BRIGANDRY

Made a new wee video for a track I'm working on for the new album. You can see it here:

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

Candbamp

Yo yo yo, just a quick one

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

Musings

So, looking at my Archive.org download numbers, there have been just under 500 downloads of my work from there. How fuckin mental is that? Factoring in the other places you can nab my stuff from, and the CDs I done which are floating about, there has got to be quite a few people who have heard some of my music.

It's kinda bizarre

Enneract on Last.fm

Not sure if I mentioned it before, but you can nab Enneract from Last.fm now:

http://www.last.fm/music/Critical+Best/Enneract

Thanks to TRASHFUCK once again =)

2009 in musical form

I was thinking about this the other day, and couldn't really remember buying much new music this year. I knew I'd been listening to a lot of stuff, but for some reason thought it was all old. A proper digging session revealed, though, that I nabbed a shit load of stuff this year. Some of it was utterly woeful, but the list you see below are the proper gems of 2009 as far as I'm concerned

Best of 2009

(in a sorta vague order)

1. Nero's Day at Disneyland - From Rotting Fantasylands
2. Telepathe - Dance Mother
3. Kid606 - Shout At The Döner
4. Clark - Totems Flare
5. Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do
6. Annoying Ringtone - Club Jumping
7. Bizzy B - Retrospective
8. DJ /rupture and Andy Moor - Patches
9. Loren Connors - The Curse Of Midnight Mary
10. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
11. Divtech - Compact Reality Refuse
12. Hudson Mohawke - Butter
13. Soundmurderer - Toned Down
14. Shitmat - One Foot In The Rave
15. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II
16. Harmonic 313 - When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence
17. Monster Zoku Onsomb! - Earth Eaters
18. The Fly Girlz - Da'Brats From Da'Ville
19. Belladonnakillz - Sorry Try Again
20. 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

(click for big)

So that was 2009. Here's the links to previous years charts, if you are that way inclined:

2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003

Laters gaters

FUCKN XBOX

E74 error again. Jesus. Why do you hate me Bill Gates?

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!!!

A few years ago I laid a track from Gershon Kingsley's 'Ghostly Sounds' LP over one of Nurse With Wound's 'Rat Tapes' tracks. It worked out rather well.

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!

Punchy McGee

A video of my recent successes on Fight Night Round 4

Aqua Nomad

Actually - I do have a bit of an update. One of my best mates is giving up the corporate rat race and taking to the canals on a long boat!

You can follow his journey here - http://aquanomad.blogspot.com

Updatesss

Alas - updates have been spotty. Even spottier than usual. I was promoted in work recently, so I am quite literally knackered all the time. Too knackered to make music, most of the time, and definitely too knackered to update this. I am still working on music, though at a much slower rate than before. There is a chance I may have a couple of new tracks done by the end of the year, but I'm not sure when or if they'll be released.

Yeah, that's about it. Happy Halloween

Enneract - proper release on TRASHFUCK

Shit - forgot to post this here. Durrrr

____


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

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

Much love and thanks to RedSK @ TRASHFUCK

Hope you like it

(I am so watching the shit out of the Running Man right now)

participate in all-night techno rave dance party

New mix up:

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

Straight Heet

Hello. I found a wee short (~20 min) mix / podcast of vinyl only Telepathe tracks I done a while ago, so I thought I'd chuck it up:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=451fbcfa3256e552aaca48175
a79d1c3f9a7e8bd395ecd1fb8eada0a1ae8665a

Actually, shit - some of them have been put on CD since I done this. Oh well

REEEEEE-LEASE

CRITICAL BEST - STUTTER. REFORM. BLESS

http://www.archive.org/details/scun004

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