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Andy Crysell

Andy Crysell

Andy Crysell covered dance music, electronic and hip-hop for titles like NME, The Face, DJ and Muzik throughout the 90s, with occasional forays into indie and guitar. Later, he worked on dotcom start-ups and for advertising agencies, before launching his own insight and innovation agency, Crowd DNA.

80 articles

List of articles in the library

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Leftfield: Bobbing to the top of The Next Big Thing List

Interview by Andy Crysell, Mixmag, January 1992

IT'S NOT often that a band with no definite plans for their next release, without even so much as a recording contract, land a page ...

LTJ Bukem: Various: LTJ Bukem Presents Logical Progression (ffrr/Good Looking/All formats)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 6 April 1996

FLOCK OF AGES ...

Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers: Larry Heard: Alien Dex Fiend

Profile and Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 13 April 1996

WHO IS HE? LARRY HEARD ...

Everything But The Girl: Walking Wounded (Virgin/All formats)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 4 May 1996

MISSING INACTION ...

Jeff Mills: The Detroit Spinner

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 25 May 1996

IT'S 3AM AT The End, London's state-of-the-art nightclub. The apocalyptic sound system rams an earthquake beneath every kick-drum; the warning signs on the walls scream ...

Moloko: SW1 Club, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 15 June 1996

DO MOLOKO have something to hide? Is there something missing from their kooky take on trip-hop that can only be disguised by a vast dollop ...

De La Soul: Subterania, Ladbroke Grove, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 22 June 1996

SUMMERTIME AND inside west London's Subterania, at least, the living is far from easy. There is no air, no space, no escape; just raging heat ...

Josh Wink: Check Your Hedonism

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 14 September 1996

He doesn't smoke, drink or do drugs, he goes down the gym, never loses his temper and asks himself lots of deep life questions. Is ...

Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, New Order, Rockers Revenge: Arthur Baker: Baker Groove

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 28 September 1996

This week Vibes hops across to the Emerald Isle to hook up with one of the founding fathers of modern dance, the fabulous ARTHUR BAKER ...

Peter Andre, Boyzone, East 17, Michelle Gayle, Gina G, Louise, The Outhere Brothers: East 17, Louise, Peter Andre et al: Top Of The Pops Weekend, Wembley Arena, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 28 September 1996

ENGLAND'S SCREAMING ...

Super Furry Animals: Astoria, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 5 October 1996

BAD BOYS MINK! ...

Nas: Smoker's Wild

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 18 January 1997

With gangsta rap getting just a tad too "real" of late, NAS ESCOBAR comes as something of a relief. His last album, It Was Written ...

Daft Punk: Going for Gaul

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 25 January 1997

ONE SOUND rings out above all others in DAFT PUNK's uncluttered office in Paris' beautiful Montmartre district. Not music but... whirr! A fax machine working ...

Daft Punk: Act De Triomphe: Daft Punk: The End, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 15 February 1997

NO QUESTION, it is the hottest ticket in town. A night on the tiles with Paris' new dance sensations — at a party hosted by ...

Jay Z: Jaÿ-Z: Z Top!

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 1 March 1997

SOME PEOPLE, eh? They're never satisfied. Incredibly, not even vast pop success is enough for these blighters. ...

Jay Z: Jaÿ-Z: Cabaret Club, Stockholm

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 8 March 1997

"YO! Give it up for Jaÿ-Z! Onstage for the first time in Sweden!" ...

Wu-Tang Clan: Unity Church, Compton CA

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 22 March 1997

SO THIS is what they mean when they say that going to gigs is like attending church. In LA's most notorious district, 800 souls are ...

Death In Vegas: "Men talking about their record collections are like dogs sniffing each other's bottoms"

Interview by Andy Crysell, Muzik, April 1997

SPOOKY. VERY spooky. It's 11 am in deepest Clapham and in a cafe full of wheezing old men and cackling women, Richard Fearless, the sharp-dressing ...

Fatboy Slim, The Housemartins: Fatboy Slim: The Norman Conquest

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 19 April 1997

In the beginning, he was a Housemartin. In between, he's been Pizzaman and a Mighty Kat. Now he's FATBOY SLIM. But no matter what NORMAN ...

Bentley Rhythm Ace: Blue Note, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 3 May 1997

BRUM PUNCH ...

Squarepusher: Hard Normal Daddy (Warp/CD/LP)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 3 May 1997

TOM JENKINSON, the one-man band who is Squarepusher, has no doubt inherited many fine things from his Hard Normal Daddy. But being normal is most ...

Wu-Tang Clan: "Give us a chance to be truly wicked and we'll blow the whole shit up"

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 31 May 1997

So here we are in the wonderful and frightening world of Staten Island's Wu-Tang Clan. A formidable collective of renegade rappers well versed in everything ...

Sneaker Pimps: Young Sole Rebels

Interview by Andy Crysell, Vox, September 1997

Having shaken off the trip-hop tag, SNEAKER PIMPS believe they could be, actually, a bit goth. They're having us on, right? VOX catches up with ...

Mark Morrison: "They're gonna have to kill me to stop me and maybe one day they will"

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 13 September 1997

So did he really cry in court? Was he really petrified in jail? Or was it just all tabloid baloney? Self-proclaimed "Bad Boy of Pop" ...

Firm, The (Hip Hop), Foxy Brown, Nas: The Firm: Funky Mafia!

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 25 October 1997

It's an offer you can't refuse. The chance to meet Mafia-inspired hip-hop outfit THE FIRM – namely mobsters Nas, Foxy Brown and AZ — and ...

Roni Size and Reprazent: The best record of 1997

Interview by Andy Crysell, Muzik, November 1997

That's Roni Size and Reprazent's drum & bass classic New Forms. Or at least it is according to the Mercury Music Prize's panel of judges. ...

DJ Shadow: Oxford Brookes University

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 8 November 1997

IT'S ASKING a lot, of course, to hope that tonight, amid a boozed-up, loudmouthed, zany shirt-wearing crowd of freshers, DJ Shadow will come close to ...

Will Smith: Yuppify Guy!: Will Smith: Big Willie Style (Columbia)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 8 November 1997

HE'S COMIN' AT YA, loud and proud, mean and lean — straight outta, well, a palatial uptown apartment overlooking Central Park, probably. Heck, and he ...

Tupac Shakur: Shakur Moneymaker: 2Pac: R U Still Down? (Remember Me) (Jive)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 22 November 1997

WHEN LIAM GALLAGHER sees fit to offer out the likes of Damon Blur and George Beatle, he's risking… ooh, you never can tell, really. A ...

DJ Shadow: Camel Bobsled Race (Q-Bert Mega Mix) (Mo'Wax/CD/Tape)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 6 December 1997

ALL THIS SCRATCHING'S MAKING ME BITCH! ...

Missy Elliott: Supa Woman!

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 6 December 1997

She writes Number Ones! Makes "wacky" videos! Is, like, totally fly! And MISSY "MISDEMEANOR" ELLIOTT, rap's brightest new talent, has come to save us… ...

Asian Dub Foundation: Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

Live Review by Andy Crysell, Muzik, January 1998

FUCK POLITICS, let's dance, yeah? What say we wiggle across the dancefloor, gobble up the chemicals and frug our worries clean away? ...

Arab Strap, Dawn of the Replicants, David Holmes: David Holmes, Arab Strap, Dawn of the Replicants: Twelve-Inch Angry Men

Report and Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 10 January 1998

It's Sunday night and DAVD HOLMES, ARAB STRAP'S AIDAN MOFFAT and DAWN OF THE REPLICANTS' PAUL VICKERS are in a Brixton pub getting trousered and ...

Air: How ELO Can You Go?

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 17 January 1998

Qu'est-ce que c'est? Music that sounds like ELO jamming over a porn flick soundtrack — on the moon!? Oh yes indeedy, prepare to enter the ...

The High Llamas: Cold And Bouncy (Alpaca)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 24 January 1998

IT'D TAKE A lot to knock the chief Llama off course. Sean O'Hagan could probably stand at the end of a runway listening to Death ...

Les Rythmes Digitales: Vibes: Ooh, You Are Eiffel!

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 24 January 1998

VIBES PLAYS TRICOLORE OR TREAT WITH WALL OF SOUND'S ONE-MAN BIG-BEAT FACTORY LES RHYTHMES DIGITALES... ...

Add N to (X): Equation Plug Foundation

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 14 February 1998

They take their name from a mathematical formula, think electricity is God, want to form a 1,000-strong synth orchestra and play a millennium gig from ...

Dubstar: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 21 February 1998

IF A BUILDING could 'Tsk' the 'Tsk' of having seen it all before, this one would surely be doing it now. The Empire, after all, ...

Cornershop: Academy, Manchester

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 28 February 1998

MAGIC MASTERY TOUR ...

The Beta Band: Letter Men Show

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 7 March 1998

The music biz may be salivating over THE BETA BAND'S thrilling musical pot-pourri but the music biz can go whistle as far as the Beta ...

Cappadonna, Wu-Tang Clan: Cappadonna: Wu Who?

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 28 March 1998

Keep up! It's CAPPADONNA. You know, the latest of the Wu-Tang Clan to keep up the rapid onslaught of solo LPs from that camp. And ...

A Guy Called Gerald, Bomb The Bass, Happy Mondays, Paul Oakenfold, Oasis, Orbital, Primal Scream, Danny Rampling, T-Coy, Andrew Weatherall: Acid House: '88 State

Retrospective and Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 25 April 1998

Disco biscuits, gurning, raves, sartorial bonkersness, and, um, Guru Josh! The ACID HOUSE scene brought us many things when it exploded in 1988; it also ...

Massive Attack: The Next Level: Massive Attack: Mezzanine (Virgin) *****

Review by Andy Crysell, Vox, May 1998

Storming comeback from the Bristol sound system innovators ...

Thievery Corporation: Super sharp suiters

Interview by Andy Crysell, Muzik, May 1998

Smouldering bossa-nova, bespoke tailoring and white-collar audio criminality: are Washington DC's Thievery Corporation the new Kruder & Dorfmeister? Or just the new Corduroy? ...

Arab Strap, Asian Dub Foundation, Bedlam Ago Go, Campag Velocet, Norman Cook, Lo Fidelity Allstars, Regular Fries, Scott 4: Arab Strap, Campag Velocet et al: Breezeblock Rockin' Beats

Report by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 9 May 1998

Take an assorted bunch of like-minded skunk rockers, big beaters and eclectic groovers, ply with brain-curdling tequila'n'ale cocktails, and then put them out LIVE! on ...

Money Mark: Hanover Grand, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 9 May 1998

"MULLET!" YELLS a gobby punter, pointing at the member of Money Mark's band who sports the offending locks. "You've got a mullet!" And so begins ...

Mogwai: Kicking A Dead Pig (Eye Q)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 16 May 1998

THE FABULOUS BACON BOYS ...

Lo Fidelity Allstars: Mind Blowing!: Lo-Fidelity Allstars: How To Operate With A Blown Mind (Skint) *****

Review by Andy Crysell, Vox, June 1998

Violently impressive debut from the new pop/funk/rap/punk/techno/everything else heroes ...

Money Mark: Push The Button (Mo'Wax)

Review by Andy Crysell, Muzik, June 1998

A QUICK recap: Money Mark used to be a carpenter. One day he was called out to mend the Beastie Boys' gate. They got on ...

Josh Wink: Herehear (Ovum/S2) **

Review by Andy Crysell, Muzik, July 1998

Original Philly dread returns from self-imposed hibernation ...

Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim: Ibiza: Big Beach Boutique

Report by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 15 August 1998

When Radio 1 decamped to Ibiza for a weekend of daft dancing, super funky anthems and celebs behaving badly, it seemed only polite for NME to join them. ...

Faithless: "It's not just fucking chirpy nonsense"

Interview by Andy Crysell, Muzik, October 1998

FAITHLESS are back, bigger, better and bolder than before. They say God is a DJ. He's probably a Faithless fan ...

Grooverider: Mysteries Of Funk (Higher Ground)

Review by Andy Crysell, Muzik, October 1998

The drum & bass veteran finally gets his arse into gear ...

112, Faith Evans, Puff Daddy, Total: Puff Daddy & The Family: Sound Republic, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, Muzik, December 1998

Is this the greatest showman on earth? ...

Bob Marley & the Wailers, Lee "Scratch" Perry: Lee Perry: Lost Treasures Of The Ark (Jet Star)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 2 January 1999

BOOTY RECALL ...

Jay-Z: Volume 2... Hard Knock Life (Northwestside)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 16 January 1999

Z TOP! ...

Jay-Z: True Playa

Interview by Andy Crysell, Muzik, February 1999

Jay-Z samples the musical Annie, raps about champagne and has just spent five weeks at the top of the American album charts, and he still ...

4 Hero: Two Pages — Reinterpretations (Talkin' Loud)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 6 February 1999

JUNGLISTS AND wannabe jazz cats 4 Hero issued an album which veered from brilliant to noodly to downright dire last year. Here comes the inevitable ...

Big Daddy Kane: Veteranz Day (Blakjam)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 20 February 1999

THOSE WITH CD-ROM capability get an added bonus on Big Daddy Kane's latest comeback effort: the chance to visit 'Kane's Lair', a place of unconvincing ...

Basement Jaxx: London — Basement Jaxx

Report and Interview by Andy Crysell, The Face, March 1999

Stupid dancing in a dirty Camberwell pub ...

Atari Teenage Riot: 60 Second Wipe Out (Digital Hardcore)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 8 May 1999

There's A Riot Going On... and On ...

Snoop Doggy Dogg: Allez G!: Snoop Dogg: Top Dogg (Virgin)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 29 May 1999

WHEN SNOOP DOGG released his Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told album last autumn, more than just the Doggy part of ...

Regular Fries: 2000 and on one! On a mission with Regular Fries

Report and Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 12 June 1999

A SUNNY DAY and therefore not a bad one to get conscripted into the Regular Fries' newly-formed supporters network, the Space Military. Though NME isn't ...

Lo Fidelity Allstars: Lo-Fidelity Allstars: Refugee Allstars

Report and Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 19 June 1999

Lo-Fidelity Allstars claim to be the most jinxed band in the universe. Pah! Their singer may have quit, but they're back from the brink and ...

Fatboy Slim, Armand Van Helden: Fatboy Slim Vs Armand Van Helden: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 26 June 1999

SATURDAY FiGHT FEVER! ...

Mr. Scruff: Mr Scruff: Keep It Unreal (Ninja Tune)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 26 June 1999

WITH A four-year trail of often brilliantly wayward 12"s behind him, it's taken Manchester's Andy Carthy ages to release his debut album. He's no perfectionist, ...

Basement Jaxx, Coldcut, Carl Cox, DJ Shadow, Gang Starr, Goldie, Grooverider, Leftfield, Paul Oakenfold, Pet Shop Boys, Scratch Perverts: Basement Jaxx, Pet Shop Boys et al: Creamfields, Old Liverpool Airfield

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 4 September 1999

THE SCOUSE THAT JAXX THRILLED ...

Moloko: Beefa: How Low Can You Go?

Report by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 18 September 1999

Ibiza — sun-kissed vibes central or merely an over-commercialised supermarket for disco dudes 'n' dollies? With the help of Balearic housers Moloko, NME went in ...

Leftfield: Rhythm & Stealth (Hard Hands/Higher Ground)

Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 18 September 1999

PHATS WALLOW ...

Charlatans, The (UK): The Charlatans: Music Hall, Aberdeen

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 30 October 1999

BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME ...

Badly Drawn Boy: King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 6 November 1999

SHAMBOLICALLY DRESSED and scowling at his keyboard as if he hates its electronic guts, Damon Gough is supposedly a man with much to prove tonight. ...

Death In Vegas: They're Satanic Majesties: Death In Vegas: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 13 November 1999

HALLOWEEN has been and gone. So has Guy Fawkes' Night. But Death In Vegas don't care. ...

Sigur Ros: Iceland's Magical Visionaries

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 8 January 2000

ASK PARENTS on Iceland's northernmost shore, and they'll say the kids are alright when Sigur Ros arrive. Their trademark mix of gently persuasive confidence, humble ...

Macy Gray: There's Something About Macy: Macy Gray: Academy, Manchester

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 8 January 2000

WELCOME TO SONGS ABOUT "crazy love and all that shit". Dressed in electric blue, with her trademark wind-tunnel hair, flailing arms, happy-mad countenance and dance ...

Armand Van Helden: Professional Weirdo

Report and Interview by Andy Crysell, The Face, March 2000

He's the house DJ who loves hip hop, the pop star "at war" with his record label, the New York City boy who was born ...

King Biscuit Time: What's Up Duck

Profile and Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 17 June 2000

After "losing it big time" around the release of the Beta Band's ill-fated alburn, Steve Mason is back with another King Biscuit Time EP and ...

De La Soul: "You may not know this but a long time ago we made an album called 3 Feet High And Rising…"

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 29 July 2000

Sit down, De La Soul want to tell you the greatest hip-hop story ever told… ...

Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur, Snoop Doggy Dogg: Suge Knight: Death Wish

Report by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 5 August 2000

His rise and his fall has been a story of violence, pig-headed machismo and ruthless determination. Currently biding his time in jail, Death Row boss ...

All Saints: Poor Shore: All Saints: Renaissance@Privilege, Ibiza

Live Review by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 19 August 2000

YOU'RE SUFFICIENTLY IMPORTANT that a huge illuminated cross adorns the stage this evening. You're on after the not-strictly-eye-grabbing Pete Tong; posters have been advertising your ...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: Spiller Queen

Interview by Andy Crysell, New Musical Express, 19 August 2000

Once the pouting princess of indie pretension, is former Theaudience singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor really set to become the new diva darling of the Ibiza club ...

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