Cougar Microbes

Ladytron are gearing up for the release of their upcoming album ‘Gravity The Seducer‘ with the video and single release of new track ‘White Elephant‘.

The video was apparently shot at a chateau in Normandy and features an array of characters and surreal scenarios.

‘Gravity The Seducer‘ is due out in early September on Nettwerk.

TRACKS:

Ladytron look set to release their ‘The Best of 00-10‘ greatest hits package later this month. The album tracks the 4-piece’s career over the years as well as throwing 2 new tracks into the mix. The deluxe version will include exclusive photographs and additional content for die hard fans.

Ace.

TRACKS:

Postponed due to Icelandic volcano activity, fans were put on tenterhooks in anticipation of the Crystal Castles‘ live appearance at London‘s Heaven on 19th June. And their fans are very die-hard, to put it mildly, piling up as close to the stage as possible two hours before the set began as if waiting for the messiah.

The MESSIAH crawled on stage on all fours with a savage expression on her face; part woman, part beast, part machine. Disciplined by the stern beats of ‘Fainting Spells‘, the opener from the Castles‘ self-titled second album, the creature arose to euphoric applause and started to thrash about like a harpooned shark. It was Alice Glass, the humanoid CC singer – would she dive into the crowd despite plenty of frictions with bouncers and broken up gigs in the past?

It’s fair to say that Alice spent more time crowd surfing than she did on stage. The crowd were grateful, passing her around and holding her up like the female Iggy Pop incarnation that she was. Producer and synth player Ethan Kath is the glue that prevents it all from falling apart, motionlessly hunching over his synthesisers and exercising a somewhat sinister authority over the proceedings.

Crystal Castles might play a dance based, retro-futuristic 8 bit version of noise music, but make no mistake: this is a hard-boiled punk band through and through. Coupled with their epilepsy-inducing lightshow, the manner in which they thrash through material such as the mighty ‘Crimewave‘ or the more Ladytronesque ‘Celestica‘ is of such intensity this author can only imagine it’s like a Stooges gig circa 1970.

Ultimately, Alice Glass‘s not-of-this-earth stage persona is a wonderful testimony to the power of human expression. Catch them live if you can!

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Guest post by the enthused Zuri Zurowski

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TRACKS:

Crystal Castles – Celestica