Sabres, Swordsmen & Solos: A Tribute to Andrew Weatherall
Five years ago we lost one of the most important figures in British music. Here's my tribute to The Guv'nor.
I’ve been writing In Strict Tempo for over a year now, and in that period I’ve paid tribute to a couple of favourite record labels but haven’t yet written much about the guv’nor: Andrew Weatherall.
We lost Andrew five years ago just as the Covid pandemic began, and since then I don’t think a week has gone by when I haven’t listened to at least one record he’s had a hand in.
Where to start with Weatherall then? Probably where everybody starts: Screamadelica. I’ve loved this album since I first heard it in the mid-90’s, and Weatherall’s input is the reason why. In all honesty, I’m a big Primal Scream fan anyway - that run from Screamadelica through to Evil Heat must rank amongst the best runs of albums from any band, ever.
But Screamadelica, that stands head and shoulders above the rest. It’s soundtracked huge portions of my life, good and bad and it’s always been there. I went to Glasgow for my 39th birthday a couple of years ago to see them play it in full in Queens Park - by far and away one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to. The Scream can bit very hit and miss live, but when they hit they hit HARD. They paid tribute to Weatherall during Loaded, showing his face on the screen behind, of course it was Loaded - Andrew’s “remix” (in truth, he was told to “just fucking destroy it”) of I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have - that set them on the path to success.
As I dug deeper into Screamadelica I became aware of Weatherall’s artist projects, firstly Sabres of Paradise, Everyone knows Smokebelch II, the Elbee Bad sampling chillout classic that’s one of the most perfect pieces of music ever recorded, and of course Wilmot is a dub-funk classic too, but Sabres were arguably one of the first electronic acts to nail the album format.
Sabres disbanded after three albums (although Sabresonic II was technically a re-record of Sabresonic, which the group deleted as they weren’t happy with it) and Weatherall teamed up next with Keith Tenniswood aka Radioactive Man to form Two Lone Swordsmen. It was under this alias that I feel he put out his best work. Three self-released albums on his Emissions Audio Research label (The Fifth Mission, Swimming Not Skimming and Stockwell Steppas) led to them signing to Warp where Sabres of Paradise had had so much success.
Three albums on Warp followed (Stay Down, Tiny Reminders, From The Double Gone Chapel) along with a remix album (Further Reminders) and a handful of EPs (A Virus With Shoes, A Bag of Blue Sparks, Big Silver Shining Motor of Sin). This was peak TLS for me, and Weatherall was cemented as the DJ’s DJ during this time. More albums followed (Wrong Meeting I & II) as well as a Japanese only CD album of more downtempo stuff that resurfaced for Record Store Day last year.
In 2004 I moved to London and started being able to see him DJ more regularly, T-Bar in Shoreditch, Dukes in Hounsditch, Fabric, The Buffalo Bar in Highbury and countless other venues around the city. Seeing Weatherall in person was always exciting, you never quite knew what he was going to be playing. Flat-out techno? Machine-funk electro? Rockabilly exclusively from a box of 45’s? It was always a good vibe though, the music policy just ambiguous enough to keep the dickheads at bay. The best thing for me though, was here was one of the best DJ’s in the world - playing to small-ish crowds, in a venue that was free or a few quid to get in. If anything serves as welcome to London for a 20 year old kid from the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire borders it was this. Why wasn’t the whole city here? It felt like a secret that my mates had introduced me to.
My first New Years Eve in London was spent in his company in a grimy Cable Street Studios - an edgy little venue in East London. Weatherall was booked as the headliner at Fabric later that night but turned up at this Haywire party along with the likes of Radioactive Man, Squarepusher & Plaid. A motley crew of us including my flatmate Alan and some of his friends ventured into the wilds of East London, prepared to see in the new year in the company of good friends and great tunes. My memories are mostly lost in a haze of drink and drugs, but I recall someone (I’ve no idea who!) playing The Prodigy’s Everybody In The Place as midnight approached, and my friend Mark turning up with a chicken box of mint humbugs I was convinced were psychedelic. He says they weren’t, but I’m still not sure…
Whilst all this was going on Weatherall was ploughing his own lane, releasing techno & electro records under a variety of aliases even as Two Lone Swordsmen moved into more post-punk territory with From The Double Gone Chapel. Some of those 12”s are a bit iffy (Klart’s Shaver comes to mind immediately, although it’s still quite fun to drop), but some of them absolutely slam (Rude Solo’s Machine Funk Specialists, Basic Unit’s Explode, that whole Klunk EP). As a DJ he was falling back on his classic rock & roll records more and more, I spent many happy nights after my shift at HMV listening to him spin these in a variety of basement venues across the City.
Of course there’s many more Weatherall stories from the acid house and Boys Own days, but these aren’t mine to tell - I can only go by what I experienced, and even though I missed a whole chunk of parties I’m glad I got to go to those that I did. I’m not quite at the stage where I’m going to get Fail We May, Sail We Must tattooed on my arms, but I’d consider myself a committed AW fanboy, and regularly dip into the incredible Weatherdrive archive that was curated online after his death.
For me, Andrew was one of the greatest DJ’s & producers to ever do it, and he shaped a huge portion of my music taste. To do that without ego, without bullshit and with a great sense of humour is antithesis to whatever passes for a dance music scene nowadays. Even four years since his death his radio shows, DJ sets and compilation albums are a constant inspiration. We owe it to him to keep fighting the good music fight, to keep discovering, sharing, and playing good tunes and enlightening the masses.
Stay Hungry and Ill Prepared.
Here’s a playlist of Weatherall-related favourites I’ve put together. There’s loads missing, but this gives a good idea of what I loved about him.
Loaded
On to this weeks new tunes then, plenty to get your ears round this week!
Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke - Back In The Game [Warp]
One of the best UK producers teams up with the vocalist from one of the most influential UK bands ever. What more could you want? Tbh I was hoping for a little bit more tbh, I’m not fully sold on this as it is. Is this a preview of a new album? I’ll give them benefit of the doubt.
Civilistjavel - Följd [FELT]
You’re a spy behind the Iron Curtain in 70’s Moscow, you’re listening to this intently to get your next batch of intel. You know the score with Civilistjavel by now, and you’ll know how highly I rate his music. Hauntingly good ghost-in-the-machine style ambience here.
Sa Pa - The Fool [Short Span]
A new label here from Blowing Up The Workshop and Mana man Matthew Kent. Only one track’s available on Bandcamp right now but trust me, the rest is just as good. Long, evolving dubby techno here, sounding like everything and nothing you’ve heard before. Highly recommend you check out the rest of their catalogue too.
Michael J Blood - Spaces In Between [Blood]
More mysterious, murky, deep and dancey tunes from Manchester’s Michael J Blood. Is Manchester the new Detroit? On hearing this you’d probably agree.
Marshall Allen - New Dawn [Week-End Records]
I don’t normally get too jazzy in here, but couldn’t let this one pass without mention, the debut album from Arkestra band leader Marshall Allen at the sprightly age of 100.
Mike Parker - Envenomations [Samurai]
Shout to JM for the tip on this one. A healthy dose of hi-tek electro, the kind of stuff you could imagine hearing at Haywire back in the day.
Gombeen & Doygen - Prada/Sequel [Wah Wah Wino]
Great to have the Wino crew back again - new music from these guys is few and far between but always worth snapping up when it drops. Seems to be sold out everywhere already, not even on Bandcamp. Snooze you lose I guess…