Divided by Night

Divided by Night
Studio album by The Crystal Method
Released May 12, 2009
Recorded Los Angeles, California
Genre Electronica
Length 67:14
Label Tiny e
The Crystal Method chronology
Drive: Nike + Original Run
(2006)Drive: Nike + Original Run2006
Divided by Night
(2009)
The Crystal Method
(2014)The Crystal Method2014
Singles from Divided by Night
  1. "Drown in the Now (feat. Matisyahu)"
    Released: April 14, 2009
  2. "Black Rainbows (feat. Stefanie King Warfield)"
    Released: April 28, 2009
  3. "Come Back Clean (feat. Emily Haines)"
    Released: October 5, 2009
  4. "Sine Language (feat. LMFAO)"
    Released: November 16, 2010

Divided by Night is electronic duo The Crystal Method's fourth studio album.[1] The album was released on May 12, 2009. The first single, "Drown in the Now",[1] which features vocals by Matisyahu,[1] was released to the iTunes Store on April 14, 2009, and the second single, "Black Rainbows" was released to the Beatport store on April 28, 2009. On October 5, 2009, they released the third single, "Come Back Clean" also exclusively to Beatport.[1]

The album was nominated at the 52nd Grammy Awards for Best Electronic/Dance Album.

Background

After their album Legion of Boom was released, Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland decided to move into their new, state-of-the-art recording studio, called Crystalwerks. The time taken to prepare the new studio resulted in the loss of production time on the album, which is why it has taken so long to come out. They have also taken the time to bring in many guest artists to be featured on the album.

In early August 2008, The Crystal Method revealed their plans for the album.[2] Though the album was planned to release by the end of summer, the release date was pushed back to early 2009. They then released a free song on their website, which was a remix of their first single, "Now is the Time". The remix features samples of a Barack Obama speech, and is called "Now is the Time (Vote '08 Remix)".[3] The Crystal Method was asked if "Now Is the Time (Vote '08 Remix)" would be on Divided by Night. They replied "maybe, just as a bonus track", though it has been confirmed that the song will not be on the new album according to the track listing, which was released in mid February 2009.

In October 2008, they released a series of tour dates for a DJ set tour across North America, which went further into the year, finishing on New Year's Eve, 2008.[3] They would play some of the music off of their new album to support the tour.

In December 2008, they set up a remix contest for the song "Double Down Under" on the new album, and released the name of the lead single, "Drown in the Now", which features vocals by Matisyahu.

During an interview in early 2009, The Crystal Method were asked the release date of the album, and Ken Jordan simply stated: "Spring". The Crystal Method later stated that the album would be due in stores on May 12.

In an interview with The Boston Herald, Scott Kirkland said:

A recent album preview by Mark Shemel of internedj.com indicated that the album was :

In March, 2009, The Crystal Method released the cover of the album, tour dates, a new website, and a pre-order sale on their online store. On April 14, the single, "Drown in the Now" was released onto the iTunes store along with a pre-order for Divided by Night. The pre-order on iTunes also comes with a bonus B-side, "Play for Real". This song is only available on the pre-order for iTunes, and (according to The Crystal Method's Myspace blog) will not be released anywhere else.

In late April, 2009, The Crystal Method put one song from Divided by Night onto their Myspace page, "Sine language", which features the upcoming hip hop duo, LMFAO. On the very same day that "Sine Language" was put on their Myspace page, The Crystal Method released the second single from Divided by Night, the song, "Black Rainbows" (exclusively to Beatport) which features vocals from Stefanie King Warfield, wife of Justin Warfield, who also contributes to Divided by Night himself on the track "Kling to the Wreckage".

On May 5, 2009, while flying to their first show in Boston, Massachusetts via Virgin Airlines, The Crystal Method set up a one-hour online chat room that anyone could join for free. They answered various questions from fans and talked about Divided by Night. The Crystal Method said that it is probable that they will do something like this again.

On May 7, the entire album Divided by Night was put onto iLike for anyone to listen to. This includes the full versions of every song on Divided by Night (except for "Play for Real", released on iTunes only).

Divided by Night was finally officially released on May 12.

Album artwork

In mid March, 2009, The Crystal Method released the cover of the new album, which features a giant globe made up of audio speaker heads hovering in mid-air. The artwork was created by Neil Ashby.

When asked about the cover, Ken Jordan said, "On a recent plane trip to a DJ gig, we caught an amazing sight. The sun was setting in the west. There were spectacular rich colors on the horizon, but on the ground below, it was night. We both were moved by this incredible contrast."

Scott Kirkland added, "Divided By Night immediately popped into my head, not so much as an album title but as a metaphor for our lives. As I enjoyed this beautiful view from my cramped seat, I thought of my family in California and reflected on just how different these two worlds are."

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(56/100) [5]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [6]
Alternative Press [7]
Billboard(favorable) [5]
Consequence of Sound [8]
The Digital Fix(6/10) [9]
Entertainment.ie [10]
Filter74% [5]
IGN(8.5/10) [11]
PopMatters [12]
Spin(3/10) [5][13]
Tiny Mix Tapes [14]
URB [15]
The Washington Post(mixed) [16]

Divided by Night reached more charts than any other studio album by the band, the Billboard 200, the Top Electronic Albums, and Top Independent Albums. It is, so far, the only album besides Vegas which has not reached number one on the Top Electronic Albums chart, it only reached number two. It was beaten by The Fame by Lady Gaga. It also reached number four on the Top Independent Albums chart, the highest ever reached on that chart by The Crystal Method and only studio album to ever be on that chart (the only other albums by the band to hit that chart were their two mix albums, Community Service and Community Service II). It also reached thirty-eighth place on the Billboard 200 on its opening week.

Singles

"Drown in the Now"

The cover of the "Drown in the Now" single released on iTunes on April 14, 2009.

In December 2008, The Crystal Method released the name of their first single from Divided by Night, "Drown in the Now". During the same interview, they said that the song would feature reggae rapper Matisyahu, whom they had met earlier. Before playing a show in British Columbia, Matisyahu's tour manager approached The Crystal Method and asked if they would be willing to play a show onstage with him. Ken and Scott thought it was a cool idea. Matisyahu came by The Crystal Method's trailer and they (The Crystal Method) played the song "High Roller", off of Vegas for Matisyahu. Matisyahu thought it was great, and performed a show with The Crystal Method onstage an hour later. This performance can be found on YouTube. After this performance, The Crystal Method knew that they wanted to work with him on their album. Scott Kirkland states: "He [Matisyahu] delivered something unique that helped create a great vibe for the rest of the album."[17]

During a December interview, The Crystal Method said the new single would be released in mid to late April. In a 2009 interview, Scott Kirkland stated that the song was "very dark and galvanizing" and that he thinks that fans will like it.[1] On March 21, 2009, DJ Demko played the entire song, "Drown in the Now" on his nightly radio show on Z-104.5, a radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Two days later, the segment of the radio show when "Drown in the Now" was played was made into a video and uploaded onto YouTube. "Drown in the Now" was released on iTunes on April 14, 2009.

On April 22, the music video for the song was premiered on Yahoo. The video was shot in black and white and partially animated. The video includes Matisyahu, who is walking through the snowy abandoned streets of New York City. It features shortened version of the song.

"Black Rainbows"

The cover of the "Black Rainbows" single released on Beatport on April 28, 2009.

In an interview in early 2009, The Crystal Method said that they would feature vocals from Justin Warfield. During the same interview, they said that Warfield's wife, Stefanie King Warfield, would also be on the album. On April 28, 2009, "Black Rainbows" was released as a single exclusively to Beatport.com to be downloaded for $1.99.

"Come Back Clean"

The song features vocals by Emily Haines. Ken Jordan announced via The Crystal Method's Twitter account that "Come Back Clean" had multiple remixes by at least one artist, Kaskade, and that he could not wait for fans to hear them. On October 5, 2009, "Come Back Clean" was released as their third single. It was exclusively released on Beatport.

"Sine Language"

"Sine Language" was the fourth single from the album. The song features vocals by hip hop duo LMFAO and is track 6 of the album. The original music was written by Ken and Scott Jordan including LMFAO.

It was announced more than a year after the release of the single "Come Back Clean", on November 4, 2010, when the band scored a video game called Blur, and it was finally released on November 16, 2010, as a promotional remix EP by the official site of the electronic duo, that could be downloaded from the site by joining it. LMFAO's raps are accompanied by a single edit and seven brand new remixes, including reworked versions by Richard Vission, Future Funk Squad, Moonbeam, Datsik, Metasyn, Omega and Von Ukuf.

Its music video features a performance of LMFAO. All LMFAO or The Crystal Method footage was shot and filmed live in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Sine Language was included on EA's soundtrack for the game Need for Speed: Nitro.[18]

Tour

In early 2009, The Crystal Method said that they would go on a major national tour, their first in 5 years since Legion of Boom. A sort of preview of the tour was on April 17, 2009 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. This concert has been said to be the first of the entire tour, though, according to the tour dates (which were released in late March), the first official concert is not until May 6. Supposedly, the new tour will bring in new elements that have never been seen from The Crystal Method live. Ken Jordan comments about the new tour: "This tour is going to be a completely new look. It's like tearing down your house and rebuilding it."

The Divided by Night tour spanned across the United States and part of Canada, from early May to mid June.

After the original tour was over, The Crystal Method decided to add several more tour dates to their list – and most of them span across Europe. The Crystal Method has played at the Reading and Leeds Festivals, and will continue to tour Europe until early November 2009.

City Venue Date
Boston, MA House of Blues May 6, 2009
Montreal, QC Metropolis May 7, 2009
Toronto, ON The Guvernment May 8, 2009
New York, NY Webster Hall May 9, 2009
Philadelphia, PA The Theater of Living Arts May 10, 2009
Cleveland, OH House of Blues May 11, 2009
Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live! May 12, 2009
Ft. Lauderdale, FL Revolution Live May 14, 2009
Lake Buena Vista, FL House of Blues May 15, 2009
Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle May 16, 2009
New Orleans, LA House of Blues May 17, 2009
Houston, TX House of Blues May 18, 2009
Austin, TX La Zona Rosa May 19, 2009
Dallas, TX House of Blues May 20, 2009
Las Vegas, NV House of Blues May 22, 2009
Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre May 23, 2009
Tucson, AZ Rialto Theater May 24, 2009
San Diego, CA House of Blues May 26, 2009
San Francisco, CA The Warfield Theater May 28, 2009
Portland, OR Roseland Theater May 29, 2009
Seattle, WA WaMu Theater May 30, 2009
Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom June 1, 2009
Calgary, AB The Whiskey June 3, 2009
Milwaukee, WI Rave at The Eagles Club June 6, 2009
Minneapolis, MN First Avenue June 7, 2009
Chicago, IL House of Blues June 8, 2009
St. Louis, MO The Pageant June 9, 2009
Kansas City, MO Beaumont Club June 10, 2009
Aspen, CO Belly Up Aspen June 12, 2009
Salt Lake City, UT Murray Theater June 14, 2009
Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas Motor Speedway June 24, 2009

Setlist

The Divided by Night Tour had the same tracks and track order for each show:

  1. "Why So Serious? (The Crystal Method Remix)" originally composed by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, from the film, "The Dark Knight"
  2. "Divided by Night", from the album, Divided by Night
  3. "Roll it Up", from the album, Tweekend
  4. "Vapor Trail", from the album, Vegas
  5. "Badass", from the EP, CSII Exclusives
  6. "Bound Too Long", from the album, Legion of Boom
  7. "Double Down Under", from the album, Divided by Night
  8. "Come Back Clean", from the album, Divided by Night
  9. "Blowout", from the album, Tweekend
  10. "Cherry Twist", from the album, Vegas
  11. "High Roller", from the album, Vegas
  12. "Wild, Sweet and Cool", from the album, Tweekend
  13. "Born Too Slow", from the album, Legion of Boom
  14. "Now Is the Time", from the album, Vegas
  15. "Keep Hope Alive", from the album, Vegas
  16. "Busy Child", from the album, Vegas
  17. "Trip Like I Do", from the album, Vegas

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Divided by Night"5:03
2."Dirty Thirty" (featuring Peter Hook)5:26
3."Drown in the Now" (featuring Matisyahu)5:49
4."Kling to the Wreckage" (featuring Justin Warfield)4:06
5."Smile?"5:36
6."Sine Language" (featuring LMFAO)6:17
7."Double Down Under"5:51
8."Come Back Clean" (featuring Emily Haines)4:59
9."Slipstream" (featuring Jason Lytle)5:21
10."Black Rainbows" (featuring Stefanie King Warfield)6:23
11."Blunts & Robots" (featuring Peter Hook)5:51
12."Falling Hard" (featuring Meiko)6:39

Divided by Night has come to be known for having more featured guests than any other album by The Crystal Method – and most of these guest artists do not specialize in the electronic music genre.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Crystal Method: "Divided by Night"". Thecrystalmethod.org. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  2. "The Crystal Method Tour Dates''". Internetdj.com. 2008-09-27. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  3. 1 2 "Now is the Time (Vote '08 Remix)". Thecrystalmethod.com. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  4. "IDJ Review of Divided by Night". Mark Shemel. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Critic Reviews for Divided By Night". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  6. Bush, John (2009-05-12). "Divided by Night - The Crystal Method : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  7. Haight, Erick (June 2009). "The Crystal Method - Divided By Night". Alternative Press: 111. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  8. Rosheuvel, Gillian (2009-07-10). "Album Review: The Crystal Method - Divided by Night". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  9. Donnelly, John (2009-08-15). "The Crystal Method - Divided by the Night". The Digital Fix. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  10. Murphy, Lauren (2009-08-05). "The Crystal Method - Divided by Night". Entertainment.ie. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  11. White, Finn (2009-05-12). "The Crystal Method: Divided by Night Review". IGN. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  12. Schiller, Mike (2009-06-23). "The Crystal Method: Divided By Night". PopMatters. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  13. Wood, Mikael (2009-04-16). "The Crystal Method, 'Divided by Night' (Tiny E)". Spin. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  14. Ranta, Alan (2009-06-28). "The Crystal Method - Divided By Night". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on 2009-06-28. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  15. "Crystal Method, The - Divided By Night (Review)". URB. 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  16. Dunham, Nancy (2009-08-07). "Record Review: The Crystal Method's 'Divided by Night'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  17. "dance music news: the crystal method unveils album details". Danceblogga. 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  18. "Need For Speed: Nitro – So Fast It’s Coming Two Weeks Early". Kotaku. 19 Oct 2009.
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