Tell Me A Thousand Times

Happy, happy, happy birthday to Sarah Cracknell, born 12th April 1967.

Chanteuse, songwriter, mother, wife and all round fabulous person, today's selection celebrates Sarah's 58th with 58 minutes of Sarah singing. What could be better than that?

It's mostly Saint Etienne, with a couple of songs from Sarah's solo catalogue and collaborations with David Holmes and Mark Brown. 

There are also mixes from Masters At Work, Kid Loco, Richard X, Two Lone Swordsmen aka Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood, as well as Andrew's former compadres in The Sabres Of Paradise, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns. All very different styles and approaches, though Sarah's voice shines through.

Here's to you, Sarah, hiope you have a good one.

1) Aussie Soap Girl: Sarah Cracknell (1997)

2) Method Of Modern Love (Radio Edit By Richard X & Pete Hofmann): Saint Etienne (2009)

3) Nothing Can Stop Us (Masters At Work Dub) (Remix By Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez & 'Little' Louie Vega): Saint Etienne (1992)

4) Goodnight Jack: Saint Etienne (1998)

5) Message In A Bottle: Saint Etienne (1995)

6) Stop And Think It Over (Kid Loco Mix): Saint Etienne (2002)

7) Penlop (Album Version By Pete Wiggs): Saint Etienne (2021)

8) Some Place Else: Saint Etienne (1992)

9) Gone (Edit By David Holmes, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): David Holmes ft. Sarah Cracknell (1995)

10) I Threw It All Away: Saint Etienne (2012)

11) Sleepytown: Sarah Cracknell (2015)

12) Like A Motorway (Japanese Version): Saint Etienne (1994)

13) The Journey Continues (Vocal Radio Edit): Mark Brown ft. Sarah Cracknell (2007)

14) Andersen Unbound: Saint Etienne (2002)

15) Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi) (Two Lone Swordsmen Mix By Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood): Saint Etienne (2000)

1992: Avenue EP: 8

1992: Nothing Can Stop Us EP: 3

1995: Gone EP: 9

1995: Xmas 95 EP: 5

1997: Goldie EP: 1

1998: Good Humor: 4

2000: Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi) EP: 15

2002: Action EP: 14

2007: The Journey Continues EP: 13

2009: Method Of Modern Love EP: 2

2009: Now 4 EP: 12

2010: Finisterre (Deluxe Edition) (2x CD): 6

2012: Words And Music By Saint Etienne: 10

2015: Take The Silver EP: 11

2021: I've Been Trying To Tell You: 7

Tell Me A Thousand Times (58:22) (KF) (Mega)

If that's left you hungry for more Sarah, I've resurrected my 1997 Saint Etienne C90 side which I posted last year. You can find it here.

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

As If All This Would Do, When All We Want To Have Is Fun

A double celebration today, and an excuse (not that any is needed) for an hour of Andrew Weatherall.

Lady K will see this as further evidence of my ongoing stumble into irrelevance and decrepitude, but somehow another year has passed and I enter my 54th year on this swirling, twirling, constantly confounding and exciting plane of existence. 

 

Also, a slightly belated cheer for this here blog, which first emerged blinking into the artificial light of the blogoverse on 7th December 2020. Thanks to all those who have joined the ride along the way, and continue to inspire and encourage me. 

I've created loads of Andrew Weatherall selections in the past four years, and yet there's so much to choose from that it's still relatively easy to come up with a mix of music (or versions) that hasn't featured on this blog before. In fact, I was convinced that several of today's tracks had appeared here, but with one very deliberate exception, as far as I can tell, it's first time for all of the rest.

All eight songs are Andrew remixing other artists, not quite going back to the very beginning but starting relatively early in 1991 and going right to one of the very last remixes that he produced, before his passing in 2020. 

By accident not design, I've inadvertantly skipped any of the remixes Andrew did with Keith Tenniswood as Two Lone Swordsmen or Timothy J. Fairplay as The Asphodells, but there are other collaborations here: The Sabres Of Paradise (of course) with Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns, plus David Harrow and Hugo Nicolson.

 

David Holmes is another inevitable inclusion; the instrumental mix of I Heard Wonders has previously appeared, here is Weatherall's full vocal version. Holmes has been a key figure in keeping the Weatherall flame burning and embodying the same spirit of curiosity, adventure and inclusion that typified The Guv'nor's approach to his craft.

 

Andrew previously remixed Jungle Bill by Yello in the early 1990s, and returned over twenty years later to refashion Frautonium. 

 

It was common for Andrew to deliver multiple versions in one go: Ohm's Tribal Tone got three, Sleeper by Audioweb got two, as did Son Sur Son by The Venetians. Value for money would be an understatement, none of the remixes were ever 'dialled in' and each has a character of their own.

 

One Dove and Andrew Weatherall were inextricably linked on their early singles and monumental debut, Morning Dove White. There are lots of mixes of Fallen, but the Nancy & Lee Mix was so epic that it was adapted for inclusion on the album.

 

I started this blog in 2020 with 50@50, a series of Dubhed selections, charting key songs from 1970 to 2020, each 'side' covering roughly 5 years. Andrew Weatherall dominated the 1990-1994 selection, with 3 of the 5 tracks being his remixes of Primal Scream, Finitribe and the Nancy & Lee Mix of Fallen by One Dove.

 

On 11th December 2020, I pulled all of the sides together and sequenced them together into an epic four-hour selection. So, to celebrate four years to the day since Fallen (Nancy & Lee Mix) by One Dove and Andrew Weatherall appeared on this blog, here it is again to close out today's selection.

 

Less self-promotion and more (of the usual) nonsense tomorrow.

1) The Drum (12" Mix By Andrew Weatherall & Hugo Nicolson) (Cover of Slapp Happy): The Impossibles (1991)

2) Tribal Tone (Sabres Mix #1 By Sabres Of Paradise aka Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Ohm (1993)

3) I Heard Wonders (Andrew Weatherall Vocal Mix): David Holmes (2008)

4) Frautonium (Battery) (Remix by Andrew Weatherall): Yello (2017)

5) Sleeper (Emissions No.5) (Remix By Andrew Weatherall & David Harrow): Audioweb (1995)

6) Son Sur Son (A.W. Edition Due) (Remix By Andrew Weatherall): The Venetians (2020)

7) Sweet Love For Planet Earth (Andrew Weatherall Remix): Fuck Buttons (2008)

8) Fallen (Nancy & Lee Mix By Andrew Weatherall & One Dove): One Dove (1992) 

 

All We Want To Have Is Fun (58:54) (KF) (Mega)

Chemical Dust

If you like your beats big, then you can't wrong with The Chemical Brothers.

Today's selection is three quarters of an hour of remixes circa 1994 to 1996, when Manchester Uni pals Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands were breaking big as The Dust Brothers and inevitably drawing attention from Michael Simpson and John King aka the original Dust Brothers. Some legal chit chat, a handshake and a name change later, and Ed and Tom continued as The Chemical Brothers.

Something big was happening (and I don't just mean Big Beat) but even then could the pair have imagined that they'd become even bigger, release albums into double digits and still be a significant musical force, three decades later? Quite something, when you think about it.

To these ears, whilst the music takes me back to experiences in a past, younger life, I still get the rush of the new when listening to these tracks.

 

Ed and Tom did a whole bunch of remixes for Manic Street Preachers and whilst La Tristesse Durera raised the bar impossibly high, their rework of Everything Must Go is an underrated banger. 

Likewise, there was a quid pro quo with The Sabres Of Paradise, Weatherall, Kooner and Burns remixing the Brothers and vice versa. Tow Truck was a speaker shredding monster from an EP of remixes from the Haunted Dancehall album.

Justin Warfield pops up twice, firstly with Bomb The Bass and the seminal track Bug Powder Dust, then on his own with Pick It Up Y'All. I really enjoyed the Rap/Hip Hop/Big Beat crossover that was firing up around this time and these two areb prime examples.

 

I missed The Chemical Brothers' remixes of Republica first time around as a vinyl-only issue. Thankfully, the mid-late 1990s were a time of multiple formats, with 2-3 CD singles per release offering remixes, rarities and live versions to prise your pennies away. This rather fine dub of Out Of This World resurfaced on the Drop Dead Gorgeous single.

A standout from The Chemical Brothers debut album was Life Is Sweet which featured The Charlatans' Tim Burgess on vocals (Ed and Tom were also at the forefront of the Indie/Dance revival). Again, multiple formats for the inevitable single release but I've opted here for a rarer remix which featured on the essential Trance Europe Express compilation series. It's a Big Beat frenzy with a smattering of Tim's vocals left in for good measure.

The selection closes out with what I still think of as one of their finest moment as either The Dust Brothers or The Chemical Brothers. In 1994, they dusted up Saint Etienne's Like A Motorway. The competition was tough: David Holmes and Autechre both submitted remixes at the top of their game. However, Ed and Tom's Chekhov Warp mix is something else entirely, nine minutes of acid-drenched bleeps and squiggles, samples and dirty beats that leave you wanting to hear it all over again. There is a vocal version available but for me, the dub is the essential mix.

Pick it up y'all, we can make it to the weekend!

 

1) Everything Must Go (The Chemical Brothers Remix): Manic Street Preachers (1996)

2) Out Of This World (Chemical Brothers Dub): Republica (1995)

3) Bug Powder Dust (Dust Brothers Remix): Bomb The Bass ft. Justin Warfield (1994)

4) Tow Truck (The Chemical Brothers Mix): The Sabres Of Paradise (1995)

5) Life Is Sweet (Delik 1) (Remix By The Chemical Brothers, Steve Dub & Tim Holmes): The Chemical Brothers ft. Tim Burgess (1995)

6) Pick It Up Y'All (Dust Brothers Dub): Justin Warfield (1994)

7) Like A Motorway (Chekhov Warp Dub) (Remix By The Dust Brothers): Saint Etienne (1994)

Chemical Dust (45:21) (KF) (Mega)

 

You can find Shake This Feeling, another 45-minute selection of The Chemical Brothers from July 2022, right here.

Believe (For Adam And Andrew)

Over at Bagging Area for the past six months, it's been Weatherall Remix Friday, a veritable treasure trove of deep cuts and 'lost' classics from the mighty Lord Sabre.

As a tribute and thank you to Swiss Adam and Andrew Weatherall, here's a 65-minute excursion on the version, some early(ish) favourites from 1990 to 1993 with an additional tip of the hat to Jagz Kooner, Gary Burns and Hugo Nicholson.

Apologies for the shonky quality of some of the vinyl rips (not all mine) and the slipshod segues (all mine), hopefully compensated in part by the great tunes and smattering of audio Easter eggs, courtesy of this excellent 2013 interview with Mr. Weatherall.

Peace and love to you all.

 

1) Imperfect List (Unlisted Version By Andrew Weatherall & Hugo Nicolson): Big Hard Excellent Fish (1990)

2) What It Is (Ain't Losin Control) (The Big Bottom End Mix By Andrew Weatherall): Word Of Mouth ft. Linda Love (1990)

3) Regret (Sabres Slow 'n' Lo - Dub Half) (Remix By Sabres Of Paradise aka Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): New Order (1993)

4) Everything (Everything's Gone Quiet Remix By The Sabres Of Paradise aka Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Stereo MC's (1993)

5) Transient Truth (Death Of A Disco Dancer) (Remix By The Sabres Of Paradise aka Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): One Dove (1992)

6) Fall (Let There Be Drums) (Andrew Weatherall Mix): Deep Joy (1990)

7) Come Home (Skunk Weed Skank Mix By Andrew Weatherall): James (1991)

8) Find 'Em, Fool 'Em, Forget 'Em (The Eighth Out Mix By Andrew Weatherall): S'Express (1991)

9) Shine Like Stars (Andrew Weatherall Remix): Primal Scream (1990)

Believe (For Adam And Andrew) (1:04:55) (KF) (Mega)

Came Back And The Spooks Were Gone

Happy 60th birthday, Andrew Weatherall.

Three years since Lord Sabre sailed on, but ever present in my world of music. As a celebration of his life and a reminder of his continuing influence, here's (a smidge over) 60 minutes of music from the vaults.

 

Gone but never forgotten.

 

1) Kicking The River (Solar Bears Remix By John Kowalski & Rian Trench): Andrew Weatherall (2016)

2) Glories Yesterday: Two Lone Swordsmen (2007)

3) Tribal Tone (Sabres Mix #3 By Sabres Of Paradise aka Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Ohm (1993)

4) Why Don't You Take Me ('Shopping' Album Version By One Dove & Sabres Of Paradise): One Dove (1994)

5) I Want You (Sabres 110 Metal Dub) (Remix By The Sabres Of Paradise): Utah Saints (1993)

6) Neuflex (Dry & Heavy Remix By Shigemoto Nanao & Takeshi Akimoto): Two Lone Swordsmen (2001)

7) Hope We Never Surface (Remix By Kenny Hawkes): Two Lone Swordsmen (1999)

8) Song To The Siren (Sabres Of Paradise Mix) (Edit): The Dust Brothers (1992)

9) Theme 4 (Album Version): The Sabres Of Paradise (1994)

10) The Edge Of Wonder (Andrew Weatherall Remix): Silver Apples (2019)

Came Back And The Spooks Were Gone (1:00:52) (KF) (Mega)

 

 

Happy birthday also to Tomberlin (28) and Frank Black (58) and anyone else celebrating another year on this spinning globe today. 

700 Seconds In The Jungle

No excuse needed to post Yello really but Jungle Bill is especially appropriate today. First up is the video version, directed by Dieter Meier and starring his daughter Eleonore alongside partner in crime Boris Blank.

The limited edition 12" single leads deeper into the undergrowth, courtesy of Andrew Weatherall and The Sabres Of Paradise who deliver a brace of, er, bracing remixes. To celebrate Dubhed's 700th post here's the first of these, 700 seconds of glorious repetition that have galvanised me into action for another working week.

In A Season Of Light We Can See Forever

Billy MacKenzie introduces today's long song selection, down on the tempo, up on the electronic emotional dial. 

 

Recorded and released with Loom in 1996, the opening song actually dates back to the aborted Associates reunion with Alan Rankine in 1993, the song initially demo'd as Edge Of The World and appearing on the Double Hipness compilation in 2000. Billy would revisit the song several times, with versions titled Anacostia Bay or At The Edge Of The World appearing on various posthumous solo compilations, including last year's essential Satellite Life: Recordings 1994-1996

 

Despite the mix title, this is the only version of Eagle to appear on Banco De Gaia's 1995 Last Train To Lhasa, which is still a satisfying, immersive ambient experience, nearly three decades on. 

 

Blue Pearl were good but never quite as good as I wished/hoped they would be. Youth aka Martin Glover at the controls and Durga McBroom's vocals which, to be honest, were an acquired taste. However, the trio of remixes by The Orb on the Mother Dawn 12" single are pretty great; this is the first, clocking in at 12 minutes and 45 seconds and still not the longest of the three!

 

Today's loose theme easily presented an excuse to post yet another version/remix of Smokebelch by The Sabres Of Paradise. Is there a bad version of this song? I've yet to hear one.

 

As a coda to this selection, a brief burst from Justin Warfield, vocal free and hinting at another party about to kick off next door. 

 

Five songs, fifty minutes, play through headphones for the maximum experience.  

1) Anacostia Bay (At The Edge Of The World) (Original Version): Loom ft. Billy MacKenzie (1996)

2) Eagle (Small Steppa Mix): Banco De Gaia (1995)

3) Mother Dawn (Buckateer Mix 1 By The Orb): Blue Pearl (1992)

4) Smokebelch II (Exit) (Remix By Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): The Sabres Of Paradise (1993)

5) Tequila Flats (Ghosts Of Laurel Canyon): Justin Warfield (1994)

 

In A Season Of Light We Can See Forever (50:00) (Box) (Mega)

All I Want To Hear...

...is some Andrew Weatherall to get my day off to a good start. 

 

Here are ten tracks, five seconds shy of one hour, featuring Lord Sabre collaborations and remixes, none of which (I'm 99% certain) have previously featured on this blog.

 

1) Hall Of Mirrors (Andrew Weatherall Remix II): The Early Years (2017)

2) Stack Up: Two Lone Swordsmen (2004)

3) Blue Pole Dancer: Lino Squares (1997)

4) Deep Down & Dirty (Two Lone Swordsmen Remix By Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood): Stereo MC's (2001)

5) Tears (Remix By II Lone Rotters aka Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood) (Album Version): Slab (1999)

6) Kevin (1989) (Andrew Weatherall Remix): Battant (2007)

7) Exodus (Sabres Of Paradise Mix 2 By Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Scorn (1992)

8) One Minute's Silence (Ivan Smagghe Remix): The Asphodells (2013)

9) Open Up (Open Dub) (Remix By The Sabres Of Paradise aka Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns) (Edit): Leftfield ft. John Lydon (1993)

10) Mother India (Sabres At Dawn) (Remix By Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Fun-Da-Mental (1994)

 

1994: Mother India EP: 10

1997: Deliverance EP (Expanded Edition): 7

1997: The Role Of Linoleum EP: 3

1999: Ripsnorter: 5

2001: Deep Down & Dirty EP: 4 

2001: Sonic Mook Experiment: 9

2004: From The Double Gone Chapel: 2 

2007: Kevin (1989) EP: 6

2013: The Asphodells Remixed: 8

2017: remIIxes EP: 1

 

All I Want To Hear... (59:55) (KF) (Mega)

The Original Debutante

Sides 1 & 2 of a Björk cassette compilation, recorded 23rd February 1997.

 

Confusingly, I posted another Björk selection called Debutante last September, an all-video recreation of her Debut album. This is the original though, "a selection of mixes and alternate versions" culled from accompanying singles and other sources and put on a C60 cassette.

The Underworld remix of Human Behaviour that appeared on the vinyl and CD single was a 12-minute epic and remains one of the finest reworkings that Darren Emerson and Rick Smith delivered as a partnership. The version here is an eight-and-a-half minute edit that appeared on the Welcome To The Future² compilation. Yes, it's considerably shorter but loses none of it's impact.

 

Mykaell Riley was/is more familiar to me as a member of Steel Pulse but by the early 1990s had further success as the founder of Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra. I prefer the original version of Venus As A Boy, but this is a very radio-friendly mix.

 

There's More To Life Than This appeared as a B-side to Venus As A Boy. The single version is great but serves to highlight how inspired and brilliant the 'toilet' interlude in the original album version was.

 

There are a trio of songs from 1986, recorded by Björk when she was a member of The Elgar Sisters with Guðlaugur Óttarsson. On the original cassette, I cut the third song, Glóra, to 40 seconds to fit it onto the 30 minute running time. I've restored the full version, still under 2 minutes and essentially a lovely flute solo from Björk.

 

Back in 1997, I didn't have an alternative version of Björk's cover of Like Someone In Love so I had to stick with the album version. For this selection, I've swapped it for the MTV Unplugged version from 1994, her band for this performance comprising Talvin Singh, Leila Arab, Guy Sigsworth, Dan Lipman, Ike Leo and Tansay Omar.

 

Big Time Sensuality got a whole new lease of life when Fluke got their hands on the song and their remixes of the song are my favourites of the lot. Björk evidently agreed as it was an extended version of The Fluke Minimix that was used for the memorable video, Björk dancing around on the back of a flatbed truck driving through New York.

 

Side 2 kicks off with Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns transforming One Day into a thing of even greater beauty. I can remember being stunned when I first this mix on a freebie NME cassette and being delighted when I was finally able to get it on CD a year later on "The Best Mixes..." EP.

 

Play Dead doesn't feature on my original CD of Debut but was tacked on to the end, following the success of the single and the soundtrack to Danny Cannon's film The Young Americans. Whilst I don't think it fits with the album, it's a great single. Then again, with David Arnold, Jah Wobble and Tim Simenon involved, the odds were in it's favour.

 

I'm guessing that I Remember You was in consideration for inclusion on Debut before Björk ultimately went for Like Someone In Love. It's covered in a similar style and sits comfortably with the other B-sides on the Venus As A Boy single.

 

The Black Dog, at the time a trio of Ken Downie, Andy Turner and Ed Handley, were producing some incredible music for Warp Records and their remixes were no less exciting. Their recreation of Come To Me is much more unsettling than the original but is one of my favourite Björk remixes ever.

 

Fluke return for a remix of Violently Happy, at the time not a personal album highlight and as a single, feeling like the record label were squeezing every last drop out of Debut's success. However, Fluke delivered the goods again and I grew to love the song in all it's variations.

 

Closing the selection, as with the original album, with The Anchor Song. Black Dog again, with a looped sample that evokes (for me, at least) a ship's engine, providing an additional element to the song. Wonderful.

 

I'm pretty sure I recorded a similar alternative version of Björk's follow-up, Post, but I can't find it in my cassette collection so I may start from scratch with a new selection in the future. 

Side One

1) Human Behaviour (The Underworld Mix By Darren Emerson & Rick Smith) (Edit) (1993)

2) Venus As A Boy (Mykaell Riley Mix) (1993)

3) There's More To Life Than This (Non Toilet) (Single Version By Nellee Hooper & Jim Abbiss) (1993)

4) Sídasta Ég: The Elgar Sisters (1986)

5) Stígðu Mig: The Elgar Sisters (1986)

6) Glóra: The Elgar Sisters (1986)

7) Like Someone In Love (MTV Unplugged) (Cover of Dinah Shore) (1994)

8) Big Time Sensuality (The Fluke Minimix) (1993)

Side Two

1) One Day (Endorphin Mix By The Sabres Of Paradise) (1993)

2) Play Dead (Tim Simenon 12" Remix): Björk & David Arnold ft. Jah Wobble (1993)

3) I Remember You (Cover of Jimmy Dorsey) (1993)

4) Come To Me (Black Dog Productions) (Remix By Ken Downie, Andy Turner & Ed Handley) (1993)

5) Violently Happy (Fluke (Well Tempered)) (1994)

6) The Anchor Song (Black Dog Mix) (1993)

1993: Big Time Sensuality EP: A4, A6, A8, B4

1993: Björk Cut By The Sabres Of Paradise (promo 10" single): B1

1993: Play Dead EP: B2

1993: Venus As A Boy EP: A2, A3, A5, B3, B6

1993: Welcome To The Future²: A1

1994: The Best Mixes From The Album 'Debut' For All The People Who Don't Buy White Labels: B1, B4, B6

1994: Violently Happy EP: B5

2001: MTV Unplugged & Live (DVD): A7

Side One (31:20) (Box) (Mega)

Side Two (30:10) (Box) (Mega)

I'm Checking Out Her Rhythms

Time for some Renegade Soundwave, their first selection and only fifth appearance on this blog in total (six if you count their remix of Pop Will Eat Itself).

This selection draws from various singles and album tracks from 1987 to 1995, most of the remixes by RSW themselves. Inevitably, there's an epic remix by Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns aka the mighty Sabres Of Paradise.

1) Renegade Soundwave (Basstube Shakin') (Remix By Renegade Soundwave & Mark 'Spike' Stent) (1994)

2) Last Freedom Fighter (Album Version By Renegade Soundwave, Steve Osborne & Ben Hillier) (1994)

3) Probably A Robbery (Extended Mix By Daniel Miller & Rico Conning) (1990)

4) Brixton (Sabres Of Paradise Mix By Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns) (1995)

5) Deadly (Album Version By Renegade Soundwave & Tim Davies) (1990)

6) Kray Twins (Dragon Bass Sound System Mix By Renegade Soundwave, Karl Bonnie & Paul Kendall) (1987)

7) Positive I.D. (Book Of Isaiah Mix By Gary Asquith & Julian Briottet) (1995)

8) Cocaine Sex (Sub-Aqua Overdrive) (Remix By Renegade Soundwave, Karl Bonnie, Paul Kendall & Rico Conning) (Original Version) (1987)

9) Biting My Nails (Bassnumb Chapter) (Remix By Renegade Soundwave & Flood) (1990)

1987: Cocaine Sex EP: 8

1987: Kray Twins EP: 6

1990: Biting My Nails EP: 9

1990: Probably A Robbery EP: 3

1990: RSW In Dub: 5

1994: Howyoudoin?: 2

1994: Renegade Soundwave EP: 1

1995: Brixton EP: 4

1995: Positive Dub Mixes EP: 7

I'm Checking Out Her Rhythms (48:23) (KF) (Mega)

It's The Why, It's The Where And The When We're United

The long overdue return of an Andrew Weatherall remix selection to this blog, with a half-dozen lengthy reworkings, firmly rooted in the 1990s.

First up, the original version of Smokebelch II, which spawned - and continues to inspire - numerous versions and remixes. Still sounding beautiful and epic, three decades on. 

Andrew Weatherall's relationship with Primal Scream was such that it was an expectation  that he would in some way, shape or form be involved with each new release, whether as producer and/or remixer. I remember the thrill of getting the promo 12" of Stuka, the two mixes a highlight of the Vanishing Point era.

United was originally recorded by Throbbing Gristle in 1978, although I don't think I heard it until the 1990s, via a UK re-release of the 1981 US compilation, Throbbing Gristle's Greatest Hits: Entertainment Through Pain. In 1994, I came across an untitled remix credited to PT001 on The Sabres Of Paradise compilation, Septic Cuts. In 1995, Psychic TV released Sirens, containing 4 Weatherall remixes of the song, re-titled Re-United. Today's post title is lifted from the original Throbbing Gristle song, although ironically that line is cut from the two-part vocal remix included in this selection.

Gone saw Andrew Weatherall repaying a favour to David Holmes, who had remixed Smokebelch II to stunning effect a couple of years previously. Although credited as featuring Sarah Cracknell from Saint Etienne, you'll be hard pressed to find any trace of her in this beat-heavy minimalist mix.

It took me a long time to get hold of the Two Lone Swordsmen remix of Come Together but it was worth the time and effort. A dizzying, discordant trip way south of Spiritualized's original for nearly sixteen minutes, it's easily one of the best things that Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood produced in their time together.

 

As if that wasn't epic enough, the remix of Jam J that The Sabres Of Paradise originally delivered to James ran to thirty three and and a half minutes. The mix was released split into two sides of a vinyl 12" or in it's full, unedited glory as a single CD. I got the latter. The labeling of the mix described four distinct phases and you get the third phase here, the majestic Sabresonic Tremelo Dub, with off-kilter, shuffling rhythms, washes of squalling guitar and melancholic synth lines that, together, really hit the spot.

 

I've not attempted any ham-fisted mixing, beat matching or re-editing here; you get six sequenced songs in a CD-R friendly track list to listen to. Andrew Weatherall would have undoubtedly have spun this selection off into a completely new shape, but I think they're all pretty wonderful in their own right too.

 

1) Smokebelch II (Entry) (Remix By Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): The Sabres Of Paradise (1993)

2) Stuka (Two Lone Swordsmen Mix #1) (Remix By Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood): Primal Scream (1997)

3) Re-United (Mix 4 By Andrew Weatherall): Psychic TV (1994)

4) Gone (First Night Without Charge) (Remix By Two Lone Swordsmen): David Holmes ft. Sarah Cracknell (1995)

5) Come Together (The Two Lone Swordsmen Mix): Spiritualized (1998)

6) Jam J (Phase 3: Sabresonic Tremelo Dub): James vs. The Sabres Of Paradise (1994)

 

It's The Why, It's The Where And The When We're United (1:09:31)

Joy Is The Ploy

The second of three David Holmes mix CDs that I compiled for my friend Dave on 13th March 2005. I previously posted volume three in December 2021 and according to the stats, it's proved to be a popular Dubhed selection, hopefully with human beings as well as blogbots.

 

This one spans David Holmes' career from his first solo single in 1994 to his full band excursions with The Free Association, taking in a slew of remixes along the way. Johnny Favourite, here in it's downtempo, ambient B-side version, is a prime contender for The Vinyl Villain's It Really Was A Cracking Debut Single series. I remember buying the 12" single at Way Ahead in Derby, getting it home and putting it on my turntable, placing the needle in the groove and...being transported. Both versions are essential listening, in my opinion.

There are a couple of rarer Holmes songs here. Jackson Johnson originally appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of Bow Down To The Exit Sign in 2000. I picked it up in the UK the following year on the excellent London Xpress compilation. In 2010, it became more readily available on the 'best of' collection, The Dogs Are Parading.

A little harder to find is Grumpy Flutter Pt. 1 which (I think) is only available on 1996 compilation, The Science Behind The Circle, itself highly recommended as it features additional tracks from Andrew Weatherall, Carl Cox, Secret Knowledge, The Aloof and Ashley Beedle, to name a few. Both Grumpy Flutter Pt. 1 and Jackson Johnson are an indication of Holmes' prodigious output and the quality of his music that these didn't even make it onto official singles or albums. 

Delakota's version of Don't Die Just Yet takes the form of a short narrative about a toxic couple in the Australian wilderness and was a 'remix swap', Holmes repaying the favour with an excellent rework of their track I Thought I Caught, which appeared on volume three of my mix CDs. 

 

I can never quite decide if I like the Manic Street Preachers remix; I invariably decide that I do. The mix CD's title is taken from a second remix of You Stole The Sun From My Heart that Holmes did. It appeared on a promo 12" in the UK and a promo Remixes CD in the USA and I've never heard it.

The remix of Dawn Of The Replicants' Skullcrusher is a particular favourite, as is Gone featuring Sarah Cracknell, which came in a package of really strong remixes with Alter Ego's second take a standout. 

Closing track, the Children Re-Mix of Everbody Knows was the opener of The Free Association selection I posted in June 2021 and works well whether it starts or ends a selection.

 

1) Johnny Favourite (Exploding Plastic Ambience Mix By David Holmes, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): David Holmes (1994)

2) Sugarman (VV Featuring Chilly Gonzales Remix): The Free Association (2003)

3) 69 Police (Skylab Remix By Matt Ducasse & Duncan Forbes): David Holmes ft. Sean Gullette (2000)

4) Jackson Johnson: David Holmes (2000)

5) Die Laughing (David Holmes Mix 2 By David Holmes, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Therapy? (1994)

6) Swastika Eyes (David Holmes Mix) (Full Length): Primal Scream (1999)

7) Don't Die Just Yet (Delakota Mix By Cass Browne & Morgan Nicholls): David Holmes (1997)

8) Skullcrusher (David Holmes & Tim Goldsworthy Remix): Dawn Of The Replicants (1998)

9) Gone (Alter Ego Decoding Gone, Pt. 2) (Remix By Jörn Elling Wuttke & Roman Flügel): David Holmes ft. Sarah Cracknell (1995)

10) You Stole The Sun From My Heart (David Holmes' A Joyful Racket Remix): Manic Street Preachers (1998)

11) Grumpy Flutter Pt. 1: David Holmes (1996)

12) Everybody Knows (Children Re-Mix By Stephen Hilton & Pati Yang): The Free Association (2003)

Joy Is The Ploy (1:19:10)