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The Crystal Method is an American electronic music duo that formed in Los Angeles, California by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland in the early 1990s. They continued to release albums and tour through the 2000s, and their songs have appeared in numerous video games, commercials, and films. The duo also composed and recorded original film soundtracks. Their best-selling album, Vegas, was certified platinum in 2007.
[edit] BiographyThe Crystal Method is made up of two members, Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland. Both of them were born in Las Vegas, Nevada.[1] Kirkland was born when his mother was only fifteen. He grew up listening to his mother's music, disco and his father's music, rock. When he had grown a little older, he began listening to Heavy metal, as well as bands like Depeche Mode. Ken Jordan also grew up listening to classic rock and '80s electronic as well. [edit] Early days (1993–1995)By the early '90s, both Ken and Scott had moved to Los Angeles. Apparently, Ken had met Scott in a club at which he was DJing.[citation needed] Before The Crystal Method was formed, Ken was working in a studio as a producer, and Scott was a DJ at a local club. After they had met, they formed The Crystal Method in 1993. The name, "The Crystal Method" is known to be a drug reference to Methamphetamine (aka crystal meth).[citation needed] The name actually derives from a woman named Crystal who both Ken and Scott had a crush on simultaneously. They told one of their friends whom they were working with as producers, a rapper, about this dilemma. The rapper had, according to Kirkland, said "Ah, the Crystal Method". Ken and Scott both liked this name and decided to use it as their band name.[citation needed] They later said that the name was also a drug reference,[2] and would later even name one of their albums "Tweekend" after it (to "Tweek" means to use the drug crystal meth). Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland bought a house together, in Glendale, California, which had a small underground shelter beneath the front lawn. This shelter was very small, and was apparently built for the Cuban Missile Crisis.[citation needed] They soundproofed the shelter and turned it into a recording studio, where they recorded their first three albums. They named the shelter/recording studio The Bomb Shelter. After The Bomb Shelter was built, The Crystal Method began recording music. This early music made it onto tape not long after. A British DJ named Justin King eventually got a hold of this tape. King was interested in starting a record label that would showcase American electronic dance acts. King teamed up with Scottish transplant Stephen Melrose to form the record label City of Angels. The first official release from the City of Angels label was The Crystal Method's "Now is the Time". The Crystal Method were signed to Outpost Recordings in 1996. [edit] Vegas (1996–1998)After the band signed with Outpost, they began working on their debut album. The group's second (and last) single on City of Angels was "Keep Hope Alive". Their next release was on the Mortal Kombat: More Kombat soundtrack, "Come2gether". On September 8, 1997, The Crystal Method released their best-selling album, Vegas. Vegas peaked at number 92 on the Billboard 200.[3] It was certified gold by the RIAA in 1998, then platinum in 2007.[4] Five of the album's ten tracks were released as singles: "Trip Like I Do", "Busy Child", "High Roller", "Comin' Back", and "Keep Hope Alive". [edit] Tweekend (1999–2002)In 1999, the band went into the studio to record their next studio album, Tweekend, which featured more guest artists than Vegas had. The album was released in July 2001, and peaked at number 32 on the Billboard 200,[3] which is still the group's highest album chart position. The name, "Tweekend" is derived from the massive demise of the West Coast rave scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s.[citation needed] Featured guests from the album include Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland, and others, like Doug Grean, DJ Swamp, Ryan "Ryu" Maginn, and Julie Gallios. Four singles were released from Tweekend: "Wild, Sweet and Cool", "Murder", "Blowout", "Name of the Game". [edit] Community ServiceJordan and Kirkland used to have a radio show called "Community Service" which aired Friday nights on radio station Indie 103.1, in California.[citation needed] They would play electronic music and hosted guests, like Death in Vegas and UNKLE. A year after the release of Tweekend, The Crystal Method released a continuous mix album based on their radio show, titled Community Service. The album does not feature any new studio material from The Crystal Method, but is composed of remixes of bands like P.O.D., Rage Against the Machine, and Garbage, plus remixes of songs from Tweekend. Their remix of P.O.D.'s "Boom" from this album, also appeared in the video game Amplitude. Community Service peaked at number 160 on the Billboard 200, number five on the Top Electronic Albums chart, and number 15 on the Top Independent Albums chart.[3] [edit] Legion of Boom (2003–2005)After the release of Community Service, The Crystal Method went back into the studio to record their third album, Legion of Boom. During the recording, they used the house as their recording studio instead of The Bomb Shelter.[citation needed] In December 2003, the single "Born Too Slow", with vocals from John Garcia and guitar by Wes Borland was released. Legion of Boom was released on January 13, 2004, and peaked at number 36 on the Billboard 200.[3] It sold over 25,000 copies in its first week.[1] The other single released from Legion of Boom, "Starting Over", featured vocals from Rahzel from The Roots. No other singles were released but other songs, including "Weapons of Mass Distortion", "Bound Too Long" and "Realizer", appeared in various movies and TV shows. "I Know It's You" appeared in the trailer for the film Resident Evil: Extinction, and includes vocals by the movie's star, Milla Jovovich. In 2005, the album was nominated for the Best Electronic/Dance Album Grammy,[5] the first year that category existed. It lost to Kish Kash by Basement Jaxx.[6] It is also around this time that Jordan and Kirkland formed their own record label, called Tiny e Recordings.[1] [edit] Community Service IIOn April 5, 2005, The Crystal Method released their sequel to Community Service, called Community Service II, another continuous mix of electronica songs and remixes of bands like The Doors, Unkle, New Order and Smashing Pumpkins. Compared to Community Service, Community Service II received lukewarm critical acclaim.[citation needed] It reached number 31 on the Top Independent Albums chart and number 8 on the Top Electronic albums chart.[3] A 5-track EP, Community Service II Exclusives, was also released through the iTunes Store. It included one new track, "Badass", and full versions of four tracks from Community Service II. It was removed from the iTunes store not long after it was released.[1] [edit] Drive, London, and Vegas re-release (2006–2008)The group composed and performed the score for the film London, which was released in February 2006. The soundtrack album included excerpts from the score, two Crystal Method vocal tracks—"Smoked" and "Glass Breaker", which were also released as a single—and songs by artists like Evil Nine, The Out Crowd, and The Perishers. Shortly after the release of the London soundtrack, The Crystal Method was approached by Nike to take part in a series of music releases specifically designed to be listened to while running. The group's contribution, Drive: Nike + Original Run—the first in the series[7]—was initially released digitally, in June 2006, with the physical release following a year later. Drive peaked at number 23 on the Top Electronic Albums chart.[3] The album, a 45 minute continuous mix, starts off slow, increases in tempo, and slows at the end, following the arc of a typical distance run.[1] In 2007, ten years after its original release, the group's debut album, Vegas was certified platinum by the RIAA.[4] One month later, a special edition of the album was released, with a second disc including remixes and video. In late 2008, the group remixed their song "Now Is the Time". Where the original version featured samples of Jesse Jackson, this "Vote '08 Remix" used samples of Barack Obama, marking the presidential election. [edit] Divided by Night (2009–present)Following the release of Legion of Boom, The Crystal Method began construction of a new, full-sized recording studio in Los Angeles—Crystalwerks. When it was finished, they began work on their next album, Divided by Night. On April 14, 2009, The Crystal Method released the digital single "Drown in the Now". A second single, "Black Rainbows", was released via Beatport two weeks later. The Divided by Night tour started in Boston on May 6, and the album was released the following week. It peaked at number 38 on the Billboard 200, number two on the Top Electronic Albums chart, and number four on the Top Independent Albums chart,[3] The album features guest artists including Peter Hook (of New Order), Matisyahu, Justin Warfield, Emily Haines (of Metric), and Jason Lytle. X Games 3D: The Movie, released in August 2009, included a number of Crystal Method songs and remixes,[8] including "Drown in the Now" and "Now Is the Time". [edit] DiscographyMain article: The Crystal Method discography [edit] Studio albums
[edit] Work
[edit] Television and advertisementThe title theme to the TV show Bones is credited to The Crystal Method. The Chef Aid album, based on the "Chef Aid" episode of South Park, featured a re-working of "Vapor Trail", which includes vocals by DMX, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Ozzy Osbourne, and Fuzzbubble. The song was renamed "Nowhere to Run" or sometimes "Nowhere to Run (Vapor Trail)." Episode 13, the popular TV shows Alias and CSI, featured "Starting Over" from Legion of Boom. They were also in Dark Angel ("Name of the Game", "Roll It Up") and the theme music of Third Watch was "Keep Hope Alive" from their Vegas album. The song "Trip Like I Do" was featured in an episode of House during a rave scene (Season 1, Episode 10 - Histories), and was also featured in a trailer for The Matrix. The song "Vice" was used in the second episode of season five of House. The track "Busy Child" also featured in a 1998 advertisement for The Gap which featured skateboarders, while the track "High Roller" was used that year in an advertisement for the second generation Mazda MX-5 Miata, as well as in a 2008 Lincoln car commercial. The track "Name of the Game" has also been used as intro music for live performances by magician The Amazing Johnathan and even in Hummer advertisements. The band collaborated with Filter on a mixed version of "Trip Like I Do" for the soundtrack to Spawn, and "Weapons of Mass Distortion" was used in the trailer for The Bourne Ultimatum. The United States Air Force Thunderbirds jet demonstration team also currently uses "High Roller" as background music while the crew pre-flights the jets during the beginning of their show. [edit] Video gaming"Name of the Game" was featured as intro music for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and was also featured in Pump It Up: Exceed for the US PlayStation 2 and XBOX versions. It was also in the trailer for the movie Blade II. Their music was also featured extensively in the EA Sports video game FIFA '98: Road to World Cup, which included the tracks "Busy Child", "Keep Hope Alive", "More", and "Now Is the Time." "Busy Child" was featured in the video games DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution and Donkey Konga, and "Born Too Slow" was included in both Donkey Konga 2 and Need for Speed: Underground. Several songs from their first album also featured prominently in the game N2O: Nitrous Oxide. "The Winner" (from Tweekend) was featured in the video game FreQuency, and their remix of P.O.D.'s "Boom" was also featured in its sequel, Amplitude. The track "Roll It Up" is also featured as the title theme for Mad Dash Racing. "Now Is The Time" can be heard in-game in Gran Turismo 2, while "Born Too Slow (Deepsky's Green Absinthe Dub Mix)" can be heard in Gran Turismo 4. The original version of "Born Too Slow" can be heard in Need For Speed: Underground, as listed above. And the track "Robogirl" (a censored version of "Roboslut") can be found in the latest edition of Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova. The Crystal Method collaborated with Tobias Enhus to create the track "Subway Showdown" for The Matrix - Path of Neo, which also used "Free Your Mind Up" in both its original and instrumental forms. The tracks "Busy Child", "Robogirl" and "Weapons of Mass Distortion" can be heard in the menus in the Xbox 360 title, Forza Motorsport 2. "Keep Hope Alive (Trip Hope Mix)" was featured in the first teaser trailer of Microsoft's Project Gotham Racing 4, for the Xbox 360, at the X06 event. It is also included in the full version of the game. The Crystal Method also supplied the soundtrack to the Playstation game N2O developed by Fox Interactive. The soundtrack is composed primarily from the duo's Vegas album with a few remixes not found on Vegas. The song "Double Down Under" is featured in the iPod Touch App Game, Tap Tap Revenge 2, and the song "Acetone" ships with the Wipeout HD Fury expansion pack for the PS3 game Wipeout HD. [edit] InstrumentsThe Crystal Method use a wide array of equipment, with the Clavia Nord Lead being most closely associated with their style and sound. It was the primary source of sound for their first album Vegas. [edit] References
[edit] External links
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