After All These Years, Audrey Is Still A Little Bit Partial

Side 1 of an Andrew Weatherall compilation, recorded 8th December 1996.

Dusting off and representing Dubhed selections yesterday brought the sobering revelation that I posted Side 2 of the Audrey Is A Little Bit Partial mixtape on 17th February 2022 and then promptly forgot to follow up with the other side.

So, three years and two days later, here's the opening side to complete the set.

Given the year of recording, this C90 is very firmly rooted in the early to mid-1990s, with a heavy emphasis on Andrew's music with Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns as The Sabres Of Paradise. 

Four of the five tracks on this side are remixes of other artists, with a solitary Sabres song to round things off. Edge 6 was originally a B-side on the Theme EP, getting a promotion when Sabresonic II, a substantial overhaul of The Sabres Of Paradise's debut album, was released in 1995.

The remixes take the original songs on a long journey, the destination largely unrecognisable from the starting point. 

I first discovered the remix of Give Me Some Love by Love Corporation, aka Edward Ball of The Times, on a Creation label compilation and it's ten minutes of chiming chug-before-chug is one of Andrew's finest moments. 

Always delivering value for money, Andrew, Jagz and Gary delivered three remixes of Conquistador to Espiritu in 1993. I've gone for Mix No. 2, at just under eight minutes the shortest of the lot, but not lesser in any other respect. This one is from vinyl and the only one of the three not to get a CD/digital release, as far as I'm aware, so please excuse the added crackles and pops.

I'd never heard anything by Irish band Bumble before - or, to be honest, after - I picked up a 12" of their single West In Motion for the sole reason that the label stated that it included an Andrew Weatherall mix (one of two, in fact, with a different remix on the CD single). The other mixes on the 12" are so-so but Weatherall's is worth the price alone, twelve minutes of shivery, spooky spaced out grooves.

I've featured The Sabres Of Paradise remix of Brixton by Renegade Soundwave before, when I created a Dubhed selection of their own music. I love RSW's original and dub versions, but this is the business: nine minutes of incessant, propulsive loops built around a sample of Gary Asquith stating, "I'm checking out her rhythms". Great stuff.

1) Give Me Some Love (Remix By Andrew Weatherall): Love Corporation (1991)
2) Conquistador (Sabres Of Paradise Mix No. 2): Espiritu (1993)

3) West In Motion (Andrew Weatherall Mix): Bumble (1992)

4) Brixton (Sabres Of Paradise Mix): Renegade Soundwave (1995)

5) Edge 6: The Sabres Of Paradise (1994)

Side One (45:40) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two here

Heaven Leads To Hell

Side 2 of a mixtape, recorded 13th July 1997 and featuring a selection of 1990s favourites.

First appearance on this blog for German acid techno duo Hardfloor aka Oliver Bondzio and Ramon Zenker. Mr. Anderson was an early single on the Harthouse label, typical of the Hardfloor sound with hard beats and a chorus of Roland TB-303 bass synthesizers in the breakdown. 

 

Propellerheads aka Alex Gifford and Will White were everywhere in the mid-late 1990s, collaborating with Dame Shirley Bassey and composing the theme tune to The Graham Norton Show on Channel 4. They were also ubiquitous remixers and this, combined with Manic Street Preachers' James Dean Bradfield on vocals, helped (excuse the pun) propel Lopez by 808 State to #20 in the UK singles chart in February 1997.

A Man Called Adam aka Sally Rodgers and Steve Jones called in another duo, Glasgow heavyweights Slam aka Stuart MacMillan and Order Meikle, to remix Bread, Love And Dreams from their debut album The Apple. The sleeve of the single features Sally Rodgers' arse but there's not a single bum note (sorry, no more puns) in this remix.

 

I bought the 12" single of Sincere / 3-Wheel Crash by Robin Reliant for the sole reason that it was on the Finiflex label and it turned out to be a safe bet. Robin Hickman is joined on The Unstable Mix of the latter by John Vick and Fred Parsons aka Mr. Samples and Phunky Torso for ten minutes of progressive house, which really hits the spot.

 

Bumble were an early 1990s act that sought to marry club beats with traditional Irish music. 1992's West In Motion was released on U2's Mother label (yes, really). It caught the attention of Andrew Weatherall who provided an epic twelve minute remix, which itself laid the groundwork for his subsequent and equally epic remix of Peace Together with Sabres Of Paradise. The original cassette compilation featured Bumble's own club mix of the track, featuring Breda Mayock on vocals. I've swapped it here, mainly because I haven't ripped the 12" single in full but also because it gives me an excuse to include an alternative Weatherall mix, which appeared on a white label 12" and the CD single. 

 

Rounding things off is System 7 aka Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy, with the lush synth-rinsed breakbeats of Interstate, as remixed by Doc Scott. I'm a huge fan of System 7 and the duo's ongoing thirst for collaboration with contemporary artists. Simultaneously urgent and calming, this mix of Interstate is eight minutes but could have stretched to at least twice the length and not outstayed it's welcome. 

1) Mr. Anderson: Hardfloor (1994)

2) Lopez (Hard On) (A Progressive Mix By The Propellerheads): 808 State ft. James Dean Bradfield (1997)

3) Bread, Love And Dreams (Slam Mix): A Man Called Adam (1992)

4) 3-Wheel Crash (The Unstable Mix): Robin Reliant (1993)

5) West In Motion (Andrew Weatherall Drum Mix): Bumble (1992)

6) Interstate (Doc Scott Mix): System 7 (1995)

Side Two (46:55) (Box) (Mega)