M4rk Cr4ig (aka Bimble) RIP

I owed him an email that I'll never get an answer to - we always emailed on early Saturday morning my time/late Friday night his. And I *didn't* this weekend coz I was at a festival.

And I just wish I could have told him that I thought he was amazing. I always thought there would be another day and another email and another bouncy exchange on the 'Cooler thread, and now there isn't.

This doesn't seem entirely real

just horrible. rest in peace.

i wasnt on aim at the weekend due to my laptop having a virus. Im guessing that he just wasnt online and if he had been he coulda spoke to others. but it doesnt stop me wishing i had been on just incase. but it seems like he wasnt online at all.

Kate, did you know he was depressed? Why oh why didnt he reach out. :-((

he did reach out, but i don't think anyone really knew what to say. i spoke with him a number of times, and i knew he was really, really sad. but sometimes i just didn't know what to say.

he was always depressed (reason why he was always drinking) but noone knew it was as bad as this. He gave no hints at all. Nothing in chatz or by email. Usually he emailed everyone he knew when he was really depressed. Usually replying or chatting on aim was enough for him.
I guess he didnt want to be talked out of it and just did it :(

Oh no. My condolences to family and freinds.

I met him last year in LA when he came down to the Part Time Punks fest. Prior to that I had sent him some CDs, and since then we'd emailed. His emails got more and more intense and personal over time, and I tried to help in the little ways I could. I wish I could've said and done more, but I also don't think anything I could've done would've changed anything. I'm watching the Factory All Stars New Order/ACR/52nd St. etc super-jam in your honor, Mark.

It seems trivial to say I thought he was troubled, just from what I knew of him here. Wishing peace to his soul.

he had a pretty large support network of ILXors who cared about him and he knew that and (as far as I could tell) was appreciative of it - I don't think there's much anyone of us could have said or done to help him come to terms with whatever emotional troubles culminated in this. And of course more often than not he seemed very positive and delighted about things.

If only he couldve told someone what he was gonna do. i just hope that he wasnt on aim looking for someone and noone was there (im sure he wouldnt have as i know he wouldve emailed someone at least)

I just wish he had been on aim and spoke to someone.

I owed him an email too because I am always tardy at the whole communication thing. I always thought Mark was too full of life to ever let the downs beat out the ups. This is just so sad. He was just so full of everything.

RIP, Mister.

I knew he was up and down but I thought he was muddling through, like the rest of us were.

I can't say "I had no idea" because I had a bit of an idea about things he was finding tough. But I didn't know he was that close to suicide. Initially when he got SB'd he was miserable, but then he said he was finding stuff IRL to engage with, and other things to do. There were other situations in his life that he'd finally started to open up about, but... I wanted to sit down and do his email justice, rather than dash off a reply, going "I'm off to Disco 3000, you'd hate it, TTYL"

And I am kicking myself because I feel like I *do* know what to say - - if I'd known he was that bad. But I did not know how bad it was.

He told chatz last week that he didn't mind being banned for a month and he enjoyed the time off ilx. He did say he didnt know if he would come back straight away. Now sadly we will never know.
His personal problems had nothing to do with ilx. But his friends on ilx did help him in the past. He was always appreciative of that.

shocked and speechless

i'm totally shocked. i obv didn't know him nearly as well as anyone here. poor guy.
i hope everyone that was close to him here is doing ok.

Awful, awful news. Please rest in peace, Bimble, and my condolences go out to all the ILXors here who knew him and were his friend.

he loved music so much. i will listen to kate bush in his honor tonight.

Yeah, sorry, this...

His personal problems had nothing to do with ilx. But his friends on ilx did help him in the past.

I wasn't trying to imply that his SB was anything to do with it. It was more like, he did actually seem like he was getting some perspective on things without ILX squabbles as a distraction.

he will be thrilled to meet tony wilson and ian curtis at last. I hope they appreciate him.

This is really grim news. RIP, Bimble.

aw surm. that's a great tribute.

His last email to me was about Def Leppard's "Photograph." I never read it until now because I hardly ever check my gmail account :/

RIP.

(No worries Kate, I think we understood what you meant, or at least I did.)

yeah I knew what Kate meant too. I was just pointing out that bimble had got over being temp banned.

RIP

We last exchanged emails a couple of weeks ago; his were increasingly overwrought. I knew he was in the grips of something awful, but didn't know him well enough to intervene. I pegged him as a decent guy with a massive chip on his shoulder who needed good friends. I'm sorry about it now.

not sure that was ever really his favorite but tonight I'll play Cale's Caribbean Sunset - pretty much epitomized the way he could contagiously gush over certain songs

jesus christ, this is so fucking sad. he had such enthusiasm! to put it mildly. aw, this sucks.

I just realized that I bookmarked and occasionally perused his blog.

He always seemed v intense and troubled but I didn't know he was in such a bad way. I loved his crazy enthusiasm for every song that grabbed his attention at any hour of the day.

RIP Mark. Always more goth than us.

man, this is sad. RIP.

I never got around to listening to this band from Worcestershire he sent me, the Dancing Did.

I chatted to him on AIM about 2 weeks ago and he seemed better than he had been over the past couple of months. But I guess that's how it works sometimes with depression and suicide. I'm just in shock at the moment.

Yes, I never really interacted with Bimble on ILX, but I did peruse his blog and found his enthusiasm for music charming.

He sent me a couple of e-mails towards the end of July. Evidently he was banned from ILX at the time? His notes gave no indication of any bigger trouble. Still cannot get my head around it.

Bimble emailed me a few months ago about chatting on AIM, which I was/am unfortunately too much of a Luddite to take him up on. Always enjoyed his posts here and on his blog.

Shocked and stunned, really don't know what to say, I hope he's at peace now.

I chatted to him on AIM about 2 weeks ago and he seemed better than he had been over the past couple of months. But I guess that's how it works sometimes with depression and suicide.

I know I'm wayyyyyyy jumping to conclusions here, but I'm guessing he probably did this as an impulse decision, possibly under the influence of alcohol. But I don't know the details, and I think an investigation is still going on.

Busting out that copy of "Take No Prisoners" to play at some point, in tribute

Requiescat In Pacem. I never knew or corresponded with him, but reading these remarks it's obvious that he is already missed.

RIP Bimble. Don't know what else to say, but I found his enthusiasm really contagious and uplifting. So many of us are so jaded about the music we like & listen to, but he seemed like someone really caught up in music's ability to bring joy & excitement. This is awful.

shocking news.

this is so fucking sad.

I know I'm wayyyyyyy jumping to conclusions here, but I'm guessing he probably did this as an impulse decision, possibly under the influence of alcohol. But I don't know the details, and I think an investigation is still going on.

I know, I know. I'm trying not to be all armchair psychologist. I just don't know how else to try and deal with this at the moment.

Wow, this is shocking and sad. RIP Bimble.

RIP Bimble. We interacted directly very little but you helped make this place more fun and for that I'm grateful. You'll be missed.

Never got to know him as I tend to lurk ILM more than really interact but he was one of my favorite characters around those parts. RIP dude.

In many cases suicide is of the moment. Of course the person is suicidal to begin with.

Guys, I feel so sad for all of you who knew him. I only vaguely knew him. What a loss...

I spent a lot of long nights with Bimbs on AIM and did my very best to cheer him when he was capable of being cheered. He seemed to be having a perpetually rough time in the nearly 3 years we'd been IMing, so it was hard for me to tell if his most recent difficulties were any more intense than usual. I'm really saddened to hear that they were, and to hear that he chose this way out.

He overflowed with vigor and excitement even in his dark hours. I'll miss him. May he rest in peace.

bimble will always be more goth than you. RIP dude.

I'm stunned and a bit numb by this news. I'm so sorry to read this. RIP, Mark.

i cant ever say he was my friend like you AG, but damn, i do miss him on ilx ..

I saw his blog the other day, frozen in time obviously...

want to talk to you about catherine wheel right now

<3

man. i still sometimes see thread titles hit sna and immediately know he was the author, without having to open them.

Often think of him whenever I get unreasonably ecstatically hopped up on some record I've already heard 1000x. Life is so fuckin hard and if you have certain things wrong with your brain hearing music can keep you alive, but not forever

Hey man, I could’ve used you on AIM a few weeks ago. But it’s cool. I hope you’re listening to some good tunes.

catherine wheel? flower to hide is such an amazing song. probably the best shoegazer song of all times. how it s slowly opening up like a rose. and the smell is so strong and sweet. listening to that song makes me 20 years younger, everything is possible again, it gives me so much energy and strength. an unbelievable piece of music. of course you have to crank up the volume to the max to get the full power of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QTzKc472Ho

alex otmmmmmmmm

Cant believe it's nearly 6 years. So many times I hear something that I cant share with him yet I know he would love it.

10 years.

shit

Oof

Miss this dude

Goin to a suicide funeral on sunday too :(

<3

If not seen then or forgotten since (as it was for me), it turns out Drew Daniels's People Who Died: Nine Deaths from an Unfinished Decade is still up at Pitchfork.

sill miss him

Same here. Love seeing his posts of wonder and enthusiasm pop up throughout this board though, on threads unassumingly revived.

his enthusiastic posts made me feel uncomfortable at the time, they were too much over the top. somehow he made me realise that there are more important things in life than music, that concentrating and loving music too much - as a listener - is not healthy. his death was a shock but not really a surprise.

i'm sure for him music was health, as it is for many of us

that is, at least, what i get from searching this board and finding either a bimble thread or a cluster of excited bimble posts, i never interacted with him directly

I used to stay up talking to Bimble til 8am sometimes, drunk out of my mind. I'd never met someone so excited to meet someone from Worcestershire but Bimble could always find something to be excited about and that was one of things I loved about him. I can be a cynical bastard and Bimble's enthusiasm would cut right through that. I miss you Mark

Man... he was hilarious.

Someone mentioned in a reply to Stephen Malkmus' in-retrospect somewhat-eerie tweet before he learned of David Berman's passing that we've been going through the Jewish days of sorrow/disasters (not the real name, but that's the general idea as I understand it). Anyway, I don't know how all that stuff works but man the last week or so definitely has felt like there is something very wrong and shitty going on, like the cosmic santa ana winds bringing yuck vibes all around. I guess it doesn't help that it's the 50th anniversary of the manson murders, then there were the shootings, David Berman, the jeffrey epstein weirdness, etc. Living in the northern hemisphere this time of year always feels sort of "off" to me anyway, like unless you are on vacation somewheres it starts to feel like the summer has worn out its welcome and everything is just overcooked or something. I couldn't remember exactly when Mark moved on but yeah, I guess it makes sense somehow...

And they say the long cold winter does a number on your mental health.

Pictures of you just came on the radio. Makes me think of bimble each time that happens.

I wish I had been more mentally coherent when I got this phone call. It’s all a bit fuzzy in my memory. I was 21 and likely stoned and/or drunk at the time and it was just so shocking and confusing. Maybe they called me because I was a recent contact in his phone’s history. In retrospect I am a bit surprised that they shared so many details with me when I called back.

RIP bimble. just thinking of you now, and how you pointed me toward a new way of listening to music that was just about enjoying the goddamn music

Hear, hear. Can't believe it's been 11 fucking years already. I enjoy seeing his posts and threads finding their way through the board like roots, or ivy. (was he also behind your Cocteau Twins discovery?)

Miss you dude

I didn't interact much with Bimble during our overlapping times here, but I often find myself looking through old threads of bands that I'm just now getting into but should have known about long ago and more often than not, there's Bimble, singing their praises to high heaven.

There is not a week that goes by that I don't come across some great post of his on the old threads. Really wish I knew him and appreciated him better when he was here.

― kkvgz, Saturday, August 13, 2011 5:34 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Apparently that has been my experience for a decade now.

14 years seems like no years at all.

I still think about him sometimes. He was often extremely inappropriate with me which was sometimes too weird but also flattering. I would stay up stupidly late in the morning talking to him though anyway

Sometimes I'll hear something new and immediately think "Bimble would totally like this" - perhaps he is somehow...