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!
Hey Cannibal Cheerleader faithful, we’re halfway through the year so I figured it was about time to announce the albums, acts, songs, and shows that I feel are the best of the year SO FAR. Below are some tentative lists with the entries in no particular order and I’m not going to comment on these choices because frankly, they could change tomorrow! But I think what follows will be a good template of where we stand here in the middle of June and I believe a good deal of these may join us again in December. So, without further ado, the Halfway There Cannibal Cheerleader lists:
(that picture above is the Submarines, this picture below is Headlights) Add 6/13 to our summer tour list because Cannibal Cheerleader definitely wants to attend the double-header of Headlights and the Submarines at Emo’s that day. An indie-pop love-fest the likes of which may never be seen again (seriously, go to this show and you’ll experience a spiritual Nirvana), this show promises to be fantastic. Hit up each band’s Myspace up there and check these tracks:
Hi, we’re going to work on our myspace less (because myspace sucks) and focus more on this new FFA BLOG. It’s a mix of FoodForAnimals projects, other music-videos-etc, DJ mixes, writings on whatever-we’re-into-today, etc.
Check it out, its up already!
Ricky”
So hey, if you dig these guys as much as we do, swing by their new blog, you know we will!
******************************************************************** AUSTINIST PREVIEWS RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS SHOW
The Austinist posted a little the Riverboat Gamblers so give that one a read. I’d also like to take this time to announce we will be filming the Gamblers this Saturday at Red 7, so definitely be there for what promises to be a great show! ******************************************************************** CONVERGE ARTICLE FROM WAFFLES
It’s come to my attention that many of you cannot read the article by yours truly that was up on the front page of Waffles.fm this week because it’s a members-only site. Well here I have it reprinted for your enjoyment, please read and comment! To those for whom the word ‘converge’ is usually preceded by the words ‘mother-fucking!’ and shouted from breathless lungs as a furious pit swirls dangerously around them, the Webster’s definition of the term which reads “to come together from different directions so as to meet”, seems, at best, deficient. The denotation implies some form of unity; some advanced knowledge or foresight, not the urgent fiery carnage and whip-crack wailings that is the ferocious Converge; a fabled hardcore act originally from Salem, Massachusetts. “Circle pit right now!” screams bassist Nate Newton at an Austin, Texas Converge show at the Red 7 nightclub in April. The already battered hardcore kids happily oblige as lead singer Jacob Bannon wrenches a monitor from the front of the stage mid-verse and heaves it up onto his shoulder before thrusting it into the pit with utter abandon. Shrieking in blood-curdling alto, spit and bile stream down his face and onto the front of his captive audience, all awash in glorious fury, eyes alight as in a fever-dream. To an outsider, the scene couldn’t seem farther from a ‘coming together’, though perhaps when the world does end (it won’t look much different from this) the singleness of destruction at hand will suggest some unity. However, from a more academic standpoint, the band Converge represent a welcome trend in a hardcore community become too far removed from its artistic origins. The menacing cries and technical guitar-work expose a degree of thought that suggests a band ahead of its time while still heavily entrenched in the hardcore scene. As modern hardcore bands attempt to recapture the energy of the past by dumbing-down their music to rudimentary levels, it’s comforting to know that bands like Converge still bring ingenuity to the sound of hardcore. Guitarist Kurt Ballou stands solo on stage, apparently tuning his guitar and correcting the volume on the monitors. What starts as rudimentary noodling with his strings slowly segues into the opening riff of a No Heroes standout tune “Plagues” and the audience comes to the slow realization that they are no longer experiencing the sound check. As lead singer Jacob Bannon would state later in the night, “I’ve been in this band since I was thirteen years old! I’m 31 now. The numbers have reversed! It’s an anagram!” He’s not kidding either — Converge formed in 1990 and graduated to live shows in 1991 after some home-recorded demos. Converge has been a staple of the hardcore scene for approximately two decades now. With a sound derived from hardcore acts like Born Against and proto-metalcore like the astounding Starkweather, Converge’s blend of polyrhythmic drumming, intricate and distorted guitar-work, and the token Jacob Bannon shriek have given the band amorphous sound qualities which have “converged” multiple genres together. Mixing the noise-rock elements of bands like New York’s Rorschach, the hardcore tendencies of Detroit’s Negative Approach, and even the no-wave experiments of bands like New York’s Swans, Converge’s musical influences are as disparate as the band’s music. “You’re at a hardcore show, you’re surrounded by friends!” barks Bannon mid-set in Texas, answering all questions as to where the band feels they fit into the musical spectrum. The air fills with stage divers as the band launches into “Eagles Become Vultures” from the experimentally-tinged You Fail Me. To define the band as merely ‘hardcore’ however almost cheapens the technical skill and virtuosity that each band member displays. While Bannon’s declaration of adherence to the hardcore scene represents his affinity with its unity, the progressive lengths Converge’s writing has taken remains leaps and bounds above simple three-chord punk acts. Since their first release, the underrated Halo in a Haystack, Jacob Bannon has exemplified the role an artist plays in hard rock music. Many of the greatest icons of rock and roll were art students, from John Lennon, to Mick Jagger, and finally, to punk legend John Lydon (otherwise known as Johnny Rotten). Since the origin of punk, some the best minds were art-school students turned musicians, thus it comes as no surprise to discover Jacob Bannon’s alternate life as an accomplished visual artist whose work is highly respected among art communities. All of Bannon’s work is done by hand and much of it has been displayed as part of the Converge canon in the form of cover art, T-shirts, or other items. The designs selling at the merch table in Austin looked to be the work of a mad graffiti artist rather than a proper screen-printer. His unique work could be seen on the sweat-stained clothing of moshing hardcore fans throughout the show “Look at that!” screams Newton as he points to Ben Koller, the drummer who seems to be delivering blast beats at one-hundred miles per hour throughout the Converge rarity “Locust Reign” from their Deeper the Wound split EP with Hellchild. The technicality of the band on this song is reminiscent of early Converge recordings like Caring and Killing and Petitioning the Empty Sky. Of course, while the band was gaining notoriety in the underground, their brand of hardcore first became more known to the general public with the release of their album When Forever Comes Crashing and their concept album Jane Doe. The latter, a story of a devastating romantic breakup, instills a great sense despair and fury. Some consider the album to be the band’s defining work. However, the band burst back into the hardcore scene with their follow-ups to Jane Doe, You Fail Me and a throwback hardcore album No Heroes. The latter, their most political and confrontational album to date, was lauded by metal giants such as Mastodon and Isis as being one of the best hardcore albums in years. “This song is from Jane Doe”, spits Bannon, heaving with exhaustion at the end of the show. “And this song…” he says before pausing for emphasis and to allow the shouts of the crowd to die down “…is also called “Jane Doe”.
The band ends their set with their 12-minute epic, a testament to their technicality and rage all in one. Even as Bannon curls up into a ball in the middle of the stage, pulling his microphone close to his chest and writhing and shrieking like a dying animal, the crowd does not move but watches instead in awe. The guitar riffs, perhaps more at place in a shoegaze outfit, blend atypical guitar strumming and drum clicking for truly engaged experience. With the final shouts, Bannon lets his microphone drop to the ground and walks off stage, aloof, leaving his band mates to shake hands with the hardcore kids who rush the stage to congratulate the foursome on a fantastic show. While much of music criticism seems focused on the popular aspects of modern music, the more ferocious and technical work of bands such as Converge deserve respect as well. There is a hidden thoughtfulness both in their lyrics and song structure despite the aggressive nature of their music, and while some may think the band sacrifices mass-appeal for speed or scene politics, Converge continues to produce exactly what they know they are good at. They may not be easy to approach for the average listener, but they most certainly push the limits and continue to define a particular hardcore sound that is distinctly their own.
Sorry for the late update guys – slept in too late. Oh well, any comments today (especially on the article)?
What can be said about Death Cab For Cutie? Are they the ultimate sellouts of the underground? Are they the voice for the aging and disillusioned OC generation? Or are they what I’ve always though they were, the kings of indie rock? However much maligned or loved they may be, every reader of this or any music blog probably had a copy of Transatlanticism on their computer at some point or another. Face it – Death Cab is here to stay and they’re going to continue as the consummate professionals they are.
We here at Cannibal Cheerleader are greatly looking forward to Narrow Stairs, the new release from DCFC. The first single “I Will Possess Your Heart”, with its four-minute instrumental intro, is definitely bound to be this year’s creepy stalker anthem, but if you’re looking for indie-heartbreak look no further than “Cath”, performed here by Gibbard on solo acoustic. Enjoy!
******************************************************************** CRYSTAL CASTLES OPENING FOR NIN
That’s right, according to this here Pitchfork story, Crystal Castles will be opening for Nine Inch Nails on what appears to be the Northwest trek of the latter’s tour in July. Also, CC plans to announce some US tour dates for June in the near future. At the moment Alice Glass and Ethan Kath are kicking it in the UK. Have fun kids! ******************************************************************** FOOD FOR ANIMALS MUSIC VIDEO
While the video for Food For Animals‘ latest single “Tween My Lips” from the Belly LP (featured above) is just about the most NSFW thing I’ve ever posted on this blog, it’s also pretty rad in a fat man plus nudity kind of way. Check it out here but don’t say I didn’t warn you! ******************************************************************** TACKS, THE BOY DISASTER VIDEO
To end an indie-licious update, here’s a video I shot of Austin indie-rockers Tacks, the Boy Disaster at their Parish show on Tuesday night. Hope you enjoy!
The phrase ‘this band could be your life’ is weighty to say the least. To have a band you could so devote yourself to as to become a permanent fan of all their work is almost impossible in this modern age, with consumers so inundated with a million bands, each sounding basically the same as the next. However, in the case of both Dynamite Boy and Cruiserweight, both of these bands could be your life. These bands make you remember what it was like to first fall in love with punk rock, to spin ‘Dookie’ sitting alone on your bed, wasting the hours away.
It’s lucky that the band’s have so much to do with each other, else one might find oneself having to choose between the two. Needless to say during their respective sets at Emo’s this past Saturday both bands traded off singing duties with the other band. Sean from DB and Stella from CW8 played in each other’s sets, both of which seriously ruled, with enough moshing, stage diving, and antics as could be had. If you missed this show you definitely missed out
What’s great however is your intrepid Cannibal Cheerleader crew recorded the show and we’ll be posting videos at the end of the week and throughout the month. The video looks great and the audio sounds beautiful so definitely get excited when we premier some videos this Friday on CC! ******************************************************************** HEARTSREVOLUTION VIDEO – C.Y.O.A.
Here’s a new video from Heartsrevolution showing just how strange this band really is. This song is from their Crystal Castles split EP and is probably my favorite by them, but don’t forget their awesome Switchblade EP is out now. Check it.
******************************************************************** NEW BAND CHEER – FOOD FOR ANIMALS
Here’s a band I’ve just heard about that really deserves some attention. Whether you’re into the underground hip-hop scene or not, one can appreciate Food For Animals, a band that changes the template and fuses different elements into one unique genre. Experimental music creator/DJ ‘Ricky Rabbit’ has hooked up with some DC emcees and created a group that combines classic hip-hop flows with distortion-heavy beats and wicked, bizarre loops to create a package of dissonances and danceability. Ultimately Food For Animals fits into what has become Cannibal Cheerleader’s favorite new musical genre, as created initially by our heroes Crystal Castles: Thrash. Thrash, as it refers to extremely chaotic electronic music (Crystal Castles, Heartsrevolution, etc), is the reformation of a basic computer model into a machine of boundless ferocity, chaos, and energy. FfA definitely fall into the Thrash category and their page is definitely worth checking out. ******************************************************************** COOL SHOWS THIS WEEK
And guess just who will be filming this Tacks show! That’s right! Stay tuned for Tacks footage as well! Readers of CC are getting the benefit of my portfolio-building without having to pay a cent – amazing!
Any comments guys on the goings on of CC over the weekend?
