You have to hand it to Crystal Castles, releasing an in house remix of their own track, giving it away for free if you buy their record and of course, commissioning the venerable Robert Smith to make this originally soulless cover into an absolutely beautiful bit of tech pop with his all important, iconic vocal.
The original song seemed to lack something and yet, had wild potential. And really, CC did very little to the track, but oh what a difference. Listen closely for the bass to come in, cheesy like a B Movie entrance. The surprisingly off beat drum kit, the overloaded compression on the backbeat and then this life changing, 3 mile wide verbed synth. This is the music that even the most accomplished trainspotter will bob his/her head to; joyfully move about with unfazed awkwardness. This song, this track alone is a music geek’s dream: a proper nod to the 80’s in both song choice and the Mr. Smith’s luscious, breathy vocals alongside the sheer magnitude of modern, creative synthesis.
I can not stop listening, and neither should you be able to resist, dear reader. Therefore, since Crystal Castles so graciously handed this record out at M-Theory Record Store in San Diego (thank you M-Theory!) with the purchase of their sophomore effort, I imagine they won’t mind it being handed out here. Direct CD rip via XLD, 320 CBR LAME MP3. Oh and the album art is hi res enough to make iTunes get squeamish.
Do enjoy.
And thank you for showing me M-Theory, you know who you are :)
_backchat.
