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Sabres of Paradise: 8 Tracks for Disciples

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Credit_ Steve Double_Camera Press – The Sabres Of Paradise – IMG_03 copy
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Thirty years on from their seminal albums Sabresonic and Haunted Dancehall, Sabres Of Paradise remain one of the most influential acts to emerge from the very un-United of Kingdom’s mid-90s ‘dance revolution’.

Birthed from the creative partnership between remixer extraordinaire Andrew Weatherall, who you might of heard of, studio wizard Gary Burns, and programming mastermind Jagz Kooner, the trio crafted music “from the flood that was undammed by the three summers after 1986, when new developments in black American dance music and digital technology fused with a hedonistic, Europe-wide drug culture.”

Credit_ Steve Double_Camera Press – The Sabres Of Paradise – IMG_04 copy

 

Following Weatherall’s generation-defining production work on Primal Scream‘s Screamadelica, the Sabres carved their own path through the underground. Their sound was forged in cupboard-under-stairs studio intensity – 12 to 16 hours a day, five days a week – where Burns would play “absolutely every instrument under the sun” while Kooner programmed beats and conjured dub-influenced effects inspired by Adrian Sherwood and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.

 
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Now, with Warp Records reissuing both albums in remastered editions and the surviving members embarking on their first tour in over three decades, Kooner and Burns have assembled us an 8 Tracks, helpfully titled “This One Goes To Eleven”, revealing the DNA behind their sound.

The playlist spans from Killing Joke‘s “Requiem” (in Trash and Greg Hunter‘s mind-blowing remix) to Colorbox‘s transcendent “Looks Like We’re Shy One Horse/Shoot Out” – the very track that would herald the Sabres’ entrance at live shows. There’s Richie Hawtin‘s minimalist masterpiece “Spastik,” which they describe as “the greatest ever magic trick with nothing more than a couple of drum machines,” and Koenig Cylinders‘ “Carousel,” a track that “had a profound affect on the Sabres and was a massive inspiration on how we would create our own music.”

The selections reveal a group equally inspired by the “pure blissed out distortion” of ambient pioneers Global Communication and the raw power of Cypress Hill‘s “Black Sunday” album, which at one point had them “completely obsessed” in the studio.

As Kooner reflects on their return: “We just thought: it’s time to go back and revisit this. To let people know that it was a pivotal moment in time, not just for us, but for a lot of other people as well. These are albums that really stand the test of time. Andrew, of course, wouldn’t be with us onstage. But we like to think he’d be standing in the wings, giving us the nod.”

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Topics
Andrew Weatherall Haunted Dancehall Sabres of Paradise Sabresonic
LISTEN
KILLING JOKE - REQUIEM ( A FLOATING LEAF ALWAYS REACHES THE SEA mix)

A winning combination of the legendary Killing Joke and Trash ( from the Orb ) and Greg Hunter making a remix that totally blew our minds when we heard it in the studio. Still sounds as special as when we first heard it.

  • KILLING JOKE - REQUIEM ( A FLOATING LEAF ALWAYS REACHES THE SEA mix)

    A winning combination of the legendary Killing Joke and Trash ( from the Orb ) and Greg Hunter making a remix that totally blew our minds when we heard it in the studio. Still sounds as special as when we first heard it.

  • PLASTIKMAN-  SPASTIK

    Richie Hawtin performing the greatest ever  magic trick with nothing more than a couple of drum machines . Pure Genius .

     

     

  • KOENIG CYLINDERS -CAROUSEL

    This track had a profound affect on the sabres and was a massive inspiration on how we would create our own music .  Pure blissed out Distortion and filtering that we would always Listen to and reference . Not to mention it also was a big favourite at Sabresonic ( The Club)

  • CAPRICORN - 20HZ

    Still sends shivers down the spine when the Military Snares start building up .

  • REDPLANET 2 - STAR DANCER

    Another favourite from the Sabresonic Club . An absolute masterpiece of pure techno

  • DUB SYNDICATE  - WHAT HAPPENED 

    We can’t compile a playlist without featurIng a track by the sonic genius that is Adrian Sherwood.  There are so many to choose from his lengthy and illustrious career . However this is something that I always come back to as I consider it a sonic masterpiece .  Everything on the Dub Syndicate Album “ Echomania” is just as good . RIP to Style Scott another one taken far too soon.

  • MYSTIC INSTITUTE | OB-SELON MI-NOS (RE-PAINTED BY GLOBAL COMMUNICATION)

    One of the greatest pieces of chill out music ever created .  Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton (aka Global Communication ) worked some magic on this as it still sounds amazing as it ever did .

  • LE SOLEIL ET LE MUR - RELOAD ( AKA GLOBAL COMMUN ICATION )

    The  Reload Album “ A Collection of Short Stories “ is still one of my favourite albums.  And it’s another one by Global Communication which shows they were leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else.

  • I WANNA TO GET HIGH - CYPRESS HILL

    At one point when the album “Black Sunday”  first came out we were completely obsessed with it in the studio.  Still sounds as “out there” now

  • SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE - BEASTIE BOYS

    Another hugely inspiring track and a great source of reference when making music in Sabresonic  Studios.

  • LOOKS LIKE WERE SHY ONE  HORSE/ SHOOT OUT  - COLORBOX

    One of the most awe inspiring pieces of music ever created .It completely blew our minds when Andrew first played it in the studio . It was also the song that The Sabres Of Paradise would walk onto the stage for live shows so naturally it holds a special place in our hearts .