Touched By The Hand of God X

I haven't posted anything by or remixed by Weatherall for a while and have been wanting to post this track but held off as Ctel over at Acid Ted had a week of his favourite Weatherall mixes a couple of weeks back and I thought that O Je Suis Seul may have featured.

I wish that I could say that I bought the single when it was first released in 1990 but it was a couple of years later that it came into my possession when I saw a copy of it Fopp on Byres Road. The only reason I noticed it to be honest was the words remixed by Andrew Weatherall on the cover, I had never heard it before but it was a no brainer as this was the time that Weatherall could do no wrong and hadn't with this it is a lovely throbbing track with the added bonus of a Natasha Kinski sample which he would use again on one of the tracks on Screamadelica.

I don't know much about The West India Company apart from Asha Bhosle, Neil Arthur and Vince Clarke were members.

The West India Company - O Je Suis Seul (Bagwan Boogie mix)

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

When I read in either Mixmag or Update early in 1992 that my favourite DJ and remixer was remixing my favourite track of the previous year I couldn't wait to hear the results. Bit when I eventually got my hands on Weatherall's mix of Fallen by (One) Dove, I wasn't so much disappointed as perplexed as apart from the sax solo which I've been told was lifted from Supertramp there wasn't a great deal of difference from the original Soma release. I'm not sure what I really thought Weatherall could do to improve what in my opinion is a perfect track anyway.

Later when it was disclosed that Weatherall was to become the producer for the band I was more than a little excited at the prospect of the people that had produced Fallen and, well the most consistent remixer in the world at the time collaborating.

This time the pairing did not disappoint, the next single Transient Truth was an absolute belter which was bought on the day of release and flogged to death. There was a rumour that there was a promo of another load of Weatherall mixes out there but I never ever saw a copy let alone got the chance to get my mitts on one.

A few years ago now when I found Discogs, one of the first things I looked up was One Dove and while clicking through the discography found that the fabled Sabres Of Paradise mixes of Transient Truth did exist and that there were a couple of copies for sale the cheapest being £40 which was too steep for me as up to this point I didn't even know if they were any good, I had my suspicions that they would be worth shelling out the money for but still couldn't justify it.

About two years ago at the excellent blog Audio Out, STX posted all 4 of the mixes for download, which I eagerly did and must have played continually for about 2 weeks and was as happy as a pig in shite that I had eventually got these mixes. However it still nagged me that this was the only release by One Dove that I did not have on vinyl and one drunken Friday night not long afterwards the inevitable happened and I bought the copy on Discogs.

One Dove and Weatherall went on to produce one of the best albums of the early 90s and a further three brilliant singles were released with some great mixes by the likes of William Orbit and Underworld before the band sadly went their separate ways. There are rumours that a second album was recorded but as yet this has to be verified.

Here is one of the mixes of Transient Truth that I haven't posted before.

One Dove - Transient Truth (Sabres Of Paradise Death Of A Disco Dancer)

Touched By The Hand Of God IX

I was going to keep this for tomorrow but it doesn't really feel like a Friday tune to me.

Weatherall seems to be going through a rather productive period at the moment.

Here is a very recent remix of a Trentemoller track which can be found on side 2 of the 12". The other 3 mixes are just as good as the Weatherall and well worth the price of the vinyl.

As this is a current release, this track will be here for a very short period. so as Janis would say "get it while you can".

Trentemoller - silver surfer, ghost rider go!!! (andrew weatherall prinz mix)

Paul Haig Day and His Lordship's Birthday

Today at a lot of the blogs listed down the right hand side, you will find tracks by Paul Haig/Josef K, this is because for the second year running these bloggers have decided to recognise Paul Haig, who gave support to JC of the excellent Vinyl Villain blogspot when he was getting all of the bother from Blogger and those DMCA gits.

Not being a huge fan of Mr Haig's output I decided not to get involved. However I do think that it is my duty to make people aware of what's going on and that not all artists are complete tossers a la Fergal Sharkey.

I am not sure that when it comes down to it any artist has clout with the c--ts who are arbitrarily taking down posts.  When I got a similar take down notice,  I got a very appreciated email from the manager of the band (Doves) who was none the wiser than me as to why it had been taken down as he was unaware of anybody from the record company or indeed the band who had complained about my insignificant little post.

I had not intended to comment on the problems with Blogger and the faceless bean counters, however last night I found that a further 2 sites which I visited, albeit infrequently, Moody Places and Madchester Rave On have been shut down.

I think that it is only a matter of time before all of the music blogs which post any copyrighted material for which they don't own, no matter how old or unobtainable the tracks are will be closed down on Blogger. I have already taken steps. Just after North Country Bhoy made the move to Wordpress, I registered Across The Kitchen Table there, so if one day this blog disappears just go to wordpress or add this link to your favourites and you can keep up with my pish there.

Anyway, today is also special for another reason. You all thought that the saviour's birthday was the 25th December, however you and the rest of the world have been mistaken. The saviour was actually born on the 6th April  1963 and to mark this momentous occasion, Ctel, Swiss Adam and myself are posting something by the great man.

But here in lies the problem. Over the past couple of years, Ctel, STX, Moggieboy and to a lesser extent Swiss Adam and myself have posted most of the remixes and a lot of Sabres of Paradise, Two Lone Swordsmen and solo stuff. So what to post?

I decided that I would go for an album track from one of the Sabresonic albums. So I sat down and listened to them both yesterday and at the end of it still couldn't decide. But what I did realise is that both of these albums are truely wonderful and should be listened to more frequently by me than they are.

I could have posted one of the versions of Smokebelch II, sometimes I think that the original version gets overlooked due to the brilliance of David Holmes reworking. Or the wonderfully scary Clock Factory. But in the end I decided on a belter of a track from Sabresonic II.

If you don't own either of these albums you need to get over to Discogs and get yourself sorted right away. For the recent output of both the 2 Lone Swordsmen and Weatherall's solo stuff visit The Rotter's Golf club here.

I still have dreams about  a Weatherall/Fall collaboration.

Sabres Of Paradise - Inter-Lergen-Ten-Ko II

I'm Stunned and Saddened

I often wondered where Ctel would go once he finished his trawl through the ABC of dance music but I never for one moment thought that he would rap it. So I'm stunned today. I suppose it is better to go out on a high. I don't however, think for a minute that the acid ted has exhausted his spare room full of great and sometimes not so good dance tunes (see last Friday's post). I suspect that there is something else that is preoccupying his time.

Acid Ted was one of the first places that I visited when I first got interested in music blogs and very quickly found myself visiting on a daily basis, due to the quality of not just the tracks but also the commentary as well and then there were the obscure Weatherall mixes. Along with The Vinyl Villain and the Ghost of Electricity, Acid Ted became one of my regular distractions from work and also an inspiration for me to give blogging a go myself. So he has the dubious pleasure of being partly responsible for the pish posted here.

I'm not sure that there are many people who visit here that have not also scoured the posts on AcidTed, but if you haven't, you should and if you find some tracks that you like you could do worse than make a small donation to the charity mentioned on the right hand side, a cause  which is close to CTEL's heart and has also become something that many of us who have visited the site have become aware of and supported.

I was going to post a Weatherall mix in honour, however between CTEL, STX from another great, sadly missed blog Audio.Out, Moggieboy, Swiss Adam and myself, I don't think that there are many that have not been posted somewhere. If this has, I apologise but I've only posted the one mix from it before.

All the best CTEL and thanks for all the tunes. To paraphrase Liam Maher, CTel, whatever you do just make sure what you do makes you happy

One Dove - Transient Truth (Paradise mix)

Copyright Infringement, Again!

If you're looking for the Weatherall mix of Compulsion, don't bother it appears that Heavenly, or Doves or somebody objects to me posting it.

Now I can understand if I'm posting something which is readily available that  may stop people going out and buying the physical product but a single sided promo which by it's very definition, I shouldn't have been paying a tenner for, is another matter. I just don't understand the reasoning here.

Perhaps some one would care to enlighten me. Answers to the usual places.

Any way here is another Weatherall mix for your delectation.

Airstream - Follow Through (Nine O'Clock Drop mix)

The Great Fall Album Listening Party.

This weekend, I will be mostly listening to the Fall.

The Fall Forum decided that this weekend would be the inaugural International Fall Album Listening Party. The idea is simple, listen to all 27 studio albums in order of release over the space of a weekend. 6 tonight, 10 tomorrow and 11 on Sunday. At the point of posting I'm half way through Dragnet, the second lp and not terribly good. I have been surprised at how good Live At The Witch Trials sounded, an album which I'm not overly keen on either. Tonight for me will be the most difficult listen as these albums with the exception of Grotesque After The Gramme and Hex Enduction Hour are the ones I listen to least.

By the end of the weekend I will probably be a blithering wreck, or L will have divorced me due to mental cruelty.

I will not inflict more Fall on you but be prepared for a gem or two that I have forgtten about but will hear over the coming couple of days, next week. You have been warned.

Instead here is the latest installment in the Touched By The Hand Of God series. Here is Weatherall's remix of the D---s Compulsion which I got from Discogs this week.

Track deleted due to DMCA take down order, although the manager of the band was unaware of the complaint.

Touched By The Hand Of God VIII

Haven't had anything by Mr Weatherall for a while, although he has been popping up all over the shop recently.

Here is a track that I first learnt of from Nolan over at Castles In Space just before Christmas. It is part of a Manic Street Preachers remix project, Cooking, Cleaning and Flower Arranging and on the strength of the Weatherall mix, I had to order a copy of the very limited (300) run of vinyl. Due to the Christmas holidays and the fact that Rough Trade don't send confirmation emails, I had to sweat for nearly 2 weeks before knowing that I had a copy when the postie delivered it.

There are some great tracks on the album by the likes of The Fuck Buttons, The Horrors and Underworld. Can't tell you how different they are from the originals as I got bored of the Manics years ago and haven't heard the recent album but not many of the tracks on the double vinyl sound that much like the earnest Welsh rockers.

On the evidence of Weatherall's recent mixes, 6 mix appearances and last couple of albums he is on top form again and long may it continue. Not sure about that 'tache tho'!

Andrew Weatherall - Peeled Apples

Wilmot Revisited.

There was a comment over at Ctel's excellent Acid Test blog on one of his postings on the genius known as Andy Weatherall's Sabres of Paradise requesting Wilmot's Last Skank, a track I hadn't played for quite some time. It is the b-side of the Wilmot remix 10" single.

To be honest with you it is not that different from the version I posted here a couple of months ago, a bit  sparcer than the original and nearly a couple of minutes shorter, still very very good.

Sabres Of Paradise - Wilmot's Last Skank

Half Term

It's half term or the October Week up here and I will be away up north to the most westerly point on the British mainland, Ardnamurchan for a few days with the family tomorrow. Returning mid week only to go off to Berlin with work which will encroach on my weekend.

So nothing to see here until next Sunday.

I'll leave you with a one of my favourite Weatherall mixes and a brilliant mix by the Mad Professor, I'm in a bit of a dubby mood, tonight.

The Orb - Perpetual Dawn (Ultrabass II mix)

Massive Attack vs The Mad Professor - Radiation Ruling The Nation

Touched By The Hand Of God VII

It has been over a month since Mr Weatherall featured on this blog. So let's start off the week with one of his best remixes from 1992, a year in which he did brilliant remixes for the likes of Future Sound Of London with the spacey Papua New Guinea, Galliano's Skunk Funk and West In Motion for Bumble amongst others.

We are concerned with Weatherall's Weekender where he takes an already funky hymn to hedonism, Weekender, by a bunch of chancers from Camden Town and stretches it out with 2 mixes clocking in at 15:30 and 17:10 respectively.

I have friends who are not that partial to these remixes but I have yet to hear a compelling argument against them.

Flowered Up - Weekender (Audrey is A Little Bit More Partial)

I've Got The Bends From Pressure

I was digging through a pile of 12" singles last night to rip to I-Tunes and came across a my James singles and decided to stick a couple on. I had forgotten how much I liked James.

A friend introduced me to them via the Stutter album in about 1987 and I must have played Johnny Yen over and over again. I followed the band from then on buying the following 2 albums but it wasn't until Sit Down that I started buying the singles. I suppose the highlight for me was the Weatherall mix of Come Home, where Weatherall made an already great song into a strung out 8 and a half minute masterpiece.

The band were always on the ball with their re-mixers all of whom seemed to add a little something to already good tracks making them that little bit different from the remix by numbers going on in the baggy scene (for want of a better term) at the time.

The remix posted, is another mix of Come Home, remixed by Youth, bass player with Killing Joke, Butterfly records owner and much sought after producer and re-mixer during the early 90s. Check out his collaboration as the Fireman with Paul McCartney, Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (Fuck me, just checked on Discogs and it's up there for 160 quid, may need to sell my copy as it isn't that good). The Youth Pressure Dub mix was on the b-side of the Sound 12" which I remember buying from Tower records in Glasgow one drunken night when it used to be open til midnight, dangerous stuff.

James also had some classic T-shirts, everybody used to bang on about Inspiral Carpets shirts but the James ones were far superior. I must have had about half a dozen different ones, none of which would remotely fit me these days if I had kept them.

James - Come Home (Youth Pressure dub)

Breakdown

Just the thing for a Sunday. Another slice of One Dove, this time the forth track released as a single from the Morning Dove White album. If you don't own this album, why not?. It can be picked up from Amazon Marketplace for the paltry sum of £2.99. You owe it to yourself to have a copy of this album.

I've posted both the album and Weatherall's Squire Black Dove Rides Out mixes.

One Dove - Breakdown

One Dove - Breakdown (Squire Black Dove Rides Out)

Touched By The Hand Of God VI

It has been well over a week since his lordship made an appearance here. Although you will have a hard time finding the post as Blogger have done to me as they have done many times before to others and just pulled the post regarding the XX Teens. No more from them or Mute, here, I fear.

Anyway today's cut from remixer extraordinaire is also the first single of the duo then known as the Dust Brothers laterly the Chemical Brothers. It is from the period when Weatherall could do no wrong, every mix better than the one before. This one still sounds as good to these ears as it did 16 years ago.

The Dust Brothers - Song To The Siren (Full Sabre mix)

BTW - C give M my best.

Touched By The Hand Of God (V)

It has been a while since I featured the talents of Mr Weatherall.

How about some voodoo skank from Lord Sabre along with Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns in the form of the Sabres of Paradise. Wilmot was originally on the excellent Haunted Dancehall album. The version posted is the 12" single version.

Sabres of Paradise - Wilmot

Touched By The Hand Of God IV

As Ctel pointed out over at Acid Ted, it is Andrew Weatherall's birthday. All of the best people were born in April.

Here is an early remix of his from 1990.

Here's to you Mr Weatherall, cheers.

Sly and Lovechild - The World According to Sly & Lovechild (Soul of Europe mix)

The Merits Of Technology?

I was going to post something nice and mellow today as I intended to be nursing a hangover this morning. I was out with a couple of mates last night and we ended up in the pub where we spent more time than was healthy for us in our youth. It has had a revamp recently and looks a bit too trendy for the likes of us.

My mate pointed out that it had one of those Internet jukeboxes, where you can access any track that you can find on the net. I am not totally comfortable with this concept. Being able to listen to whatever you want whenever takes the fun out of hearing the unexpected. I know that I am being quite contrary here as I love that I carry around 15 000 tracks on my ipod which I can play whenever.

I am coming to the conclusion that music is being slightly devalued by it's ubiquity. This has been reinforced recently by the use of one of my favourite northern soul tunes "Come On Train" by Don Thomas by a credit card company not only that but some idiot has fucked about with it trying to update it. Why? I don't grudge Don Thomas getting a royalty cheque I'm probably just being a wee bit precious about it.

I'm not going to post Come on Train as Simon at The Songs That People Sing did just that last week and was asked to take it down as it was being re released. Instead here is another track originally touched by the hand of God which has lost it's shine from hearing it down the phone every time I have to contact my ISP. The version posted is the alternate Terry Farley mix.

BTW You know that you are getting old when you decide to leave the pub when the young team arrive as you realize that you are no longer going to be able to hear each other talk. Hence the failure in achieving the goal of a hangover this morning.

Primal Scream - Come Together (Terry Farley mix)

Also tenuously linked to the above mitherings

Red Guitars - Good Technology

ps - Congratulations to The Supper and S on the birth of their daughter this morning

Touched By The Hand Of God III

Andy Weatherall was at his peak, in my opinion in the early 90's, producing the best parts of Screamadelica, Sabres of Paradise label/band and some truly inspired remixes, in fact too many to list here.

When I heard back in 1991 that he was going to produce Dove I nearly creamed myself with excitement. They had been responsible for my favourite track of that year, Fallen, which was no mean feat in a year that spawned so many classic dance tunes.

However the first release from the pairing left me a little deflated. They re-released Fallen after changing their name to One Dove due to legal hassles with another band of the same name. I was somewhat bemused by the release as I didn't think that the reworking added anything to the original. Looking back on it now, it would have been irresponsible for Weatherall to have radically altered what was damn near a perfect record.

The next release Transient Truth is a wonderfully dubby chilled out tune in it's original format and turned into what at the time was referred to as Progressive House in it's Old Toys mix and Old Toys dub.

The mix we are concerned with comes from the almost legendary Sabres Of Paradise Mixes promo, which until I found Discogs thought was a figment of my imagination. I have to thank the wonderful STX from audio.out who posted all 4 of the mixes last year and made me happier than a pig in shite but he also refocused my mind on the quest to get my hands on a reasonably priced copy, there is one on Discogs for sale but at 49 euros out of my price range.

If anybody has a copy and is willing to let it go for a reasonable price, please get in contact.

One Dove - Transient Truth (Sabres of Paradise Death Of A Disco Dancer)

Now, Weatherall remixing The Fall, that is the sort of things dreams are made of.

Touched By The Hand Of God II

I was standing in the queue in Morrisons last night thinking to myself what the hell is worse than standing in the supermarket on a bloody miserable Monday night. When I did think about it, standing in a queue in a supermarket is quite low down on the shitty things that are happening right now. Don't worry this isn't going to turn into one of those hey let's all hug and be thankful for what we've got posts, not really my scene. It got me thinking about the track posted below and how it just should not work but does beautifully.

The story goes that one day a woman walked into One Little Indian's office and demands a deal to release her new single. The label owner, as you would, asks to hear it. The woman however does not have a demo tape but proceeds to read out her "Imperfect list" in a monotone Liverpudlian accent. Derek Birket is so moved by the words that he offers her a modest advance to make the record a reality.

She returns some time later with the finished product and along the way has managed to get Pete Wylie and Robin Guthrie involved and an agreement from one Andy Weatherall to remix the track.

On the cd, subtly subtitled Rimming Elvis The Andy Weatherall Way, their are 4 mixes of the list, the one I'm posting is #3. This has got to be one of the strangest records that I own but I have never grown sick of it and the impact of the list has not been diluted by the number of plays, however the relevance of some of the list will be lost on people who didn't grow up in the 80s and early nineties.

If I were to commit my list to cd I fear it may have to be a double disc job.

Big Hard Excellent Fish - Imperfect List (3)

Link should now be sorted, sorry about that.

Touched by the Hand of God

Last week JC over at the Vinyl Villain posted Andrew Weatherall's remix of Come Home by James. Weatherall is without doubt my favourite remixer and dj and a favourite on some of the other blogs I frequent. From about 1990 to 1995/96 if he was credited on the sleeve then I would buy the tune no matter who it was by, even Texas. Since then I have found myself not as enthused by his output as I once was, although it did not stop me buying. Over the past couple of years he has hit top form again, the Wrong Meetings 1&2 albums were not what was expected but were excellent. His recent remixes including Uptown by Primal Scream and Sweet Love For Planet Earth by the Fuck Buttons have been inspired and have restored my faith in the man I once held up as a minor Deity.

The first track is a mix which is present on the b side of the Stereo MC's Ground Level 12", one thing about Weatherall's mixes is that they are usually 6 minutes +.

The other track is not a remix but from the aforementioned Wrong Meeting which came in a lovely 12" box set complete with art print and t shirt. It finds Weatherall in a less dance orientated mood and this track sounds like something that wouldn't have been out of place on a Joe Strummer album.

Stereo MCs - Everything (Everything Grooves pt1)

Two Lone Swordsmen - Get Out Of My Kingdom