[album review] The Crystal Method - Divided by Night

The new album from The Crystal Method, Divided by Night was released on May 12, 2009 on Tiny e Records. To celebrate the new album, the duo have embarked on their first official tour as a live act in five years - you can check out the remaining US tour dates below. But first, let's hear about the album:

Couple of quick observations about the album. LOVE the artwork. Very cool concept, and I have seen a teaser video of visuals from the VJ on the tour and he does a great job of incorporating the album's visual concept into the live projections. Also, it's always great for an artist album to actually be over an hour, and this album runs about 66 minutes with 12 songs. The duo did a great job selecting guest artists for the album, including LMFAO, Peter Hook, Matisyahu, Emily Haines and Meiko. One other thing to note on the album as a whole is that they managed to sound new while also sounding like classic Crystal Method.

The album starts off with the title track 'Divided by Night'. This is a mellow, funky groover. Good for the pre-funk or the after party, but in this case, we are just getting started. Next up is 'Dirty Thirty'. The energy of the album is building. This song has a classic funky breakbeat, some acid squelches, and lots of fun synth stabs.

The third track was also the first single off the album, 'Drown in the Now' featuring Matisyahu. The video for this song is very cool and can be seen at the bottom of this article. This is a great crossover track with good music and fun lyrics. Next up is 'Kling to the Wreckage'. Lots of energy to this track, but it has a certain modern-rock vibe and a male vocal I don't care for.

'Smile?' is the next song, and this one is a great breakbeat track. Keeping the energy up and flowing. 'Sine Language' feat. LMFAO is next and is a total party joint with hilarious lyrics. This song should also appeal to a very large cross section of music fans.

'Double Down Under' is another high energy breakbeat track. It's hands-in-the-air time with this one. Really fun song that I can't wait to see performed live. 'Come Back Clean' is a nice track featuring the vocals of Emily Haines. It's a great song that I would love to hear some club remixes of.

'Slipstream' is the ninth song on the album, and it's an okay song, but it just doesn't really do anything for me. This one and 'Kling to the Wreckage' are the only two songs from the whole album that I wasn't feeling. They immediately redeem themselves with the next song, 'Black Rainbows'. 'Black Rainbows' is probably my favorite song on the whole album. We're on the downward part of the journey as far as the energy level is concerned, but this track really blew me away. It's a great song that is late night dancefloor material for packed clubs.

We conclude the album with 'Blunts & Robots' and 'Falling Hard'. 'Blunts & Robots' is a funky song that pumps the energy back up right before the end of the musical journey. 'Falling Hard' sends us off with a blissful smile with what can best be described as an electronic love song.

Overall this album gets a 9/10 from Dancefloor Mayhem. A really strong artist album from one of the biggest names to come from the American rave scene. Go buy the CD, or grab it from Itunes, and don't forget to catch them on tour if they haven't been to your city yet!

Click Here to buy The Crystal Method music from Itunes

The Crystal Method U.S. Tour Dates

5/22 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
5/23 Tempe, AZ - Marquee
5/24 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
5/25 San Diego, CA - House of Blues
5/29 Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
5/30 Seattle, WA - WaMu Theatre (USC Anniv. Party)
6/1 Vancouver, BC - Commodore
6/3 Calgary, AB - Whiskey Nightclub
6/6 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Club
6/7 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
6/8 Chicago, IL - House of Blues
6/9 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
6/10 Kansas City, MO - Beaumont Club
6/12 Aspen, CO - Belly Up
6/13 Denver, CO - TBA
6/14 Salt Lake City, UT - Murray Theater
6/16 Sacramento, CA - Empire Events Center
6/17 San Francisco, CA - Grand Ballroom

Dancefloor Mayhem will be at the Portland show and will be providing a review of the live show shortly after!

thecrystalmethod.com

The Crystal Method on MySpace

Enjoy the music video for 'Drown in the Now':

If you made it to the end of the article, congratulations! Leave us a comment with your first and last name, your e-mail address, and your thoughts on the new album from The Crystal Method. You must live in or close to Portland, and one winner will be chosen at random for a pair of tickets to the Portland show on May 29th at the Roseland Theater. Deadline for entering is Monday, May 25th at 5pm PST.