With their new album out after a
few years in the studio and on the road,
the Crystal Method is ready to take on
and redefine electronic, break-beat, and
hiphop music...once again!
The Crystal Method is a Southern
California based electronic duo who
broke through into the mainstream with
their first album, 'Vegas'. They are
Scott Kirkland and Ken Jordan. With
tracks like, "Keep Hope Alive" and "Busy
Child", their music could be heard from
raves to TV commercials and movies! It
has been four years since that album was
released, and finally their follow-up,
'Tweekend', has arrived!
Name of The Game - Get a load of TCM's new sound! This track relies on heavier sampling than previous TCM, with DJ scratchin and other truly hip-hop flavors. Their beats are bigger. But there is no missing the classic TCM sound from biting and buzzing synth lead sounds carrying the melodies and effects!
Both members are originally from
Las Vegas (hence, the name of their
debut album). Kirkland comes from the
rock background, a guitar player at
heart. Jordan has the background in
DJing. However, as a duo, Kirkland and
Jordan are defining electronic beats and
synth based music! Their first major
club hit after coming to Los Angeles (in
'92) was the single, "Now Is The Time".
They've had a slew of hits, both
underground and mainstream, leading them
to hit the road for a few years on tour.
Roll It Up - Here's another cool track from Tweekend. Another sample of their bigger beats and hiphop tweeks and highly programmed sounds.
After touring the duo began work
on 'Tweekend'. "We were just constantly
tweaking the songs and mixes," Jordan
says. "We were almost thinking it was
going to take another five years to get
it done." "Everything we've gone through
shows up in the music," Kirkland says.
"This album is definitely better than
the first, so we aren't too worried
about a sophomore jinx."
Busy Child - Now a classic Electronica track from Vegas. TCM's famous synth lead sounds, buzzes, and breaks characterize this track that made into the dancefloors and onto the TV, commercials, movies, etc.
Tweekend was produced in their
Glendale studio, the Bomb Shelter. It's
a small room with wall to wall
synthesizers, processors and rave-like
knick-knacks (see Chewbacca playing the
CS-20 above). 'Vegas' featured the
Clavia Nord Lead as their primary source
of bass and lead synth lines, as well as
swooshy and swirly pads and effects.
'Tweekend' is the result of over two
years of "tweaking" their synths and
samplers, both old and new! TCM's direction
on 'Tweekend' seems to go deeper into sampling/programming than 'Vegas'.
Collaborators on the album include Stone
Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, Rage
Against The Machine guitarist Tom
Morello, DJ Swamp (Beck) and producer
Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann).
Keep Hope Alive - This is the rave-anthem that truly made TCM famous, comercially as well! It opens with a simple Juno-106 pad, soon overwhelmed by a biting distorted 303-line, probably coming from the Nord Lead through the Rat pedal! A few breaks, samples and other Nord Lead synth sounds fill out the rest of this track.
TCM may have a hipper new sound.
But their music and the energy it
embodies still seems to cross genres,
and tracks from 'Tweekend' are already
being used commercially and still seem
loved by the underground music culture
as well! For TCM, that's just the Name
of the Game!
DISCLAIMER: The music and texts presented on this page are the copyrighted property of their respective owners (the record labels or writers noted). Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, public performance or derivative works are prohibited by law (domestic and international). These files are short, edited excerpts at reduced sound qualities and are intended for demonstrative purposes only, presented for Fair Use.
Name of The Game
