Glass Candy

August 15, 2010 5:03 PM

Glass Candy is singer Ida No, whose vocal stylings have been compared to Nico and Debbie Harry, and producer Johnny Jewel, who cites as his influences Italo disco, freestyle, Krautrock, hip hop, new wave, and '80s cop show and John Carpenter soundtracks. "The group has also said that stores could appropriately file their music between Olivia Newton-John, Suicide and Schoolly D." Here for example, they mash up 'Mind Playing Tricks On Me' by the Geto Boys with 'Iko Iko'. And here is a cover of Kraftwerk's Computer Love.

more from their album B/E/A/T/B/O/X

Etheric Device

Digital Versicolor

Candy Castle

Rolling Down The Hills

posted by puny human (27 comments total)

Nice, its great to see a post referencing this band. It makes them way cooler that they are like a decade old (I think I first heard about them in Portland in 2000 or 2001 on as a roadie with "Happy Suppy." and they kinda blew my mind, then).
posted by armisme at 5:34 PM on August 15, 2010

i kind of like their early demo disco punk stuff more than the italo disco stuff but yeah, they're kinda killer.
posted by nathancaswell at 5:37 PM on August 15, 2010

same thing with the yeah yeah yeahs actually, the demo stuff had this great raw energy that kind of got lost as they added sophisticated production.
posted by nathancaswell at 5:39 PM on August 15, 2010

cites as his influences Italo disco, freestyle, Krautrock, hip hop, new wave, and '80s cop show and John Carpenter soundtracks

hmmm ... I like hip hop, and I like Carpenter soundtracks ... anyone have a recommendation that sticks to those two influences? or would that just be Antipop Consortium?
posted by mannequito at 5:41 PM on August 15, 2010

hmmm ... I like hip hop, and I like Carpenter soundtracks ... anyone have a recommendation that sticks to those two influences? or would that just be Antipop Consortium?

EL-P?
posted by rainperimeter at 5:44 PM on August 15, 2010

I like Carpenter soundtracks

Zombi.
posted by nathancaswell at 5:44 PM on August 15, 2010

(not hip hop but throwing it out there in case you missed them)
posted by nathancaswell at 5:49 PM on August 15, 2010

What nathancaswell said. The first thing I heard from them was "Brittle Women," back when they still had "and the Shattered Theatre" in their name. Lost track of them at the turn of the century, and when I rediscovered them I just assumed they were a different band with a similar name, that's how much their sound had changed. This is the only clip I could find of the song.
posted by chrominance at 6:04 PM on August 15, 2010

Huh, had no idea they'd been around that long. Played the dickens out of After Dark when it came out. Nice summer music!
posted by NolanRyanHatesMatches at 6:06 PM on August 15, 2010

B/E/A/T/B/O/X is one of the first albums, as far as I can tell, that got to be a bit of a thang without existing in physical format, other than CD-Rs at Glass Candy shows.
posted by bendybendy at 6:25 PM on August 15, 2010

A little birdie told me this page has a direct link to a 600mb .zip file of all of Glass Candy's early work (as Glass Candy & The Shattered Theatre) but I can't say for sure cause I would never click on something like that, nor do I expect you to. I assume you will simply check out the hi-res album art and subsequently purchase the records on Amazon when and if they becomes available. You may also attempt to navigate Troubleman Unlimited's website and attain it that way to support a cool small label. Once it arrives in 7-10 business days please be sure to listen to the demo version of "Love Love Love" as it is fucking awesome.
posted by nathancaswell at 7:04 PM on August 15, 2010

Interesting. I too like John Carpenter soundtracks. And the Geto Boys.

Although Mind Playing Tricks On Me by the Geto Boys samples Hung Up On My Baby by Isaac Hayes.

Thanks for this.
posted by bdave at 7:07 PM on August 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

I don't get it. Is this one of those "so awful it's good" things?
posted by Debaser626 at 7:11 PM on August 15, 2010

I can cue up "Love Love Love" in my head on command.
posted by intermod at 7:13 PM on August 15, 2010

Always heard people mention Glass Candy but never took the time to sit and listen. Thanks for this.



I don't get it. Is this one of those "so awful it's good" things?

Holy shit you're so fucking cool you know what I changed my mind
posted by windbox at 7:32 PM on August 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

glasscandy is a great group- with drummer and without. I've seen them turn morose basement shows into great dance parties twice; '06 and '08. The keys are live, the beats are triggered live, and Ida No runs her own delay pedals. Really slick for a two piece. Haven't seen them in a couple of years, but they were very physical performers. Great band, especially when I want to piss off metal friends.
posted by kittensofthenight at 8:10 PM on August 15, 2010

yep, debaser, they're good, sorry. Really great synth sounds, self aware but not hilariously. beatbox is a great album and easy find online...
posted by kittensofthenight at 8:14 PM on August 15, 2010

Coachella 2009.
Everyone was at the Sahara for Chemical Brothers umpteen DJ set.

But WE had the real party 2 tents over with Glass Candy
posted by Senor Cardgage at 8:23 PM on August 15, 2010

While we're on the subject of John Carpenter, this thread prompted me to finally get a proper compilation of his film scores and in it there is a faster, more synthy version of the theme to "The Thing." Almost like Carpenter wrote it, then Morricone arranged it into the version that appears in the movie (Humanity Pt. 2, which is better than Carpenter's version IMO). Or maybe it was the other way around. Anyway, kind of interesting.
posted by nathancaswell at 8:26 PM on August 15, 2010

Cool post. Glass Candy is one of those bands I've been aware of for a while but never checked out. Also, Ida No and Johnny Jewel seem like interesting, thoughtful people. I really like this quote by No: "You get rid of that youthful idea that everything has to be difficult in order to be authentic, that idea that you're not keeping it real unless you're miserable."
posted by Kattullus at 8:33 PM on August 15, 2010

Also there are so many similarities in the organ at the end of Morricone's Humanity Pt. 2 to vampire soundtracks... it's crazy. Totally reminds me of the stuff Phillip Glass did for the 1931 Dracula, but I couldn't quite place which track exactly. But it's the first thing I thought of. I'm sure they're both referencing some other soundtrack.
posted by nathancaswell at 8:35 PM on August 15, 2010

I don't get the buzz around this band. They seem like an OK but forgettable example of a retro style of music that's been fairly prevalent in the past few years. They have less energy than Goldfrapp and more energy than the Chromatics, but I'd rather listen to either of those other two bands.
posted by Jaltcoh at 8:52 PM on August 15, 2010

Many years ago
My band opened for this band
A pretty fun gig
posted by Beardman at 9:16 AM on August 16, 2010

Glass Candy is filed under "secret weapons" in my DJ prep list. Great stuff (although like most I prefer the earlier tracks)
posted by jtron at 9:41 AM on August 16, 2010

I love Glass Candy. That is all.
posted by ejoey at 10:01 AM on August 16, 2010

I like hip hop, and I like Carpenter soundtracks ... anyone have a recommendation that sticks to those two influences?

Buck 65 - Centaur (album version) (lyrics NSFW), and the instrumental (longer, from the 12" single) feature a sample from Pino Donaggio's Carrie soundtrack, but I think that's the most John Carpenter-esque sample in the Buck collection.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:10 AM on August 16, 2010

I used to live with the original drummer for Glass Candy and the Shattered Theater, lo, these many years ago. Hoo boy, were they awful then.
posted by josher71 at 11:43 AM on August 16, 2010