Beatmakers the Crystal Method have nearly finished their long-awaited sophomore collection. Tweekend, the duo's first set in close to four years, will drop July 31st. One week later, on August 5th, the techno twosome of Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland will pack up their machines and launch the "7 Day Tweekend Tour" in Seattle, beginning a run of shows set to climax with a Las Vegas homecoming on September 29th. Exact dates and venues for the balance of the tour are still being sorted out.

Tweekend, the follow-up to 1997's breakthrough Vegas, (which contained the dancefloor crossover smash "Busy Child"), was composed over the last two years at Jordan and Kirkland's own Bomb Shelter studio in Glendale, California. During that period, a healthy number of guest superstars strolled in to contribute: Stone Temple Pilot's Scott Weiland added vocals to a potential single called "Murder," while elsewhere Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello worked as both producer and player. DJ Swamp, of Beck's band, and singer/songwriter Jon Brion also helped out. Reports that Brion consort Fiona Apple appears on Tweekend were erroneous. Spokesfolks for the piano girl say she's at home and on hiatus.

Fans seeking a sneak preview of Tweekend can find advance tracks and streaming studio footage at www.thecrystalmethod.com.

GREG HELLER
(May 22, 2001)