Pitchfork

Good afternoon folks! Welcome to this week's episode of "Controversy With Crystal Castles", starring dance music artists Crystal Castles and the people who are upset with them. Last time, you'll recall, we delved into the Toronto duo's clash with artist Trevor Brown. That little pickle remains unresolved as of now.

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.

CC:

06-18 Chicago, IL - Double Door
06-19 Brooklyn, NY - Studio B
06-21 Philadelphia, PA - Drexel University (POPPED! Festival)
06-23 Arendal, Norway - Hove Festival
06-27 Borlänge, Sweden - Peace & Love Festival
06-28 Cergy-Pontoise, France - Furia Sound Festival
06-29 Glastonbury, England - Glastonbury Festival
07-05 Toronto, Ontario - Harbourfront Centre
07-08 Quebec City, Quebec - Summer Fest
07-11 Montreal, Quebec - Neon
07-18 Southwold, England - Latitude Festival
07-19 Carhaix, France - Vieilles Charrues Festival
07-26 Seattle, WA - Key Arena at Seattle Center *
07-28 Edmonton, Alberta - Rexall Place *
07-29 Calgary, Alberta - Pengrowth Saddledome *
07-31 Winnipeg, Manitoba - MTS Centre *
08-02 Minneapolis, MN - Target Center *
08-09 Osaka, Japan - Summersonic
08-10 Tokyo, Japan - Summersonic
08-14 Cologne, Germany - C-O-Pop
08-15 Helsinki, Finland - Flow Festival
08-16 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop
08-17 Biddinghuizen, Netherlands - Lowlands Festival
08-22 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
08-24 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-29 Argyll, Scotland - Hydro Connect Festival
08-30 Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic Festival
08-31 Jersey, England - Jersey Live Festival
09-02 Newcastle, England - Academy
09-03 Sheffield, England - Leadmill
09-04 Leeds, England - Cockpit
09-05 Isle of Wight, England - Bestival
09-07 Coventry, England - Kasbah
09-09 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms
09-10 Bristol, England - Thekla
09-12 Birmingham, England - Academy 2
09-13 Manchester, England - Academy 2
09-14 Preston, England - 53 Degrees
09-16 Brighton, England - Concorde
09-17 Cambridge, England - Junction
09-18 London, England - Electric Ballroom

* with Nine Inch Nails