The Crystal Method

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The Crystal Method
The Crystal Method at a live performance
The Crystal Method at a live performance
Background information
Origin Los Angeles, California
Genre(s) Electronica, Big Beat, Breakbeat, Dance, Rocktronica
Years active 1993-present
Label(s) Outpost
Geffen
V2 Records
Website Official Site
Members
Ken Jordan
Scott Kirkland

The Crystal Method is an American electronic music duo consisting of Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland. Along with The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and a few other lesser-known acts, they were pioneers of the big beat electronic dance genre.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Although Jordan and Kirkland are both from Las Vegas, Nevada, the band was formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1993.[1] The Crystal Method did most of their earlier production work in an underground shelter lovingly referred to as "The Bomb Shelter" in the front yard of a rent house they once shared as roommates. Before production began on Legion of Boom in 2004, they moved the studio into the garage of the rented house; many people aren't aware of this, however, and still believe they work in the actual "bomb shelter", now a nickname for the studio setup.

[edit] Band Name

There is a lot of discussion as to whether the band took their name from the drug crystal meth (street slang for methamphetamine). In the 1999 documentary Better Living through Circuitry, it was made clear during the interview the name was a drug reference. Ken Jordan discusses how difficult it is "to tell your parents you are in a band named The Crystal Method". Scott Kirkland talks of breaking the band name to his mom on a nature walk, but to his surprise she responds calmly saying "I guess that makes sense, that's what all the kids are into these days."

Not surprisingly more recent interviews with the band come up with non-drug-related stories such as a girl named Crystal being the impetus.[2] Certainly a lot of their tracks could be taken as having fun with the subject, "Trip Like I Do" being the most obvious one, but the name of this track actually came from an answering machine message saved on Scott's answering-machine [6] that is one of the samples used in this track. There are various interviews with the band citing that the 2nd albums' name (Tweekend) came from the hours of tweaking the sound and mix.[3]

[edit] Awards

In 2005, their third studio album, Legion of Boom, was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Electronica/Dance Album". This marked the first time the Grammys offered such an award.

[edit] Work

[edit] Movies

The Crystal Method's music is broad in scope, and can be found in many modern shows and movies, including Bones (Title Theme), Blade II ("PhDream", with Bubba Sparxxx and "Name of the Game"), Blade Trinity ("Weapons of Mass Distortion"), Cursed ("Bound Too Long"), Gone in Sixty Seconds ("Busy Child"), Lost in Space ("Busy Child"), Spawn ("(Can't You) Trip Like I Do", with Filter), Zoolander ("Now Is the Time"), XXX, The Replacement Killers ("Keep Hope Alive"), and the remake of The Longest Yard ("Roll It Up").

[edit] TV and ads

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. The track "Busy Child" also featured in a 1998 British advertisement for The Gap which featured skateboarders.

[edit] Video games

The track "Name of the Game" (from "Reservoir Dogs the video game" and the Tweekend album) was also featured as intro music for the popular video game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, and has also been used as intro music for live performances by magician The Amazing Johnathan and even in Hummer advertisements. 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." Their song "Busy Child" was featured in the video game 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

[edit] Collaborations

The Crystal Method have remixed other artists' tracks, such as Linkin Park's track "Points of Authority"; the remix was called "Pts.Of. Athrty (The Crystal Method Remix)" and can only be found on LP Underground 2.0 EP, which is exclusively available to LP Underground members. The group worked with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo to make a music video for the song "Murder".[4]

In June 2006, the duo teamed up with Nike to release the workout-inspired album Drive: Nike + Original Run.[citation needed] The album is a continuous 45 minute mix of ten songs, and can only be downloaded from the iTunes Music Store.[citation needed] Jordan and Kirkland currently host a radio show called Community Service which airs Friday nights on Los Angeles' Indie 103.1, featuring electronic music.[5]

[edit] Instrument list

The 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] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] Soundtracks

[edit] Remixes & Autres

[edit] Singles

Non-Album Tracks
"Now Is the Time"
"The Dubeliscious Groove" (also featured on the "Now Is the Time" Vinyl)
"More" (from the Keep Hope Alive EP released before Vegas. Some have falsely named the version of this on the EP as the '99 Mix, even though the single was released in 1996)
"Come2gether" (featured on the Mortal Kombat: More Kombat album.)
From Vegas
"Keep Hope Alive"
"Busy Child"
"Comin' Back"
From Spawn soundtrack
"(Can't You) Trip Like I Do" (a re-working of their song "Trip Like I Do" from Vegas featuring Filter)
From Tweekend
"Name of the Game"
"Murder" (also known as "You Know It's Hard" and featuring Scott Weiland)
"Wild, Sweet and Cool"
From Hardhop & Trypno
"Blast"
From Legion of Boom
"Born Too Slow" (Featuring John Garcia & Wes Borland)
"Starting Over"
"Bound Too Long"
Non-Album Remixes
Cardinal - "Bodyslide"
DJ Keoki - "Caterpillar"
Amos - "Come Away"
Moby - "Come on Baby"
Ezee Possee - "Everything Starts with an 'E'"
Zen Cowboys - "Mad World"

[edit] See also

[edit] Similar Artists

[edit] Related lists

[edit] References

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  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3]
  4. ^ [4]
  5. ^ [5]

[edit] External links

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