Crystal Fighters
Location: Navarra
Website: http://myspace.com/crystalfighters
Bio: Crystal Fighters juxtapose the eerie flavour of traditional Basque folk music with churning basslines and catchy energetic vocals, resulting in a jubilant and uplifting sound ... (more)
unlike any other.
They offer raved-up, percussive folktronica, veering from Fischerspooner-style euphoria to Animal Collective-toned delicacy, underpinned by a progressive contemporary London bass sound. Though their distinctive production techniques take in all this and more, Crystal Fighters draw a broader and more profound influence- the energy and wild liberty of the 80s Spanish/Basque 'anti-todo' youth movement, including the songs of bands such as Eskorbuto, Sinistro Total and Golpes Bajos.
The story is as engaging as their music ~
‘Crystal Fighters’ is the name of an unfinished opera written by singer Laure’s deceased grandfather during his final months of insanity. She came across it while clearing out the reclusive old man’s remote abode in the Basque countryside, and quickly became obsessed with the scrawls contained within it. Captivated by its seemingly prophetic contents, the band took on the name and attempted to expand upon the wild and deranged spirit of the old man’s writings.
2009 has already been an immense year for Crystal Fighters. Their debut single XTATIC TRUTH was released on the uber hip Kitsune label in June garnering feverish response worldwide. Xtatic Truth was chosen as “Single Of The Week” on BBC Radio 1 – a monumental feat for a band’s first single; whilst the single also received high praise across both the indie and dance worlds as both the NME and Mixmag awarded it their respective “Single Of The Week/Month” crown. Xtatic Truth also featured on the Kitsune Maison 7 – Lucky One compilation.
The group’s second single “I Love London” was released on Kitsune in December, and with the inclusion of the Basque/Anglo bomb in the Kitsune Maison 8 compilation, and synchronisation to Michael Caine’s latest movie “Harry Brown”, the buzz awarded Crystal Fighters with being in the Top 5 most blogged artists in the world. All this comes on the back of the news that Crystal Fighters were chosen as Diesel U Music’s Spanish representatives, and the band were chosen to launch Myspace Music in the UK – one of most prestigious new media events in 2009, establishing Crystal Fighters as one of the hottest and most promising new acts in the world.
Not content with this, the band have been busy in the studio remixing, turning their hand to Magic Wands’ “Black Magic” on Young & Lost, peaking at #1 in NME’s “10 Tracks You Have to Hear This Week.” Other remixes in the pipeline for this year include CSS, Master Shortie, Pony Pony Run Run, Two Door Cinema Club, Erik Hassle, and MIT.
Crystal Fighters’ live shows have become legendary - described to be unrelentingly raw, intense, and passionate – with Mixmag hailing “single most exciting show in dance music”. Having headlined the Kitsune Maison party in Paris, Durrr, The Great Escape, Stag & Dagger, Mixmag, Dollop, Vice, Cargo, Lowlands Festival in Holland, and Matter to name a few, this autumn sees the band go global with shows booked in Barcelona, Paris, Madrid, Zurich, Amsterdam, Bilbao, Lisbon, Rennes, Berlin, New York, and Tokyo.
All this follows the already impressive 2008 which saw the group take London by storm, being featured in all the cutting edge underground press – eg Dazed & Confused, FACT, Clash, Mixmag, iDJ magazine, and a Radio 1 Live Session for Rob da Bank. 2008 was rounded up with their ubiquitous online hit ‘I Love London’ voted in Mixmag’s Top 100 Records for 2008, the only unreleased record in the 100, crashing in ahead of the likes of Toddla T and Bloc Party.
2010 looks bright for Crystal Fighters with SXSW already booked, and their heavy worldwide touring to continue through spring. The band are currently in the studio finishing their much anticipated debut album called ‘Star Of Love’ due on September 13th.
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