Sabres Of Paradise


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Sabresonic , 7/10
Haunted Dancehall , 6.5/10
Two Lone Swordsmen: The Fifth Mission , 6.5/10
Two Lone Swordsmen: Stay Down , 5/10
Two Lone Swordsmen: Tiny Reminders , 6/10
Two Lone Swordsmen: Further Reminders , 4/10
Two Lone Swordsmen: Peppered with Spastic Magic (2003), 4/10
Two Lone Swordsmen: From the Double Gone Chapel (2004), 6.5/10
Two Lone Swordsmen: Wrong Meeting I and II (2007), 5/10
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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)

English dj Andy Weatherall became famous in 1990 when he took a Primal Scream song and turned it into Loaded, one of the big dance hits of the era. He remained a protagonist of the rave scene as it exploded all over the world through a variety of projects and collaborations: Bloodsugar and Planet 4 Folk Quartet with David Harrow, Bocca Juniors with Terry Farley, Pete Heller and Hugo Nicholson, Lino Squares and Two Lone Swordsmen with Keith Tenniswood, Lords Of Afford with David Hedger, etc. The most relevant project was the Sabres Of Paradise, for which in 1990 he teamed up with Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns. Kooner and Burns were members of the collettive Aloof that recorded Cover The Crime (Warp, 1994).

Sabresonic (Warp, 1993) offers a mixture of Brian Eno, Suicide and techno. The 15-minute suite Clock Factory and the two movements (andante and allegro) of Anno Electro are ambitious compositions that transcend the genre. Even more ambitious was the single Smokebelch.

Haunted Dancehall (Warp, 1994) is a sort of concept set in the nightmarish alleys of London's underworld. Its sound incorporates trip-hop (Planet D, Tow Truck) but also resurrects vintage techno with the single Wilmot while reaching an artistic peak with the elegantly eccentric Bubble And Slide.

Septic Cuts (Warp, 1994) is an anthology of Weatherall's remixes. Versus (Warp, 1995) instead collects remixes made by others of Sabres material.

Sabresonic II (1995) is an album of remixes, notably David Holmes's 15-minute remix of Smokebelch II.

Two Lone Swordsmen is the new project of Sabres Of Paradise's Andrew Weatherall (helped out by Keith Tenniswood). The program is to compose evocative soundscapes out of dub, techno and noise. The monumental debut album, The Fifth Mission (Emissions Audio Output, 1995), basically pick up Weatherhall's research where late Sabres (Haunted Dancehall) left it.

The project is still unfocused on Stay Down (Warp, 1998), although some of its electronic/symphonic fragments best exemplifiy the claustrophobic (Hope We Never Surface) and the ghostly (No Red Stopping) music that Weatherhall is envisioning. Shrouds of ambient noise (Mr Paris's Monster) and clockworks of jazz-hop (Spine Bubbles) are meant as attractions but sometimes work as distractions. The album and the music do not have a core, a center of mass, a unifying theme, or, ultimately, a meaning.

Two Lone Swordsmen's EP A Virus With Shoes (Warp, 2000) and the album Tiny Reminders (Warp, 2000) recover some of techno's thumping energy. The album is their most impeccable production yet, full of background events and still smooth like a pop song.

Further Reminders (Warp, 2001) is a terrible album of remixes.

Andrew Weatherhall's selection of other producers' tracks for Hypercity (Forcetracks, 2001) is even more dreadful.

Keith Tenniswood is also active as Radioactive Man, that released two collections of highly entertaining and creative dance-music: Radioactive Man (Rotters Golf Club, 2002) and Booby Trap> (Rotters Golf Club, 2003).

Peppered with Spastic Magic (Rotters Golf Club, 2003) is a collection of Two Lone Swordsmen's remixes.

While only partially thought out (just like its predecessors), From the Double Gone Chapel (Warp, 2004) turned out to be Two Lone Swordsmen's best album in four years. The pretext is the addition of vocals, guitar and (live) drums, which, per se, would not be a dramatic departure; but the (rock) way they are used "is" a dramatic departure, or at least a rediscovery of atmospheres long forgotten, particularly the claustrophobic/suicidal sound of Public Image Ltd. Faux, Damp and Taste Of Our Flames sweat sorrow and angst. This new mood is contrasted with the naive, optimistic flimsiness of Formica Fuego and the hysterical/neurotic tics of Stack-Up and The Lurch.

Big Silver Shining Motor of Sin E.P. (Warp, 2004) is an EP that contains (terrible) remixes.

Emissions Audio Output (2006) is a career retrospective of the Two Lone Swordsmen that focused on the early albums.

Fulfilling the trend towards rock music and vocal songs of From the Double Gone Chapel (2004), Two Lone Swordsmen's Wrong Meeting I and II (Rotter's Golf Club, 2007) veered decisively towards rock music, barely nodding to the new wave of the 1970s but mostly delivering an eclectic set of personal songs.

Andrew Weatherall released his first solo album, A Pox on the Pioneers (2009).

Andrew Weatherall still released the solo albums Convenanza (2016) and Qualia (2017) before dying in 2020.

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