In Strict Tempo, vol. 77: News & Bits
I hope everyone had a good bank holiday weekend last weekend. I spent the Friday and Saturday in Brighton at BMC where I took part in a panel aimed at people getting started in their music careers. I then spent 45 minutes or so afterwards answering questions and giving people some pointers. It’s amazing how much bad advice can be circulating out there, but as I said in my newsletter a couple of weeks back the music industry is generally full of good people who love music and want to help. BMC reaffirmed that for me.
Anyway, a few bits of news from the last week or so:
Sabres of Paradise are back. Kind of. Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns have reunited to play a couple of gigs at Fabric, with David Holmes in support. These things can sometimes come across as a bit of a cash-in, and I’m not sure it would have happened if Weatherall was still with us, but this one seems genuine enough. Warp have also announced reissues of Sabresonic and Haunted Dancehall, plus some new T-shirts, which I’ll definitely be ordering. I do find it a bit odd that they chose Sabresonic and not Sabresonic II though, with the second version being a re-record of the original as the group were unhappy with it. Either way, if you’ve not got any of these, now’s your chance. Hopefully this sees the start of a wider Sabres/Two Lone Swordsmen reissue campaign.
I wrote about the enduring legacy of Andrew Weatherall here.
Spotify have announced yet more growth and another round of subscriber numbers, now totalling over 268 million, of which 100 million are in Europe. You wonder just how many more subscribers are out there and what will happen when the growth starts to slow though.
Bandcamp have launched a new feature, now allowing users to create playlists from their libraries. The twist is that you’ll need to have purchased the tracks to put them in your playlist, which is a great idea from a curation point of view. Who’s going to be the first person to really utilise this feature best I wonder?
Kompakt have reached their 500th release. Not many labels continue to have such a defined sound these days, but Kompakt still do. The Cologne based label/distro/shop continue to fly the flag for their specific style of minimal techno, and their genre-defining Total and Pop Ambient compilations. There’s an exhibition in Cologne, plus events and for the real heads a 5xLP €200 boxset with 50 tracks.
My favourite Kompakt tunes? Obviously all the GAS ones (read my introduction to the world of GAS here), the Superpitcher remix of The MFA’s The Difference it Makes (which wasn’t on the Border Community release) and Maceo Plex’s Conjure Superstar. Those Field albums were really good too, and Michael Mayer’s Immer mix series remains one of the best DJ mix CDs of all time.
New Music
On to this weeks new releases then.
Sabres of Paradise - Sabresonic/Haunted Dancehall [Warp]
Already mentioned above, but too good not to mention again! They’ve been remastered too, and vinyl is coming soon.
Orbital - 2 [London Records]
Another classic that gets the reissue treatment, Orbital’s best album. There’s some footage out there somewhere of me looking quite wavy at an Orbital gig (I’m not going to tell you which one). Expanded with a load of remixes, alternate versions and live performances it also has the monster Underworld mix of Lush 3.3 on it which is worth the price of admission alone.
Stereolab - Instant Holograms on Metal Film [Duophonic]
A welcome return for Stereolab, with their first album in fifteen years, and straight out the box it’s an instant classic. Just have a listen.
Verraco - Basic Manoeuvres [XL]
Everyone tells me this is the greatest thing in dance music currently, but it’s not something I’ve really paid much attention to. First impressions: not sure, it’s a little bit hyper for me.
DJ Trystero - Cantor’s Paradise [FELT]
One extreme to the other here, this is about as sparse as it comes. What’s it like? It’s like being on a train to some liminal space, impossible to place geographically, it’s quite a departure from his Trilogy Tapes release, but something that I’m going to give some more listening time to.
Pulp - Got To Have Love [Rough Trade]
Ooh, Pulp go a bit dancey! I’m looking forward to the new album.
That’s it for this week, as always thanks for reading and subscribing. I really do appreciate it. If you enjoyed In Strict Tempo please share it with any friends/enemies/colleagues who might like it!
