In their decade-long career, The Crystal Method have sold over a million albums, scored a Grammy nomination and collaborated with everyone from Ozzy Osbourne to Scott Weiland to Ol’ Dirty Bastard. They headlined the Hollywood Bowl, rocked Coachella and played a fashion show in Milan for Donatella Versace. Meanwhile, their songs appeared in countless video games, movies and television series. Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland, who are The Crystal Method, even spent a surreal night in the Los Angeles County Jail. But before any of that happened, they made Vegas, their debut album from 1997. Marking its 10th anniversary, Jordan and Kirkland have reassessed and readdressed the long-player that started it all with Vegas (Deluxe Edition), which will be released via Geffen/UMe on September 18.
The two-disc deluxe set offers a fresh mastering of the original ten songs on the first CD. The second CD highlights a selection of rare and live recordings plus new mixes of classic Vegas tracks from remixers personally chosen by the duo such as Paul Oakenfold, MSTRKRFT, Hyper, Sta, Deadmau5, Koma & Bones, Tom Real vs. The Rogue Element and Myagi. Also included is the original 1993 version of the Vegas single “Comin’ Back” with the video for the album version along with the video for “Busy Child.” Preceding the deluxe edition’s release, “Busy Child” (Sta remix) will be available on iTunes as of August 28.
Vegas put the Las Vegas natives at the center of an electronic music scene previously occupied almost exclusively by trailblazing Brits such as Underworld, The Prodigy and Groove Armada. Inspired in equal parts by Jordan and Kirkland’s late night outings in the early days of the Los Angeles rave scene and their reassuringly humdrum upbringing in the Las Vegas suburbs listening to everything from disco to hip hop to metal, Vegas is a different kind of techno record. It’s got soul. “One thing people have been telling us for the past 10 years is that Vegas was the first thing to get them into electronic music,” Jordan says. “We just came up with a sound that bridged the gap between alternative and electronic music.”
The complete track listing for The Crystal Method’s Vegas (Deluxe Edition) is:
DISC ONE:
TRIP LIKE I DO
BUSY CHILD
CHERRY TWIST
HIGH ROLLER
COMIN’ BACK
KEEP HOPE ALIVE
VAPOR TRAIL
SHE’S MY PUSHER
JADED
BAD STONE
DISC TWO:
BUSY CHILD (Sta Remix)
TRIP LIKE I DO (Tom Real vs The Rogue Element Remix)
KEEP HOPE ALIVE (MSTRKRFT Remix)
COMIN’ BACK (Koma and Bones Remix)
BUSY CHILD (Hyper Remix)
CHERRY TWIST (Deadmau5 Remix)
BUSY CHILD (Paul Oakenfold Remix)
HIGH ROLLER (Myagi Remix)
COMIN’ BACK (’93 Demo)
VAPOR TRAIL (Live)
VIDEOS:
BUSY CHILD
COMIN’ BACK
Catch live DJ sets by THE CRYSTAL METHOD at:
Date Venue City
Sep 22 Street Scene Del Mar, CA
Sep 28 Showbox Seattle, WA
Sep 29 Ruby Skye San Francisco, CA
Nov 9 Revolution! Music Room Little Rock, AZ
Nov 10 George's Majestic Lounge Fayetteville, AR
Nov 24 Vinoy Park St Petersburg, FL
About The Crystal Method
As The Crystal Method, Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland have been fixtures on the electronic music scene for more than 10 years. Over the course of three studio albums (Vegas, Tweekend and the Grammy nominated Legion of Boom) and two mix records (Community Service, Community Service II), the duo has cemented its reputation through successful collaborations with rock heavyweights and years of touring, both as a live act and as DJs. They’ve also scored the music for the feature film London, as well as the theme to Fox’s series Bones. Their latest offering, Drive, was originally created for Nike as a soundtrack to guide athletes through the progression of a 45-minute workout and is available now via iTunes and as an exclusive release featuring 4 bonus full-length tracks in Best Buy stores only. The Crystal Method currently host “Community Service” on LA’s Indie 103.1 FM and are hard at work on their fourth studio album.
