STUTTER. REFORM. BLESS

OK peeps, in the dull ache between me half releasing my second album, and actually getting it released, I've put together an EP of sorts. It's an odd beast, in that it started out as an attempt to make 'live trance noise', but after recording some bits and bobs, I felt the need to go in and post process it after the fact. And I'm not sure the worlds of trance and noise really needed to be melded, either, but there you go.

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.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mhmmaf3iqzi

Shit...

...I should probably have mentioned - the pre-release on Last.fm was for a short time only. It'll be getting its proper release soon.

More on that, and more stuff later

New Album Pre-release

So, I've put my new album up for super duper pre-release download on Last.fm:




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

my head is full of sodden cotton wool

why does everyone seem to be ill this year?

it's utterly mental

blaaaaaargh

2008 in sound and fury

2008 was a good year. Many things were done, laughs were had, and music was made. I didn't buy as much music as I'd liked to have, but I heard some decent stuff nonetheless. With that in mind, I have compiled a list of music I enjoyed in the year of our Lord, two thousand and eight. Behold:

2008's Best Music

(in no particular order, really)

1. Tobacco - Fucked Up Friends
2. The Stranger - Bleaklow
3. Cardopusher - Unity Means Power
4. Torche - Meanderthal
5. The Teknoist - ...Like a Hurricane Made of Zombies
6. Blevin Blectum - Gular Flutter
7. Sickboy - Time To Play
8. The Caretaker - Persistent Repetition Of Phrases
9. The Boats - Faulty Toned Radio
10. Errors - It's Not Something But it is Like Whatever
11. Sir Vixx - Breakcore Is Another Word For Loser
12. Moya - Die Hard
13. Venetian Snares - Detrimentalist
14. Clark - Turning Dragon
15. Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista
16. DJ Scotch Egg - Drumized
17. Portishead - Third
18. Mrs Jynx - The Standoffish Cat
19. God is an Astronaut - God is an Astronaut
20. Brael & Tokyo Bloodworm - Living Language
21. Blue Sky Black Death - Late Night Cinema
22. Eraplee Noisewall Orchestra - Sigma God Metal
23. 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:

2007
2006
2005
2004
2003

Laters gaters

This & That

Hello folks,

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

Woop woop

Yo yo yo, the new Critical Best album is pretty much done and dusted, and should be released, all going well, before the end of 2008.

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

Statutory Rave

In honour of going to Bangface for my birthday last week, and getting the laptop working and being able to record from the the decks, I knocked together this mix:

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 =)

THIS IS THE NEWS

Hello peeps,

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

Steve Buscemi touched my face once

Still in laptop limbo. Probably won't get anything done until the end of the year, as far as new music goes.

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:

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

UPDATE

Just updated http://deadinthestreet.blogspot.com/ after a wee break. Was on holiday, and all that jazz

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

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

FOUND DEAD IN THE STREET

Hello there,

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

61

Dunno how many of you use http://www.thesixtyone.com/, but I now have a page on there:

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

humour

Been listening to a lot of Belladonnakillz recently - they fucking rock

Download OPTIONSSS aplenty

Hey peeps,

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

CRUNK TECHNO

Is 'Crunk Techno' a real genre? I propose that it is. And the main proponents of it are:

Herrmutt Lobby

edIT

Who else is there?

Blades of Nonsense

After watching Blades of Glory the other night, my mind wandered to a spectacle I once seen. That of a man, decked out like Kurt Cobain, ice skating to the sounds of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.

Five minutes fucking around on Youtube and here it is:



Jesus

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