Cheers!
Saturday, February 01, 2014
1ST FEB 2014 - BURNING PRISMA NEW RELEASE - INVERSIONS
Cheers!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
BEST MUSIC OF 2013
2013 - Best Music
1. The Weeknd - Wanderlust
2. Kanye West - Yeezus
3. Autre Ne Veut - Anxiety
4. Odesza - My Friends Never Die
5. Moderat - II
6. Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven
7. Griz - Rebel Era
8. Gesaffelstein - Aleph
9. Miguel - Kaleidoscope Dream
10. Rob - Maniac (Soundtrack)
11. Hucci - Rose Gold
12. Mount Kimbie - Cold Spring Fault Less Youth
13. A$AP ROCKY - LONG.LIVE.A$AP
14. Disclosure - Settle
15. Fuck Buttons - Slow Focus
16. Death Grips - Government Plates
17. James Blake - Overgrown
18. The Haxan Cloak - Excavation
19. Kid 606 - Going back to Kali Yuga
20. Mogwai - Les Revenants (Soundtrack)
21. Paper Diamond - Paragon
22. Umberto - Confrontations
23. Dean Blunt - Stone Island
Previous years:
2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008
2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
18TH MAY 2013 - BURNING PRISMA ALBUM RELEASE
The BURNING PRISMA self titled album is now available for streaming and download:
http://burningprisma.bandcamp.com/
We've been working on this for two years. We hope you enjoy it.
We also have a video for one of the tracks:
Cheers!
Thursday, May 02, 2013
Thursday, December 27, 2012
2012 - End of Year Chart
(in no real order)
The Weeknd - Trilogy
How To Dress Well - Total Loss
Clams Casino - Instrumental Mixtape 2
Zammuto - Zammuto
Julia Holter - Ekstasis
Xiu Xiu - Always
Traxman - Da Mind Of Traxman
Slime Code - Sculpture
Liars - WIXIW
Rusko - Songs
XXYYXX - Mystify
Vatican Shadow - Kneel Before Religious Icons
Demdike Stare - Elemental
LHF - Keepers of the Light
Nathan Fake - Steam Days
Metro Zu - MINK RUG
XXL - Düde
JJ DOOM - Keys to the Kuffs
Holy Other - Held
Gaslamp Killer - Breakthrough
Filastine - LOOT
Dudes - Dudes Finds The Higgs Boson
Fantastic Mr. Fox - San'en
Boys Noize - Out of the Black
The Caretaker - Patience (After Sebald)
SKVLL•P∆R†¥ - Noctuary
My Most Listened to Track of 2012:
The Weeknd - Same Old Song
Best gig:
Chilly Gonzales with the BBC Symphony Orchestra @ The Barbican
That's it. Join me in 2013 for more of the same
Previous charts:
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
CRITICAL BEST - WORK IN PROGRESS
Here's the first new CB material in nearly 2 years. Still very much a work in progress, though (and I've not even heard it through speakers yet!)...
http://soundcloud.com/criticalbest/primacy-work-in-progress
Friday, August 10, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Scottish Rap
http://flickermagazine.co.uk/features/scottishrap.html
Saturday, February 18, 2012
ME Versus PITBULL
And you can download it here, too:
http://soundcloud.com/nolikecrumbs/marco-van-bastard-pitbull-give
Enjoy
Saturday, February 04, 2012
Friday, December 30, 2011
2011 - Best Music
Not had a chance to listen to as much as usual this year, it's been a hectic one. Here's what I've liked, though
Rustie - Glass Swords
High Park - All Day
Water Borders - Harbored Mantras
Amon Tobin - ISAM
Balam Acab - Wander / Wonder
Zomby - Dedication
Xander Harris - Urban Gothic
GusGus - Arabian Horse
GL▲SS †33†H / ℑ⊇≥◊≤⊆ℜ - Split
Thundercat - The Golden Age Of Apocalypse
Prurient - Bermuda Drain
Patten - GLAQJO XAACSSO
Nero - Welcome Reality
Chilly Gonzales - The Unspeakable
Mark Fell - Manitutshu
Hype Williams - One Nation
Hudson Mohawke - Satin Panthers
Holy Other - With U
Fed. - Lion Conversion
Cut Hands - Afro Noise, Vol. 1
The Caretaker - An empty bliss beyond this World
Cex - Tiny Creature
The Captain Kirk On LSD Experience - Eternal Sauerkraut Warmachine
Alva Noto - Univrs
The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence
Clotaire 1er - We Are Bad Mother Fuckers
Tune of the year
Sabrepulse - Close To Me
http://youtu.be/YIC1aK6CleE
That's us for another year - be excellent to each other, y'all
Here's the links to previous years charts:
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
A Silent Swaying Breath
http://music.audiogourmet.co.uk/album/a-silent-swaying-breath
All profits go towards folks affected by the summer UK riots / community projects.
It's nice and ambient - have a listen if you like that sort of thing. Bonus points if you can identify anything of mine...
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
BURNING PRISMA
You can listen to the 2 tracks here:
Defectors - http://soundcloud.com/burningprisma/defectors
Extrapolated Message - http://soundcloud.com/burningprisma/extrapolated-message
Have a listen, and see what you think. We'll be doing a proper release of our stuff at some point, but work continues at the moment
Saturday, August 20, 2011
A NICE CHEERY MIX
You can stream and download it here - http://soundcloud.com/nolikecrumbs/a-nice-cheery-mix
Tracklist:
Team Doyobi - Skylight Red Omega
DJ Balli - Cutting The Throat of a Boyscout
LFO Demon - My Rotten Body
DJ Producer - Obituary
DJ Floorclearer - Strangle The Giant Elephant
Duran Duran Duran - Face Blast
Danny C - Scrawny
Saturday, August 13, 2011
'"Test 01'"
http://www.last.fm/music/Critical+Best/_/Test+01
It's called 'Test 01', and it's over 40 minutes long. Evidently, 7 people have listened to it, some of them multiple times.
Does anyone have it? Seriously, it's not on any of my hard drives, and I really don't remember making a 40 minute track...
Friday, July 29, 2011
COLLAB
One more thing - there's now a mobile adapted version of this page, for viewing on your phone an' that. It should all work automatically if you you check this on for your phone I think
Ta ra
Sunday, May 15, 2011
CRITICALBEST.CO.UK
criticalbest.co.uk
I'll be doing some proper stuff with it shortly, hopefully.
Got the laptop back, fixed - it's all good. Working on some new stuff as we speak...
Sunday, March 13, 2011
CATASTROPHIC HDD FAILURE
Bad news
-It was only 3 months old
-The drive is failing so bad it failed to image, meaning I will need to re-install everything when I get it replaced =S
-I was actually in the midst of making new music - a collaboration with a very good friend. And we were making some fine progress
Good news
-It's still under warranty, so I'm sending it back to get the drive replaced tomorrow
-Even though the imaging failed, I managed to back everything up. Phew
-I've got this spare Ubuntu laptop, which is chugging along nicely
Fucking nightmare, though. I've got some software running under Wine on this laptop, so I may be able to make some daft noises, at least, while I get all this shit sorted out
Carry on!
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Cakebuilder - Book of the Dead
The best breakcore tune that samples Evil Dead? I think so...
Sunday, January 16, 2011
WOLVODS on Last.fm
Well, my new EP, WOLVODS, is up for streaming and download on Last.fm now:
You can get it here - http://www.last.fm/music/Critical+Best/WOLVODS
(It's still on Bandcamp, too - http://criticalbest.bandcamp.com/album/wolvods)It's been described as
"... the sound of abandoned machines - in the process of corroding and seizing-up, mourning the loss of their masters ... and their place in society.... Desperately sending clunky transmissions, trying to communicate their mute fate."
Enjoy!
Friday, January 07, 2011
Best music of 2010
Best of 2010
Umberto - Prophecy Of The Black Widow
Crookers - Tons Of Friends
Autre Nu Veut - Autre Nu Veut
Ceephax Acid Crew - United Acid Emirates
Zola Jesus - Stridulum II
Altar Eagle - Mechanical Gardens
Fed. - Mashup Business
Afrirampo - We Are Uchu No Ko
Lindstrøm and Christabelle - Real Life Is No Cool
Mount Kimbie - Crooks & Lovers
Sylvain Chauveau - Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)
Lil B - Rain in England
Holy Fuck - Latin
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
Sun City Girls - Funeral mariachi
Mark Van Hoen - Where Is The Truth
Xiu Xiu - Dear God, I Hate Myself
Souvenir's Young America - The Name Of The Snake
Gill Scott-Heron - I'm New Here
Sam Spence - Sounds
Kid606 - Songs About Fucking Steve Albini
The Black Dog - Music For Real Airports
How to Dress Well - Love Remains
Balam Acab - See Birds
And according to Last.fm, my most played tracks last year were:
1. Crookers – Have Mercy ft. Carrie Wilds
2. Crookers – Embrace The Martian ft. KiD CuDi
3. Eraplee Noisewall Orchestra – Desperation Speaks
4. Xiu Xiu – Dear God, I Hate Myself
5. Sabrepulse – I Heart Voltage
Here's the links to previous years charts, if you wish to make me for previous musical indiscretions or whatnot:
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
Ciao, and Happy New Year
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
CREATION
About a year ago, I noticed he started to get slow and sluggish, and generally past his prime, so recently I got a new one. A beast. It's taken me a month or so, but I've got it all tricked the fuck out, and now I'm rocking Reason (with a nice wee Korg control interface) for music, and Premier (and a proper pro transcoder) for videos, as well as the other Windows 7 niceness.
So I guess, what I'm getting at, is - I now have some decent kit, so in theory, my creative output should be decent-er.
Prepare for war
(Addendum - the old laptop has been freshened with the new Ubuntu. He's now 'Percy Laptop Bastard 3.0', and I have no idea what to do with him)
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
New EP - WOLVODS - out now
All I ask for in return for the free download is your email address - and I won't send you any shite. Promise!
Critical Best - WOLVODS - Released 21 November 2011
Further download locations coming soon...
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
New Look
In other news - new EP is finished. Release scheduled before the end of the year. BAM
Got a new, decent laptop, and got Reason 4 humming along nicely on it, with my wee Korg Nano Kontrol and some other bits an' that, so once the new album's out I'm gonny start making some shiny new stuff
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Wee Sunday mix
Wee short mix done on a Sunday. Got some old skool jungle, DJ Scotch Egg, Team Doyobi, etc..
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
WOLVODS
It's called 'Wolvods' and it's pretty loud and droney. See what you think:
http://wtfmusic.org/#music/26/978
(And much love to the folks at WTF Music)
Monday, August 16, 2010
A cloud? With SOUND?
http://soundcloud.com/nolikecrumbs
One day, I hope to actually do another mix. I ain't got the time just now. Pity - I have some stonking vinyl I picked up in the last 6 months or so.
Still working on the new EP - will have some news on that this week - a teaser track
Love and hugs
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Critical Best Review on WTFMusic.org
"Time is something everyone is obsessed with either consciously or subconsciously. Art is full of great examples of this infatuation. Let’s look at the opening couplet from Lonnie Johnson’s nineteen forty-seven hit ‘Tomorrow Night’: ‘Tomorrow night, will you remember what you said tonight? Tomorrow night, will all the thrills be gone?’ Now think about the complexity around the sense of time Johnson uses in this couplet. He is asking in the present if in the future if his sweetheart will remember how she feels in the present. Yeah – if only modern pop songs could provoke such mind swirling thoughts. Not only does Critical Best hint and acknowledge the strength of time on the human psyche he marries and courts it proudly within his LP ‘Enneract’.
That sense of shifting time is a pinning point in this album and it often boils over on certain tracks. Let’s look at ‘Arundel Tomb’. The lyrics in this piece are taken from Philip Larkin’s poem ‘An Arundel Tomb’. The poem tells us of time passing over tombs. Now the vocal in the track is obscured by effects throughout but the last line is brought to the forefront at the end of the piece: ‘What will survive of us is love.’ Heavy stuff for an album that is ninety nine percent instrumental. That is the only clear thing Critical Best wanted to communicate to us in the English language the whole thirty six minutes and thirty seven seconds of his musical discourse. So he is telling us that when time has eliminated our memories all that remains is love.
The album actually starts with time manipulation. Oh no what is this shit is the first thing that comes to mind when it starts? ‘Phossy Jaw’ commences and I find myself in a Berlin techno bar surrounded by German weightlifters wearing homoerotic leather lederhosen. Get me out of here. Then I notice why I came here. One minute thirty into the first track Critical Best manipulates the sound and slows the tempo of the track and all comfort of sense of place and time evaporates and we are given an audio vision of a shemale breast feeding an albino giraffe. Yeah – what the fuck? I swear to God that sums up exactly what happens in this track. Then a waitress wearing a Barrack Obama mask comes round and offers me some strange looking pills. It can’t get any worse – I down the whole lot.
The pills kick in – I see De Niro in the opium den scene from ‘Once upon a time in America’. He asks me what I’m doing here. I ask him the same thing. We smile and zone out listening to ‘Manxome’. Time comes for me to leave – I ask for my coat. Throughout the album you feel an uneasy sense of being here before. The audio transports you back in time to personal memories and scenes in movies. In the title track on the album a memory of standing in a doorway in New York avoiding the rain is provoked. The thing is I have never been to New York. The visual strength of these pieces is so strong that when it is juxtaposed with the consciousness of time it is a wicked heady combination.
Tomorrow night, will you remember what you said tonight?
Tomorrow night, will all the thrills be gone?
Tomorrow night, will it be just another memory?
Or just another lovely song that's in my heart to linger on?
- The Importance Of Birds"
Much love guys. Much love
Check out WTFMusic @ http://wtfmusic.org and http://wtfmusicorg.blogspot.com, they really know their stuff
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
6 months of song
Crookers - Tons Of Friends
Mark Van Hoen - Where Is The Truth
Lindstrøm and Christabelle - Real Life Is No Cool
Xiu Xiu - Dear God, I Hate Myself
Sylvain Chauveau - Singular Forms (Sometimes Repeated)
Souvenir's Young America - The Name Of The Snake
Sam Spence - Sounds
Sage francis - Li(f)e
RJD2 - The Colossus
Omar Souleyman - Jazeera Nights
Lali Puna - Our Inventions
Kid606 - Songs About Fucking Steve Albini
Holy Fuck - Latin
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
The Black Dog - Music For Real Airports
And here's a wordle of everything I've been listening to this year, for your delectation:
Click that pic to see it bigger
Job job
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
BRIGANDRY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9JtUpnDkj4
Or by clicking the funky bar at the bottom of your screen
Archive footage taken from here - http://www.bfi.org.uk/creativearchive/
Bosh
Friday, April 23, 2010
Candbamp
Got all my music up on Bandcamp now - free downloads of full album or single MP3s, whatever takes your fancy
New album will be up on there when it's finished - in addition to some other attack vector. Might be a wee while, though - what with work, the lovely London weather, the forthcoming election and the VOLCANIC DOOM CLOUD, I've not had much time to sit and decompress and bang some choons out. Anyway, that link:
http://criticalbest.bandcamp.com/
(Fuck me I need a proper logo, don't I?)
Fill yer boots
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Musings
It's kinda bizarre
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Enneract on Last.fm
http://www.last.fm/music/Critical+Best/Enneract
Thanks to TRASHFUCK once again =)
Thursday, December 17, 2009
2009 in musical form
- Nero's Day at Disneyland - From Rotting Fantasylands
- Telepathe - Dance Mother
- Kid606 - Shout At The Döner
- Clark - Totems Flare
- Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do
- Annoying Ringtone - Club Jumping
- Bizzy B - Retrospective
- DJ /rupture and Andy Moor - Patches
- Loren Connors - The Curse Of Midnight Mary
- Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
- Divtech - Compact Reality Refuse
- Hudson Mohawke - Butter
- Soundmurderer - Toned Down
- Shitmat - One Foot In The Rave
- Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II
- Harmonic 313 - When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence
- Monster Zoku Onsomb! - Earth Eaters
- The Fly Girlz - Da'Brats From Da'Ville
- Belladonnakillz - Sorry Try Again
- Throbbing Gristle - Gristleism
Best Re-issue
- The Vampires of Dartmoor - Dance Of The Vampires
Tune of the year 2009
- David Guetta featuring Akon - Sexy Bitch
Almost but not quite...
- Venetian Snares - Horsey Noises (decent-but-not-amazing EP; worth it just for the line "I have drawn you a picture of a giraffe fucking an elephant, notice how his moustache looks just like mine")
Last 6 months of 2009 listening in Wordle form
So that was 2009. Here's the links to previous years charts, if you are that way inclined:
Laters gaters
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, November 01, 2009
HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!!!
I decided to upload it this Hallowe'en, but rather than just chuck it up without visuals, I downloaded a clip from the BFI, and mucked about with it a wee bit.
HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Aqua Nomad
You can follow his journey here - http://aquanomad.blogspot.com
Updatesss
Yeah, that's about it. Happy Halloween
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Enneract - proper release on TRASHFUCK
____
So, the lovely lovely folks at TRASHFUCK NET / Records (myspace.com/trashfucknet) have released my second album.
You can get it here -
http://www.archive.org/details.php?identifier=TFN213
Much love and thanks to RedSK @ TRASHFUCK
Hope you like it
(I am so watching the shit out of the Running Man right now)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
participate in all-night techno rave dance party
Marc'o van Bastard - participate in all-night techno rave dance party
http://www.mediafire.com/?jvjoqmdxnuz
1>> Kid606 - Good Times
2>> Sarantis - Badman Dub
3>> Bloodclaat Gangsta Youth - Kill Or Be Killed (Panacea Remix)
4>> Shitmat - Clash And Carry (Old Socks Remix)
5>> Bizzy B - Bless This Sound (feat. Equinox and TDK)
6>> Istari Lasterfahrer - Good Vibes And A Broken Nose
7>> Bong-Ra - Varkenslachter
8>> Ladyscraper - Bleeding From The Butt
9>> Shitmat - Loveheart Trilogy
10> Droon - Cripplefight
11> Q-Tex - The Power Of Love (Jon Campbell Remix)
Cheers
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Straight Heet
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=451fbcfa3256e552aaca48175
a79d1c3f9a7e8bd395ecd1fb8eada0a1ae8665a
Actually, shit - some of them have been put on CD since I done this. Oh well
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Friday, June 05, 2009
STUTTER. REFORM. BLESS
So all of the tracks are short experimental dalliances, most of which are what I would consider 'Trance Noise'. There's also some fucked up vocals in there, and a harmonica, at one point. All tracks were pretty much, recorded live, and then run through the mill.
I'd say, 'enjoy', but this is very short, and kind of daft, so you may not. It's on Mediafire at the moment, but it will get a proper Scunnered release.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Shit...
More on that, and more stuff later
Saturday, March 28, 2009
New Album Pre-release
Critical Best
Enneract
1,1 Phossy Jaw (featuring Marc'o van Bastard)
1,2 Imprecise Concept
2 Manxome
3 Enneract
4 Laplace's Demon
5 Punch Drunk Crunk
6 Booooooooomblastandruin
7 Arundel Tomb
8 Trevor Brown Don't Paint My Child
9 The Last Wasp of Summer
10 Gnostic Mass
11 When Logic Collapses into Ghosts and Shadow
All pieces and artwork created by Marc Lee Andrew in 2007 & 2008
Lyrics on 'Arundel Tomb' are taken from the poem, "An Arundel Tomb" by Philip Larkin
You can listen to it, or download it from here - http://www.last.fm/music/Critical+Best/Enneract
Enjoy my lovely peeps
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
my head is full of sodden cotton wool
it's utterly mental
blaaaaaargh
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
2008 in sound and fury
- Tobacco - Fucked Up Friends
- The Stranger - Bleaklow
- Cardopusher - Unity Means Power
- Torche - Meanderthal
- The Teknoist - ...Like a Hurricane Made of Zombies
- Blevin Blectum - Gular Flutter
- Sickboy - Time To Play
- The Caretaker - Persistent Repetition Of Phrases
- The Boats - Faulty Toned Radio
- Errors - It's Not Something But it is Like Whatever
- Sir Vixx - Breakcore Is Another Word For Loser
- Moya - Die Hard
- Venetian Snares - Detrimentalist
- Clark - Turning Dragon
- Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista
- DJ Scotch Egg - Drumized
- Portishead - Third
- Mrs Jynx - The Standoffish Cat
- God is an Astronaut - God is an Astronaut
- Brael & Tokyo Bloodworm - Living Language
- Blue Sky Black Death - Late Night Cinema
- Eraplee Noisewall Orchestra - Sigma God Metal
- Xiu Xiu - Women As Lovers
Almost but not quite...
- Last Step - 1961
- The Bug - London Zoo (I seriously can't believe the Wire gave this best of album of the year. It's so uneven - about half is actually worth listening to)
- Arthur Russel - Love Is Overtaking Me
- Autechre - Quaristice (I dunno - Autechre are starting to really annoy me for some reason. And Squarepusher)
Best Re-issue
- The John Baker Tapes
As an unabashed BBC Radiophonic Workshop fanboy, seeing any of their work getting re-issues always brings a warm glow to my heart. If it wasn't for pioneers like John Baker and Delia Derbyshire, practically none of the music I enjoy would exist today
Best 12 inch
- Flying Lotus - Shhh!
Fucking heavy remixes from Flying Lotus - RJD2, Mr Oizo, Dilla and Nelly Furtado take an absolute kicking. Noice
Best mixes
- DJ Cut Hands - AFRONOISE 1
Best collection of noise I've heard in quite some time. Essential
- The Gaslamp Killer - i spit on your grave
Utterly sick, heavy and funky. Get on it
Tune of the year 2008
- Telepathe - Chromes on it
This track is just phenomenal. When Telepathe's debut album drops in 2009, they are going to be bigger than God.
So that was 2008. Here's the last few end of year lists for your perusal:
Laters gaters
Thursday, December 18, 2008
This & That
As mentioned before, as a pre-amble before my second full length album is released, I've decided to put out a wee EP, with a few covers, remixes and other unreleased stuff.
It's called 'This And That', and it's released on Scunnered Records [scun003]:
http://www.archive.org/details/CriticalBest-ThisAndThatscun003
Tracklisting is as follows:
1.Critical Best - Aids Wolf Eyes
[Unused track from the Meconium Sessions]
2.Combat Tone - Br file ext 4 (Critical Best Post-core-core Remix)
[Remix of my good friend, Combat Tone]
3.Critical Best - Dead Techno
[Originally created for Unicorn Zoo's '5 Seconds Compilation', which has since been cancelled]
4.Critical Best - You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will
[Cover of Bright Eyes' 'You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will']
5.Critical Best - Children
[Cover of Robert Miles' 'Children']
6.DJ Shadow - Organ Donor (Critical Best's Proper Fucked Too Fucked To Care Remix)
[Remix of DJ Shadow]
Hope you all enjoy
New album will be out very very soon - I'll keep you updated
Cheers
Marc AKA Critical Best
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Woop woop
How do you like them fucking apples, eh?
I may release some other bits and pieces, too, as a kind of 'Rarities, Covers and Remixes' EP, so I can start 2009 with a fresh slate. FRESH.
And look out for one or two Marc'o van Bastard remixes, too. In a chilled out stylee.
FRESSSHHH
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Statutory Rave
It's Happening Again
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1OARN6VK
01 Parts & Labor - Holiday's Over
02 Herrmutt Lobby - Hazebola Bassline
03 The Bug ft. Warrior Queen - Poison Dart (Skream Remix)
04 Totally Normal - Grind Your Grime
05 Nailbomb Cults - Cthulhu Rising
06 Droon - Cripplefight (Duran Duran Duran Remix)
07 Unitus - The Dry Hour of Geography (Electromeca Remix)
08 Rotator - Come Get Some
09 Bong-Ra - Coke Sniffah
10 CAKEBUILDER - Necron The Hell God
11 FFF - Kickahole in the Speaker
12 Istari Lasterfahrer - Bloodclaat Tune
13 DJ Floorclearer - Strangle the Giant Elephant
14 Duran Duran Duran - Size Queen
15 ACRNYM - Owner
It's pretty straightforward, hope you enjoy it =)
Friday, October 03, 2008
THIS IS THE NEWS
Percy Laptop Bastard is back, and fixed. Most of the tracks and bits & pieces were recovered, so everything should be cool, if a little later than planned.
The album will probably be shorter now, though, as all this time to ponder has made me seriously consider scrapping a few of the tracks. And I've only got one intact track of the proposed covers & remixes EP I was hoping to do, so I don't think we'll see that for a good while yet.
There's a new track up on the Myspace player, 'Laplace's Demon', as well as a tiny sneak preview of the Enneract album cover - myspace.com/criticalbest
There's also another dead pigeon over there --->
if you're that way inclined
Enjoy
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Steve Buscemi touched my face once
And it looks like I've lost the main files for the new album, and am only left with the .WAVs and .MP3s. So, I will probably just release it as is.
If anyone knows of a decent net label that will release it for free, gimme a shout. I know of a good few who I can go to, but it's always nice to have a choice.
Made this out of sheer boredom, enjoy:
Monday, July 21, 2008
We're talking C.A.T.A.S.T.R.O.P.H.E
So, my laptop has died a horrible death
There's a good chance I've irretrievably lost a few new Critical Best tracks, and some other bits and pieces, which is pretty shit.
I'm going to remove the hard drive this week, and try and nab the data off it. If this works, we should be all okay. If it doesn't, I am going to cry like a little bitch.
In addition to the music, there was all my dead pigeon photos, too - so that blog will need to be on hiatus for a wee while.
More news as the story develops
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
UPDATE
I might chuck some holiday pics up here soon, it was well ace in Sri Lanka
In other news, I'm working on some more tracks, not for my album, but for a wee remixes and covers EP I've just had the notion to put together
Late-arz
Thursday, May 15, 2008
ONLY REAL COWBOYS READ THE BIBLE
I have a new MP3 out - Critical Best's second release, 'ONLY REAL COWBOYS READ THE BIBLE'. It's a 13 minute noise soundscape inspired by the harsh violence of the frontier lands of the 1800s. This year I've been really into 'cowboy things' (Blood Meridian, Deadwood, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, The Proposition, etcetera) and the utter mindless brutality, and complete unglamouressness of life back then really made an impression on me. It all kind of came to head while putting this track together. Brutal, unrelenting, then sparse, windswept, pregnant with the anticipation of the danger to come.
Released on Scunnered Records [scun002], and available for download here:
http://www.archive.org/details/CriticalBest-ONLYREALCOWBOYSREADTHEBIBLEscun002
You can also hear it on the Scunnered Records Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/scunneredrecords
And you can both download it and listen to it at Last.fm - http://www.last.fm/music/Critical+Best/ONLY+REAL+COWBOYS+READ+THE+BIBLE
Please get in touch if you have anything good or bad to say about it.
Cheers for the support
Thursday, May 08, 2008
FOUND DEAD IN THE STREET
Here's my new blog, with some pictures I've taken of dead animals, found in the street:
http://deadinthestreet.blogspot.com/
A new picture will be posted every Monday.
If you have any you've taken yourself, gimme a shout and I'll put them up. With full credit, of course
Cheers
Thursday, April 17, 2008
61
http://www.thesixtyone.com/jinginakipunxxx/collection/all/
Where you can go and listen to 3 of my tracks, and bump them if you wish. There's some good music on that site if you can be bothered to go looking
Laters gaters
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Download OPTIONSSS aplenty
Forgot to mention - you can now download the full Meconium album from the Critical Best Last.fm page:
http://www.last.fm/music/Critical+Best/Meconium
Go there and do your dirty business
Oh, I’ll probably be putting some other bits and pieces on there, too, for your downloading / listening pleasure, as I have a few tracks kicking about which are unreleased / kind of released / won’t make the next album
And I’ve got some new ideas for a couple of tunes which I should be getting round to starting in the very near future
Laters gaters
Sunday, March 02, 2008
CRUNK TECHNO
Is 'Crunk Techno' a real genre? I propose that it is. And the main proponents of it are:
Who else is there?
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Blades of Nonsense
Five minutes fucking around on Youtube and here it is:
Jesus
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Arundel Tomb
Hello peeps,
I've been working on a new track. You can listen to it over at the the Critical Best Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/criticalbest
It's called 'Arundel Tomb' and is based off the Philip Larkin poem 'An Arundel Tomb'
I reckon it may still need a wee bit of tweaking
Also, if I haven't mentioned before, there's another new track on there, too, called 'Trevor Brown Don't Paint My Child' (shortened to 'TBDPMC' for the Myspace player)
Enjoy
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Fun with baby
http://www.c00lstuff.com/1133/Do_s_and_don_ts_with_babies/
Some highlights:
Head over to that site to see them all
Monday, February 04, 2008
Sickening
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=371620
John Travolta tells us how awesome he is, and how he was an idol of Heath Ledger's
http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/40175/daniel-day-lewis-breaks-down-over-ledgers-death
A tearful and distraught Daniel Day Lewis tells us he's incredibly upset, and "I didn't know him. I have a strong impression I would have liked him very much as a person if I had"
Jesus fucking Christ you people are despicable
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Burial - True!
Odd, eh?
Friday, January 25, 2008
Monday, January 07, 2008
2007 Musical Roundup Type Thing
- Rotator - Choose Your Poison, Mine Is Hardcore!!!
- The Tuss - Rushup Edge
- Battles - Mirrored
- Panda Bear - Person Pitch
- Gescom - A1-D1
- Wiley - Eskiboy : The Best Of Tunnel Vision
- Melt Banana - Bambi's Dilemma
- XXL - ¿Spicchiology?
- Pluramon - The Monstrous Surplus
- Mujuice - Cool Cool Death
- MIA - Kala
- DJ Scotch Egg - Scotchhausen
- Dilithium Tourdes - The Dirty Dick Outlaw
- 65daysofstatic - The Destruction Of Small Ideas
Best 10 Inch
- Venetian Snares - Sabbath Dubs
Great, wobbly, dub cover/remixes of classic Sabbath tracks. A pity there's only 2 tracks on here
Best 12 Inch
- Various - Cross Roads EP
There's a brilliant Cakebuilder tune on this, but the standout track is Venetian Snares' totally unexpected 4 to the floor monster, "Koonut Kaliffee". It's a punishing rave bastard of a track, and shows yet another side to the man Funk. Released on Dross:tik Records, if you're looking for it
Best Compilation
- Proibidao C.V - Forbidden Gang Funk from Rio De Janeiro
Mmmm, illegal Brazilian funk. Well, it's not really funk - it's gang sponsored MCs chatting over Miami bass beats. Peculiar stuff
Best Reissue
- White Noise - An Electric Storm
Biggest Letdown
- Venetian Snares - My Downfall (Original Soundtrack)
Cheap nasty presets for the violin sounds, lacklustre breakcore, emo imagery - Snares has fucking lost it with this album. Seen by many as a follow up, and companion piece to 2005's "Rossz csillag alatt született", this fails in every single way that "Rossz..." succeeded (and I didn't even rate "Rossz...")
A Few Mentions...
- Burial - Untrue
Better than last year's debut effort, but I still don't see what the fuss is all about. This is on every single fucker's album of the year list. Don't believe the hype until you've gave it a thorough listen yourself
- Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
Unexpectedly good new album from the Shaolin boys. I've not gave this a decent enough listen to include it on the proper list, though
- Minimal Techno and the Kitsune / Ed Banger shit and the Nu Rave bollocks and most Dubstep...
Can all fuck right off. Well, maybe not Dubstep, but it's proliferation annoys me - you just canny get away from it
- Xiu Xiu - The Air Force
Released in 2006, but only nabbed by me in 2007. More fantastic stuff from Jamie Stewart. The "Remixed and Covered" album released in 2007 was pretty decent, too. Great tracks from Kid606, Why?, Larsen, Gold Chains and many more
That's me for another year. Here's the previous lists...2006
2005
2004
2003
Let's hope we get some good shit in 2008
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
MECONIUM on Scunnered Records MP3
Until they're back up and running, I've released Meconium on Scunnered Records MP3:
www.archive.org/details/CriticalBest-Meconiumscun001
Enjoy
(There's a new track on Myspace, too - www.myspace.com/criticalbest, it's called 'Trevor Brown Don't Paint My Child')
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Christmas Mix
http://www.mediafire.com/?fatjmmxx9zz
1//Kodek - You Must Think First Before You Move
2//Droon / Barndance
3//Adam Harris / Hyperspeed (Sy and Unknown Remix) + Hellfish / Pill Lesson
4//Phuq / Broken (Ruthmix)
5//LFO Demon / Classwar Dynamite
6//Ladyscraper / Turboturd!
7//Gabba Front Berlin / Speedcore Lacrima
A decidedly un-festive half hour. Enjoy
Monday, November 26, 2007
I went climbing yesterday and now these arms are dead snakes
I have an excuse, though - I've just moved into a lovely new flat with my awesome girlfriend, and we don't have t'internet yet, so I can't really update this page from home. And work is pretty busy, what with Xmas looming on the horizon.
I've been growing a moustache this month, along with loads of other guys around the world, to raise money for Prostate Cancer charity. I'm starting to look like a gay fisherman.
I've got 3 new tracks in the pipeline, and a kind of vague concept of things I want to do. Unlike my first album, which was just a hotch potch of all the tracks I'd done, I have a nebulous theme in mind for my next project. I want to get some cheap analogue equipment first, though, as I'm getting a bit bored of my software (and I'm too lazy to learn a couple of the new bits of software I got recently).
Wa wa waaa
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
All Hallow's Eve
For your listening pleasure, I present a 'mashup' of Gershon Kingsley & Peter Waldron and Nurse With Wound. I've taken the DJ Brokenwindow route on this, as I'm shit at mashups, and it didn't really need much tweaking to sound perfect and creepy:
Nurse With Wound - Rat Tapes (Marc'o van Bastard's Halloween Edit)
(This was originally the last track of that Zomcore podcast I done, but I figure it's spooky enough to stand alone today)
Also - what the fuck is up with the lack of pumpkins this year? I am bereft. Most annoying
Laters gaters
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Laughing In The Face Of Mainstream
The very lovely Dadaist Audio have just released their gigantic compilation Laughing In The Face Of Mainstream.
It contains 175 tracks, and over 9 hours of music, ranging from hip hop to black metal, from synthpop to harsh noise, it has everything!
And, it has a track by ME!
It's a reworked, and longer version of 'There Is Truth In Flesh And The Solid Ground', and it's only available on this compilation
You can grab it here (it's in Part 5 - Track 9):
[DADA050] Laughing In The Face Of Mainstream -- A Dadaist Audio Compilation
Please let Dadaist Audio know what you think! And let me know, if you have any thoughts on my track.
Many thanks to Chris @ Dadaist Audio for including my track, and supporting original and innovative music
Cheers
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
MOSHCOREFUNTRENDS
http://www.mediafire.com/?bzmztrgyzv5
or
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IUA3AGDB
1..ANONYMOUS.LY - Untitled
2..Duran Duran Duran - Ralez
3..CDATAKILL - Yesterdays (Ubergang Remix)
4..Throttler - Validation
5..DJ Floorclearer - Over The Legal Limit
6..Cakebuilder - Book of the Dead
7..Enduser - Les Dilution
8..Bong Ra - Eenzaam Sterven Wij Allen
9..ACRNYM - ASBO Selecta
10.LFO Demon - Murderstyle Remix
11.Trentmoller - Miss You
12.DJ Freak - Never Been to Brooklyn
This is the first breakcore mix I've done using my decks, so if you have any kind or nasty words, they'd be very helpful
Ta
Friday, September 28, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
MECONIUM
Limited to thirty (30) copies on CD. Please give me shout if you'd like one - I'm not selling it, but I will swap it for something cool (cool as in quirky - I don't expect anything expensive as it will be available as a free MP3 download soon, if you don't manage to get a hold of one of these CDs).
Critical Best - Meconium : a 40 minute album of disintegrating technoise and lullabies, released on my very own Scunnered Records
You can hear 3 of the tracks (albeit in a slightly unfinshed form) here - www.myspace.com/criticalbest
Info on the MP3 release will be disseminated as and when
Cheers peeps
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Chill the fuck out
I done another mix, it's pretty chill. Download it here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ekaqq2
Tracks by The Tuss, Parts & Labor, Kid606, 65daysofstatic and many more
Enjoy
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Behind the times with Web 2.0
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Gutter Poetry
http://www.sendspace.com/file/u6ifvv
Now, it's not beatmatched in the slightest (I've not touched the decks in about 3 months), but it is a fun collection of tunes. It's also recorded via an intricate system of tin cans and string, between the mixer and the laptop, so it's a little 'noisy'. But it's only half an hour long, so it won't fucking kill you.
Also, it's not a noisy breakcore freakout - it's quite relaxed. There's some Dextro, Cex, Herrmutt Lobby and Trentmøller on there, and some other stuff I've forgotten about
Enjoy
Beware the Pipistrelle
Tracklisting is as follows:
2. There is Truth in Flesh and the Solid Ground
3. Famous Bison
4. Your Own Clockwork Christ
5. Gossum
6. Point One Four
7. Wet Bass Core
8. They Squeel
9. Fixing Windmills
Formats will be:
Free MP3 download, released by Noise Joy Records
30 hand numbered CDRs, released by my very own Scunnered Records
The CDR will not really be on sale, as such. If you want one, let me know and we can come to some sort of arrangement. I'd like to swap them for cool stuff (not cool expensive stuff, as it's only a CDR [with tracks you can get for free] - but cheap, quirky stuff).
Exciting, isn't it.
(Keep checking myspace.com/criticalbest for updates)
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Pictures what are good and that
http://www.hoodphotography.co.uk/
Please do visit, and let his work play upon your retinas. You shall no doubt see why his work has been much lauded, and he's received a multitude of plaudits. You may also stumble upon one of the many self portraits of his cock.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Fortune favours the old
How have you been? In the interim between the last post and this, I've been to South Korea. It was fucking mental! We got to visit the DMZ, and even North Korea for a wee bit. It truly was ace.
I'll hopefully be posting some awesome photos of me and my lovely girlfriend Mo knicking about the Far East, but in the meantime I have news of a musical nature.
My EP is all but done, and has mutated to album length. Here's a sneak peek at the cover:
I'll let you know exactly when where how and why it's being released, and I'll be appearing on some compilations in the near future, too. So expect an information leaden update sometime in the very near future.
In the meantime, go to www.myspace.com/criticalbest for any crucial nuggets of shit that I may have forgotten to mention here.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Sound of Summer
But time passes, and classic Aphex Twin tracks lose their lustre and charm
Trentemøller remixed it in 2004, under the name 'Run Jeremy', turning it into a finely tuned 4/4 stormer, but it was still the same basic track - glorious, yet old news
--
I used to be right into the whole 'Mashup' / 'Bootie' scene back when it first came to light. Freelance Hellraiser (when he was still underground), Frenchbloke, all that jazz. Kid606 pretty much kicked fuck out of the whole scene, with 'The Action Packed Mentalist Brings You The Fucking Jams', so I've not really been keeping an eye on, what is now, the massive collection of shit that's out there. So I can't really tell you when this hit the net:
M83 vs Aphex Twin vs Khia - Pussylicker
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V6EQJJZ0
It's a perfect combination of 'Aphex Twin - Windowlicker (Acid Edit)', 'M83 - Run Into Flowers (Midnight Fuck Remix By Jackson)' , and 'Khia - My Neck, My Back' by some guy called Dopplebanger, and manages to somehow, be even more summery than the original, untouched 'Windowlicker'
Download it, whack it on your stereo, and sit in the back garden drinking ice cold beer while staring wistfully at the one lone cloud adorning the sky
Thursday, May 31, 2007
ahh
Life is cruel
myspace survey lol
Canny remember where I picked this pishy Myspace survey hing, but I done it the other day out of boredom. Behold...
My Life Story
If your life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie
Opening Credits: Camu Tau - Plot For A Little - ok, I think this works, in a sort of 'Directed by John Singleton' way
Waking Up: The Gossip - Jealous Girls - this would work if I was a bird and the film of my life was a shitty remake of Heathers
First Day of School: Orbital - Funny Break (One is Enough) - Classic, and came out while I was still at school, so works well
Falling In Love: Shinra - Bazoo - I'm not sure if that is perfect, or so unbelievably wrong. It's an early Squarepusher-esque noisy drill & bass / breakcore tune
Fight Song: Bong Ra - 666 MPH [FFF vs Dionysos RMX] - perfect fight song, all dark mechanical breakcore, amen breaks, sub-bass and rave stabs. The fight would have to be a bloody mess, though
Breaking up: Vert - Daisy Leaps In - kind of ambient and off kilter, so could work, I suppose
Prom: The Gross Consumer - Do You Want To Share My Rash - ahahaha. This is a remix of the Road Rash theme from the old Sega Megadrive game. It's full of squelch, nasty beats and cowbell. Imagine playing that at prom, that would be ace, unless there was a subsequent rash
Life: DJ Scud - In The Charts Again - punishing beats and guitar riffs. There is a bit when it all goes a bit gabber and a Scotsman shouts 'fuck the cunts'. Make of that what you will
Mental Breakdown: The Knife - I Take Time - standard Knife track really. I could see this soundtracking a mental breakdown I suppose. They probably like the idea of that, eh?
Driving: Kimya Dawson - Blue Like Nevermind - I could imagine driving to this song. In some shitty indie pish film directed by that cunt from Scrubs, or the cocks behind Napoleon Dynamite
Flashback: Sun City Girls - Burial In The Sky - only if it's a freaky flashback. Maybe with me getting tormented by a harlequin or some shit
Getting Back together: Merzbow - Shadow Barbarian (Long Mix) - this scene would have to take place in some dingy, grimy, nightmare of a club. The sort of place where a dead horse on the dancefloor wouldn't be totally unexpected (shit - listening to this makes me realise how much Merzbow's 'dancey' stuff sounds like Zeigenbock Kopf - how the fuck?)
Wedding: Miklos "The Accountant" Kemecsi - Mal-funk - if this was the first tune played at my wedding reception, I think I'd be quite happy
Birth of Child: Squarepusher - Theme From Sprite - jazz funk elevator pish from Squarepusher. Does that fit in with child birth? Who the fuck knows? Christ Squarepusher's let himself go in the last few years
Final Battle: Slepcy - With Charles Bukowski on the Ride - this has a sort of punchy, mechanical, twisted, Amon Tobin thing going on, which could work. The final battle would have to be against maurading robots, though. Like that bit in Casshern, but slower
Death Scene: Otto von Schirach - Unknown (Venetian Snares Remix) - this could definitely be music to a 'dying after big fight with robot' scene. Melancholy breakcore with a nice sad operatic vocal at the end
End Credits: Hidden Cameras - Wandering - hahaha, another priceless moment. Gay as a big window, and perfect for end credits. I can see the names roll by now. Specifically the best boys... Maybe not for the story of my life, though
I did this properly, which is why the tune selection is pretty rubbish, and doesn't always go. It's made me realise I have some right shit on this laptop
(While looking over this, iTunes has just gone from a remix of the Axel F tune into the Dave Clarke remix of Coatnoise, so at least it's not all bad)
Laters
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
All this heavy gossamer
That's how long I've been down in London now. I wouldn't even have noticed had my mum not phoned me up on Wednesday to shout "Three years" down the line.
Jesus shitting Christ where does the time go? Well, part of me thinks that, and the other part, contradictively, feels like I've been down here forever.
I wrote this last year, but this year I feel a little bereft of wit. Maybe it's because it's a lazy Sunday in work, or maybe it's because I spunked all my good lines on last year's 'recollection'.
.
.
.
Hahahaahahah. What the fuck am I talking about? God, sometimes I need a boot right in the cock, I swear to fuck.
Right, so I've ordered the proper cables and whatnot to get my decks and my laptop speaking to each other (albeit, in not entirely dulcet tones), so expect that hacked together Zomcore mix to be the last one which is done solely on computer. Hopefully I'll have something new and blistering up soon. It won't be pretty, I can tell you that much. It will melt your fucking face off.
Alsooooo - I'm working on some new tracks, so the EP may be available soon, too. I'll probably need to sort out a better form of distribution than Myspace / Sendspace / YouSendit / Rapidshare / carrier pigeon - but I'm working on that. There may be merch, too. CAN YOU FUCKING IMAGINE?
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
I suppose you want a tracklisting, too
The Sound Of Bones
2. Deathmachine - User Defined
3. Venetian Snares - Tache
4. Bong-Ra - The Rush (Long Time Coming) / Bong-Ra - The Rush (Long Time Coming) [De Bastardo Remix]
5. Kid606 - Catstep My Kitten [Vatstep DSP by Hrvatski]
6. Ladyscraper - Grr Track One
7. Bong-ra Horns
8. Merzbow - Looping Jane [Beat Mix]
9. V/VM - Untitled [Death March]
10. Drop The Lime - Hot Sauce Grillz
11. Cursor Minor - Hair of the Dog
12. Gershon Kingsley & Peter Waldron - Spirits, Monsters, Witches... / Nurse With Wound - Untitled
Saturday, March 31, 2007
All the cool kids have podcasts... fuckin' wanks
Rapidshare link
Just a wee podcast I put together, with tracks by Merzbow, Bong-Ra, Kid606, Nurse With Wound, Ladyscraper, Venetian Snares, Deathmachine, Cursor Minor, Drop The Lime and some other bits and pieces
Enjoy!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
'Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo' is a grammatically correct sentence. You can either trust me, or look it up yourself, I canny be fucked explaining it here.
When I first found this out, my mind done a wee flip. I said to myself, "That's easily the most fucked up sentence you'll ever read". I've now discovered I was wrong. This fucker crept up on me today:
'John, when playing a game of Scrabble against Dick who, whilst pondering the degree of legitimacy the last word that Harry (who had had 'had') had had had had, had had 'had', had had 'had'. Had 'had' had more letters, he would have played it again'
Seriously, fuck that shit. What in the fuck? I think it's going to take me some time to wrap my head around that.
This one's quite fun, too:
'Who polices the Police? The Police Police police Police. Who polices the Police Police? The Police Police Police police Police Police'
The word 'police' has lost all meaning now
Fuck I'm bored


