past records. Show Your Bones was written in Sam Spiegel’s home studio amidst the birth of a litter of kittens, little gold lions scrambling around. Amazingly therapeutic, nothing turns a frown upside down (there are many frowns in the record writing process) as a purring kitten in your lap. Alas our favorite kitten of all beloved SQUEAKER arrived just in time for record three! Abandoned by his mother, we’ve watched him grow before our very eyes from a blind and helpless little thing into a frisky and fierce little beauty- much like the tunes we’re writing. Go figure.”
The post is then followed by this picture: Sounds like Karen O., Nick Zinner, and Brian Chase are going for a spaced-out, country feel on this record? However it sounds you can be Cannibal Cheerleader will be first in line to give that sucker a listen.
PS. We want a cat named Squeaker!! Here’s a spaced-out YYY song to quench your thirst for the time being.
******************************************************************** ACL SCHEDULE POSTED Thanks to our friends over at Soundcheck Magazine for letting us know that the Austin City Limits Festival has put up their official schedule for the three days of the event. Check it out here.
From what we can tell (besides the fact that ACL seems to have slimmer and slimmer pickings each year), is that Jenny Lewis is running into N.E.R.D., we’re going to have to run between Conor Oberst, the Black Keys, then back to Beck, and Sunday might just be the best day of the fest (what with Stars, Tegan and Sara, Neko Case, the Raconteurs, Band of Horses, and Gnarls Barkley all packed in). Whine as we might, you know that we’ll be there, rain or shine@ ******************************************************************** DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE REVIEW A quick note: my review for Death Cab for Cutie’s Narrow Stairs is up on the Soundcheck Magazine website. Check it out over there and I’ll copy/paste it down below. Comment if you like it!
“Death Cab for Cutie Narrow Stairs Atlantic
It’s lonely at the top. That seems to be the message of Narrow Stairs, the newest offering from rock’s unlikeliest of superstars, Death Cab For Cutie. For better or for worse, it is undeniable that indie has crowned Ben Gibbard and company as the kings of a tender flock. There seems to be something remarkably Cobain-esque about the meteoric rise of Death Cab for Cutie, though, while Nirvana was an outward explosion of punk nihilism, Gibbard’s experience feels more like an emotional implosion, a fiery inner carnage that replaces distorted guitars with heart-searing poetics. With a legion of lonely boys and girls hanging themselves on every lyric, Death Cab can clearly feel the strain of fame on their newest LP. This pressure comes across in the form of their bleakest, their most terrifying, and, surprisingly, one of their most engaging works to date.
Ben Gibbard’s overwrought, angst-ridden lyrics – though they may strike some as naïve – nonetheless come across to modern listeners as more genuine in their devices than most modernist poetry. His pathos clearly strikes a chord in the hearts of the music community: uncertainty and despair are no longer the flavors of the day but staples of our modern lives. Death Cab for Cutie evoke images both creative and familiar on brilliant standout tracks like “Grapevine Fires” and “Your New Twin Sized Bed”. Gibbard’s continued flights with heavy-handedness nonetheless ring as distinctly frank and authentic, and he is no more honest than on Narrow Stairs. As opposed to viewing the flecks of white in a world of black as Death Cab did on 2005’s Plans, the new record remarks pointedly on society in shades of gray. Fundamentally, it must be understood that Gibbard plays the part of a poet, not the esteemed indie-rocker delivering kitschy hits about the most sensitive of subjects. He channels the former slightly in the track “Soul Meets Body”, but soon morphs into a Kerouac-like scribe reminiscing about “the place where your soul had died” in “Bixby Canyon Bridge”.
It is over this canvas of loneliness that producer and guitarist Chris Walla attempts to erect a sound, and the results recall a garage-band strumming away in an empty, abandoned house. Acoustics bounce off empty walls, and the music provides an air of claustrophobia that furnishes a feeling of closeness to the listener. However, this closeness is not the warmth of past Death Cab releases, but an unnerving proximity that magnifies scars of weariness and age that Gibbard and company now wear. It imparts an almost voyeuristic view of a band at their most vulnerable and engaging. The group has expanded their sonic palette not with expansive soundscapes but with instrumental virtuosity, as slinky guitar parts quiver over tracks like “The Ice Is Getting Thinner” and “Pity and Fear”, and swirling keyboard parts give way to a return to crunchy guitars on songs such as “Long Division”.
To describe Narrow Stairs as “frightening” would not be wholly inaccurate. The creepiness of the five-minute intro to first single “I Will Possess Your Heart” represents the lengths Death Cab for Cutie have stretched in crafting this record. The slow build of the instruments to a plaintive tale of stalkers and obsession invokes dark and graphic images. This track paired with “Cath…”, the story of a withered and abused woman alone in the prison of outward appearances, place Narrow Stairs as the coronet on the canon of the Death Cab discography. These somber sagas of all-too-familiar characters stick like barbs into the listener, slowly seeping their meaning and effectiveness into them, making the record a grower and a headphone masterpiece. To this end, Narrow Stairs is, in many ways, the group’s crowning achievement. This is a crown of thorns: delicate and difficult, weaving and at times off-putting, but, for Death Cab for Cutie, ultimately bloody and beautiful.
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.
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.
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.
******************************************************************** 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!
m