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The Crystal Method - Divided By Night
| Tinymixtapes |
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It has been over a decade since California’s Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland joined forces to create the immortal 1997 party opus Vegas. Although that album only went as high as #92 on the U.S. Billboard charts, it would in time become one of the biggest-selling original electronic records in history, earning its platinum status in 2007. Bridging the gap between rock, breakbeat, and hip-hop, the record rode the peak of the big beat movement to announce the presence of American-made electronica in the mainstream. It acted as the stepping-stone for many North Americans to cross over from acoustic-based music — myself included. Tweekend came along four years later and offered us the same basic album, moving more in line with the rock aesthetic. Scott Weiland and Doug Grean of Stone Temple Pilots helped out on the single "Murder (You Know It Hard)," and Tom Morello (the guitarist from Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave) lent his guitar mutilations to the record’s other two singles, "Wild, Sweet and Cool" and the highly successful "Name of the Game." Meanwhile, 2004’s Legion Of Boom maintained the hip-hop image with three Rahkel appearances. It also went a step further in the rock direction by using Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland on three cuts, as well as featuring assistance from John Garcia (Kyuss), Lisa Kekaula (The BellRays), and Jon Brion....full text |
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| Blogcritics |
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The Crystal Method are legends in the DJ/Club/Techno/Electronica scene having formed in Los Angeles in the early 90’s and had early club hits Now is the Time and Keep Hope Alive. They proceeded to release three studio records and a number of mix compilations as well as touring across the world. They have just released their newest Album, Divided by Night, and are touring for the first time in five years to celebrate the release. I was lucky enough to attend one of their shows in Montreal, Canada and it was amazing. The new album has hit store shelves and is both somewhat new and familiar to fans of the duo. The Crystal Method is Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland, friends who have been collaborating for over 20 years and the tightness of their music reflects this. This album has a great deal of artist collaboration with artists from all types of genres. We have the Jewish reggae singer Matisyahu, alt-folk singer Meiko, hip-hop emcee Justin Warfield and indie rock singer Emily Haines among many others....full text |
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| Popmatters |
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Part of the frustration audiences tend to have with the music of the Crystal Method certainly stems from potential. Specifically, the Crystal Method simply doesn’t seem interested in fulfilling any of the artistic aspirations foisted upon the duo after the release of its surprisingly well-received 1997 debut, Vegas. Rather, Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland are content with making beat-heavy compositions designed with the simple goal of making people move. The moment we start expecting more from them is the moment we’re bound to be disappointed, because there is no deeper meaning. There is no genre bending. There is no instrumental virtuosity. There is only the beat, and everything else is incidental. Expectations in check, then, Divided By Night is, by all means, a Crystal Method album. It’s not, however, exactly the same as other Crystal Method albums, for two primary reasons: First, and perhaps most important, the programming style of the duo finally seems to be a bit updated. There’s a dirtier, grimier sound to much of the album that fits it squarely into 2009. This is, for better or worse, the music you can expect to hear as the forensic experts of, say, CSI: Miami drop food dye into test tubes for our benefit. Second, the variety of guests, which simultaneously adds to and subtracts from the replay value of the album, sets it apart. While the vocalists and instrumentalists involved certainly contribute to a varied and interesting listen, many guests are either poorly chosen or awkwardly integrated into the sound, detracting from the experience as a whole....full text |
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