An underrated gem in Crystal Castles discography, Amnesty (I) is their most industrial-influenced album yet. It features some of their dreamiest songs (Kept, Char) but also their harshest and noisiest (Enth, Fleece). Edith Frances did a great job on the vocals, for example the delivery on Char sounds otherwordly and amazing. This album is their best from the point of the concept - it talks about a community of Mennonite, who are a group of conservative christians that believe they have to ... read more

On (III), Crystal Castles tried to found a new sound - the whole thing is recorded straight to tape, dimishing any computers in the process. They also recorded it in Warsaw, which is the capital city of the country I was born in so that's pretty cool. The album goes more into the witch house/dream pop territory, completly throwing away their signature basslines, samples and digital synths - everything on here was recorded on analog devices. Although I enjoyed the change of soundscape in ... read more

Crystal Castles sophomore album, (II) left out the bitpop part of their debut to embrace a more atmospheric side, yet there are a few tracks that have the same energy as their previous record (Doe Deer, Baptism). It's a massive step-up in quality, both in terms of production and vocals. Tracks like Celestica, Suffocation and Not In Love are those really dreamy, synth-driven bangers that I played on repeat when I first heard them. Empathy, Baptism and Doe Deer are intense and noisy and ... read more

In a break from /mu/ challenge, I decided to go through the discography of one of my favorite artists - Crystal Castles.

The debut and most popular album, Crystal Castles self-titled, is the most 8-bit influenced, chiptune work in their entire discography. It ranges from calm, yet danceable songs (Vanished, Untrust Us) to loud and chaotic (Alice Practice, xxzxcuzx me). This album is a mix of their old work, Alice Practice EP and songs that haven't seen the light of day (Courtship ... read more

/mu/ challenge #37

This album is something else. It takes electronic noise and manages to turn it into a sorrow and haunting experience with dark and deeply personal lyrics. The vocals add another layer of eerieness onto the tracks with Jamie's intense and unsettling delivery, in which you can feel the vulnerability and rawness. Although this album is pretty short, the emotions it managed to capture feel so real they stay with you even after the music stops playing. It defintely ... read more

/mu/ challenge #36

This is the most straight-forward album I've ever heard - It doesn't walk around the topic, it screams the thing into your face, whether you like it or no. The industrial, noisy sounds combined with Trent's vocals that range from unsettling whispers to agonzing, outraged screams together make a very uncanny experience. This whole thing is lyrically heavy, and the lyrics are just as nihilistic and dark as the backing instrumentals. The whole concept of this ... read more

/mu/ challenge #35

More noisy than its predecessor, Pinkerton goes more into lo-fi soundscapes. Rivers Cuomo delivers much more personal lyrics about his love life, the loneliness and disillusionment with his rock lifestyle and Japan, which is a recurring theme in this LP. The name and inspiration for Cuomo's lyrics was drawn from one of the characters from a japanese opera "Madame Butterfly". I've heard that upon release this album was getting a lot of backlash, but I ... read more

/mu/ challenge #34

They kept it weezy

/mu/ challenge #33

First album from Modest Mouse on a major label, The Moon & Antarctica managed to achieve the same quality as their previous releases and keep their signature sound despite concerns from fans about the band going into more corporate direction through them signing with Sony. Although the indie roots of the album's sound are still here, the band departed from post-hardcore, replacing it with space rock and neo-psychedelia. The running time of this LP is shorter than ... read more

/mu/ challenge #32

A indie rock album that's ranging from loud, hardcore tracks to calm and acoustic, The Lonesome Crowded West manages to lure the listener to itself, making its lenghty runtime one of the albums strengths. I've always loved indie rock as a genre, so I was not surprised that I enjoyed every song on here. The vocals are great, sounding great on no matter what instrumental the band was going for. A must listen for indieheads.

/mu/ challenge #31

A very interesting album from The Flaming Lips, The Soft Bulletin blends psychedelic rock, symphonic pop and chamber pop into creating the lush and orchestral soundscape of this LP. Albeit I wouldn't call it amazing, it's still an enjoyable record from front to back that I think is good and worth giving a shot if you're into psychedelic/progressive music.

/mu/ challenge #30

A very interesting and off the wall album, Genesis manages to sound very ambient and calm while also being pretty weird and experimental. From what I've heard, she made the whole album in a 2 week binge session which you can hear, since some songs sound similiar to each other. Definetly an appealing approach at the synthpop genre

/mu/ challenge #29

An album that's quite a mixed bag for me, Slanted and Enchanted is a slacker/noise rock LP, which I thought I'd love due to my obsession over albums from the noise rock niche. Yeah, it wasn't bad, but in some songs I couldn't find a thing that would make me return to this work. Although there were some highlights, I still don't see myself listening to this album. Maybe I'll relisten this work once again in the future, but I doubt anything about ... read more

/mu/ challenge #28

Mixing heavy and noisy grunge with melancholic shoegaze, Siamese Dream is where Smashing Pumpkins is at their peak of creativity, managing to make bittersweet songs that doesn't lose the heavy core of the genre. William vocals are instantly recognisable and work very well with the instrumentals. Quintessential 90's record and a must listen for any rock fan.

/mu/ challenge #27

Buckley's first and last album, Grace showed a lot of potential in the singer-songwriter sphere, inspiring a lot of artists, such as Thom Yorke. The mix of poetics and bittersweetness is executed very well - especially on tracks such as Lilac Wine. The instrumentals are very creative, mixing soul, gospel and other genres, combined with Jeff's amazing vocals makes the album a very pleasing listen. A must-listen for any alternative rock fan

/mu/ challenge #26

12 songs wrapped into a 36 minute cohesive album, either/or is an good LP packed with melancholic acoustic tunes, depresive, introspective lyrics and bittersweet vocals. In the emotions of this album, it reminds me of American Football self-titled, due to the comforting sadness of both works. Although folk was never my thing, I still consider this a good album and I'll return to some of the songs, for example Cupid's Trick.

/mu/ challenge #25

This album is a whole ride.

I remember when I first heard the album like it was yesterday. I was in a bus, making my way to home, bored out of my mind. Everything I was listening to back then started to get boring and repetetive - How much can you listen to the same song over and over? At the time, I wasn't really acknowledged with Nirvana, I knew only about their breakout album and the top 5. Nothing more. In Utero had been sort of a mystery for me then, because I had ... read more

/mu/ challenge #24

One of the most important albums for rock overall, Nirvana managed to make the grunge movement in music popular and one of 90's signature sounds with Nevermind. Although their music was pretty simple, the emotions and energy it managed to capture were capable to outdo many of their contemporaries. The band switches from loud and noisy songs (In Bloom) to slower and emotional songs (Something in the way) while managing to keep everything flowing smoothly from one track ... read more

/mu/ challenge #23

Avant-garde is the best word I could think of while listening to describe this album. It's an incredible experience - it takes the listener to a world full of experimentation with different instruments, blending many genres together into creating the sound that's both weird and extraordinary, but also etheral and lush, with Björk showing how much she is passionate about creating a record that standout both in instrumental and vocal teritorium. Incredible

/mu/ challenge #22

One of the most recognisable shoegaze/dream pop albums, Souvlaki changes it's approach with the sound every track without losing it's fuzzy, etheral core. One time it's acoustic and slow, the other time it's loud and romantic, and it does all of that very well. Definetly a standout in the genre, mixing psychedelia with bittersweetness