Crystal Castles

Any band named after She-Ra's lair has to be a little quirky, and that might be a good way to describe Toronto-based duo Crystal Castles. On their self-titled effort Crystal Castles ($13), multi-instrumentalist Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass mix 8-bit noise, audio snippets, synth loops, catchy keyboards, and terrific beats to great effect, making for one of the more interesting debuts of the year. Standout Tracks: "Vanished," "Crimewave," "Untrust Us."