Marsh on the Marshes: The Badical's Hi-Tec Hip-Hop

The first time I saw The Badical they were blowing up a jungle dome in the desert with their twisted science, a potent concoction of multi-flavoured bass music.

Last time I saw Andrew Marsh he was clinging onto the back of a bass buggy mobile soundsystem on Hackney Marshes, a mutant Mothercare vehicle for outdoor-types being put to good use to protect a darling pair of speakers, busy blasting beats into the assembled ranks of BBQ eating warehouse-dwellers. From what I remember, swigging cider as the sun set over the East Coast railway, his set scoped classic hip hop to 90s cheese filtered through various prisms of flitched out hip-hop, IDM and dubstep. There was also lots of other stuff so pleasantly unexpected that I can't remember it.

When I asked Andrew for some compressed BBQ Marsh-hop he pointed me towards the full set of The Badical mixtapes, from which the hi tek hip hop number most closely resembles what I was trying to recapture. It sweeps from J Dilla and Foreign Beggars through RJD2, The Knife and Four Tet to The Glitch Mob, Mochipet and Modeselektor. Badassical innit.

DOWNLOAD The Badical's Hi-Tec Hip Hop Mix (Right Click Save As)


madvillian - all caps
flylo - grapesicles (samiyam remix)
unknown white label
J Dilla - workinonit
MED - Cant Hold On
Foreing beggars - Glacial (ft syntax)
D...iplo - Big Lost
Clark - Herr Bar
Osland and erro - Everything in its right place
Soldier Girl RJD2 remix
Fourtet - Smile around the face
The Knife - We share our mothers health
LOTP - The bears are coming
Kis sister - unknown
Try Again - Simian mix
sentinal - Eliot Lip
Monday - Glitch mod edit
mochipet - Turbo Thizz penetration
Busy P - c-est chollet (or something)
Krazy Baldhead - revolution
Modeselektor - Edgar w/ the first rebirth double drop
All is full of love - plaid remix
TTC - Antenne 2
HudMo - Overnight

In other news, Andrew has designed The Synflower - a multi-player musical instrument for one to eight people - and an Aerodynamic Umbrella. Nice one!

Rumpus Spring Ball Review and return of the Badical

LO Peachi ere:

So last night saw me and my dodgy Peachi-bum-knee doing some carefree, yet careful mainly-one-leg-dancing, at the amazing Rumpus Spring Ball (8th April 2011). Very much in the spirit of the Burning Man Decompression parties and run by Nowhere regulars (headed by the lovely and generous Santi I believe), there was a ram jammed venue with about 6 rooms featuring different artists and acts and visuals. You can see for yourself in the flyer below, or on the website here or directly here. Particular favourites were the kazoo-a-longs in the main area (A-team, final countdown? very funny and surreal) and the circus acts in the main room (oooh and the pole dancing was OK I suuuuuppose - if you like that sort of thing - and frankly who doesn't? ;)


Since electro-swing doesn't really float my boat (just the electro please, you can keep the swing where it belongs - in the 50's ta), I spent most of the night in the Ubertown room featuring the jungle-is-massive theme and the famous ball pen. Although the acoustics were pretty bad at the back of the room, which was unfortunately at times the only place there was room to dance (successful night I guess), once you could get to within about 10feet of the main speakers things got better. Josh played his usual hard hitting dub step and had the floor rocking (MM review here).

The Badical caught out in the glowing rain?

But the highlight for me was listening to the Badicals play live again.... this time in a slightly less psychadelic receptive state of mind than last time I heard them at Nowhere (reviewed here) I was interested to see if I could still get into their pretty hard mashed up and twisted sound. And I could for most of the set, although at times I felt they went beyond what I could tune in to with too much sharp and punchy kick drum and not enough deeper-warmer melodic bass - which makes it sounds very hard a technoey to me, but I appreciated it all the more for sometimes being more challenging than I could handle - which was only about 20% of the time. Which I think is about right if you are exploring the boundary limits of your musical taste.

Operating in another arena with better looking props

And the stuff they play is just soooo original and different beat-wise and break-down wise, it's a really refreshing pleasure to hear it. Let alone the great energy they give off in their exagerated-knob-twisting (music geeks equivalent of a guitar crotch thrust I guess), violent head knodding, great face pulling and fist pumping moves - that is when they weren't 'interacting' with the decor!! Very powerful set all round and nice to see the boys hanging out a dancing it up for the rest of the night too - thanks guys, stay bad and radical - i.e. badical - innit ;)

Here's a link to a new free mix by them Terrafunk.

And a new track and video link for Dark Side of the Sun.

Follow them on facewaste and their website and buy everything you can of theirs...NOW!
Enjoy ;)


Terrafunk - TRACKLISTING
Autechre - Vletrmx (Plaid mix)
Falty DL - Human Meadow (Luke Vibert mix)
The Badical - Don Bismarck
Egyptrixx - Battle for North America
Debruit - Congo Whoomp
Scott Garcia - A London Thing (London Edit)
The Very Best - Wena
Tom Staar - Cannon
Hijack - Posessed
The Badical - Tanuki
B Rich - Killin it
L-Vis 1990 - Reprise
The Badical - Terror Unit
EDMX - 2K3
Skillioso - Serenade
Octa Push - Ai Nadia
Musical Mod - Pulse X
Mexican Institute of Sound - Cumbia (Deathface Remix)
Hudson Mohawke - Twistclip Loop
Gucci Mane - My Shadow (Salem Remix)

The Badical - wonky acid electro techno mind dingers

Peachi here:

So we heard the two guys that are The Badical at Nowhere Festival recently and they rocked the geodesic dome. I definitely need to be in the right state of mind to appreciate this. But at Nowhere I was and there live set and DJ set were both excellent and we danced our little socks of for what seemed like ages. I think I invented a whole new way of dancing at the time, but can't remember any of it - except that it was one of the best dances I've ever had! I'm just glad there's no recorded evidence! One to watch out for at the upcoming Secret Garden Party 22-25th July 2010...

You can hear their latest stuff on their myspace page and buy their music...

..... or go here and donwload some of their previous mixes!

This sums it up quite well:
"Bent squares and bogus triangles buzz, bip, and boom through statically charged soundscapes -- cleverly crafted fun-sized techno-dramas oozing with pulsating-power & mind-bending mischief." Urban D / Urban D Radio

and so does this picture (love it!):