Ambient Andrew Again

Another sixty (one) minute selection of Andrew Weatherall's ambient excursions which, unsurprisingly, take the listener down the less trodden path.

If you caught last Sunday's post, you'll know that this was created from the same shortlist as Volume 1, but to be clear this is no 'leftovers' compilation. 

A slight shift by twelve months, too. Whereas Volume 1 spanned 1991 to 2016, Volume 2 covers 1992 to 2017. A complete accident, but I like it.

As before, there's room for Andrew's solo work, The Sabres Of Paradise and Two Lone Swordsmen, plus a second collaboration with Keith Tenniswood from the 2003 release Still My World.

Woodleigh Research Facility and Nina Walsh from Volume 1 are swapped for The Asphodells and Timothy J. Fairplay in Volume 2. There are also remixes by Being, Group Rhoda and In The Nursery as well as reworks of Scorn, James, Death In Vegas and Red Snapper.

It's such a privilege and a pleasure approaching each and every Andrew Weatherall selection. His generosity of spirit embues his music, making for some unusual but natural sequencing. Any bumps or clunks in the transition are entirely down to me, hopefully offset by the magic of the music itself. 

1) Azzolini And The Branch Brothers Meet Being (Remix By Being aka Dave Paton): Two Lone Swordsmen (1996)

2) Exodus (Sabres Of Paradise Mix 1 By Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Scorn (1992)

3) The Crescents: Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood (2003)

4) Another Heady Cocktail: Two Lone Swordsmen (1997)

5) Jam J (Phase 2: Amphetamine Pulsate) (Remix By Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): James vs. The Sabres Of Paradise (1994)

6) Another Lonely City (Group Rhoda Remix By Mara Barenbaum): The Asphodells (2013)

7) Glenn Street Assault Squad (In The Nursery Visit Glenn Street) (Remix By Klive Humberstone & Nigel Humberstone): Two Lone Swordsmen (1996)

8) Soft Estates: Andrew Weatherall (2017)

9) Rekkit (Vega Sintro) (Remix by Two Lone Swordsmen aka Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood): Death In Vegas (1997)

10) Bogeyman (Two Lone Swordsmen Blue Jam Cologne Mix By Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood): Red Snapper (1998)

1992: Deliverance EP: 2

1994: Jam J EP: 5

1996: Swimming Not Skimming: 1, 7

1997: Rekkit: Death By A Thousand Cuts EP: 9

1997: Stockwell Steppas: 4

1998: Bogeyman EP: 10

2003: Still My World: 3

2013: The Asphodells Remixed: 6

2017: Qualia: 8

Ambient Andrew Vol. 2 (1:01:38) (GD) (M)

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)

Hep Hop Excursion

Side 2 of an arguably more 'chiller' than 'chill out' compilation tape, recorded circa July to September 1996.

 

This selection is weighted towards acts from or based in my birthplace Bristol - Massive Attack, Tricky, Carlton, Earthling - and recorded following (and possibly as a reaction to) the proliferation of trip hop compilations in 1994/1995. The term trip hop was apparently coined by Andy Pemberton in June 1994 and first appeared in Mixmag when he reviewed DJ Shadow & RPM's single In/Flux. However, it also became seemingly inextricably linked with "The Bristol Sound", even though many of the tagged artists either had already or would soon transcend such a label.  

 

Renegade Soundwave deliver a suitably spine-tingling take on Pop Will Eat Itself's Underbelly. I remember hearing this over the Virgin Megastore PA when PWEI's remix album Two Fingers My Friends! was released and it was enough for me to shell out for the limited edition 2CD there and then. 

 

Another album I bought on spec, having read about but not heard, was ISDN by The Future Sound Of London although I knew exactly what I was letting myself in for. ISDN is a 15-track album edited together from various live broadcasts that FSOL had transmitted during 1994 to radio stations all over the world using ISDN networking, then a relatively new technology. 

 

Hot Knives featured on the initial limited edition (of 10,000) "cruciform velcro-sealed embossed card case with separate card sleeve". What the Discogs description doesn't mention is that visually ISDN is also a dead ringer for Spinal Tap's Smell The Glove (or original motion picture soundtrack album, if you're a pedant). ISDN was reissued six months later with a more conventional sleeve design and jewel case and a slightly different tracklisting, swapping out three tracks from the original issue, including Hot Knives.

Scorn was formed in 1991 by Mick Harris and Nik Bullen, both ex-Napalm Death and quite far removed from the music of their former band. I only have two CDs by Scorn, the Deliverance EP and Ellipsis. Both are remix projects so possibly unrepresentative of Scorn’s output as a whole, but sphincter-troubling electronic music all the same. By the time of Ellipsis, Scorn had become a solo vehicle for Mick Harris, the album mostly remixing tracks from their last album as a duo, 1994's Evanescence. I have no idea what the original version of Night Tide sounds like but here Scanner aka Robin Rimbaud rebuilds the track around his trademark use of mobile phone and police radio scanners to disturbing effect.

Finally, an honourable mention for several of my favourite chanteuses, all featured here with standout tracks: Martina Topley-Bird, Róisín Murphy, Sarah Cracknell and Tracey Thorn.

 

If you're feeling the heat again today - a peak of 33°C is expected in my neck of the woods - then stick this on for 45 minutes and you may start to experience shivering and goosebumps, which may help.

1) Underbelly (Renegade Soundwave Blackout Mix): Pop Will Eat Itself (1995)

2) Aftermath (Version 1): Tricky ft. Martina Topley-Bird (1994)

3) 1 To 1 Religion (Skankapella Remix By Dobie): Bomb The Bass ft. Carlton (1994)

4) Dominoid (Radio Mix): Moloko (1996)

5) Hot Knives (Live ISDN Transmission, VPRO Radio, Netherlands): The Future Sound Of London (1994)

6) Night Tide (Scanner - "Flaneur Electronique" Mix): Scorn (1995)

7) Gone (Alter Ego Decoding Gone, Pt. 2): David Holmes ft. Sarah Cracknell (1995)

8) Protection (7" Edit): Massive Attack ft. Tracey Thorn (1994)

9) Nefisa (Faraway Moses) (Remix By Plunderphonics): Earthling (1995)

1994: 1 To 1 Religion EP: 3

1994: Aftermath EP: 2

1994: ISDN (limited edition first issue): 5 

1994: Protection EP: 8

1995: Ellipsis: 6 

1995: Gone EP: 7 

1995: Nefisa EP: 9

1995: Two Fingers My Friends!: 1

1996: Dominoid EP: 4

Side Two (45:13) (KF) (Mega)