Weatherall - A Mix From Outer Space
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Weatherall returns for his second exclusive session for my blog with a 5 hour mix recorded in two parts live at back to basics club in Leeds. I went to visit him personally in his bat cave in London to get the mix authorised so I hope you all appreciate the effort! Weatherall remains the most influential and long serving guest at back to basics club since it's inception. His early remixes for Primal Scream and My Bloody Valentine have already featured in my music factory mixes and you can find a previous mix from Lord Sabre celebrating 20 years of the club here.
Andrew plays on his own as well as in a tag team with Sean Johnson under the name A Love From Outer Space. The overlying philosophy of their sound is to play no record faster than 120 bpm. Most of the night is spent around the 115 bpm speed. This is a conscious effort to slow the beats down and enjoy more space in the music. The mix he recorded at basics starts at 98 bpm and builds slowly and surely over it's five hour duration. It is actually not a new concept. There was a movement in the early 90s to slow the beats down led by Boys Own and Paul Oakenfold. The original Balearic trippers from Slough railed against the rise in tempo as the sound they had brought across to London from Ibiza became increasingly harder and faster. There were some great records put out on Boy's Own Recordings that were huge at back to basics such as Bocca Juniors - 'Raise' and Less Stress - 'Don't Dream It's Over', alongside bands like One Dove and St Etienne who all purveyed a slowed down sound. Weatherall's remixes at the time including the classic Primal Scream - 'Loaded' were often slow. For me the recent move from Lord Sabre to go slow and leave the abrasive, industrial techno sets behind are a return to his first and true love - a love from outer space indeed.
Andrew Weatherall needs no introduction to most but this recent film is worth checking out for a look inside The Rotter's Golf Club and a decent insight into his current projects.
When I visited his lair he kindly gave me the complete back catalogue of his Bird Scarer imprint. These are vinyl only limited pressings including tracks from Weatherall alongside his resident production partner Timothy J Fairplay with Scott Fraser and Craig Bratley representing. Many of the productions feature on his mix as well as his 2012 Masterpiece triple mix CD for Ministry of Sound.
Time is a strange thing. When Weathers recorded his session at back to basics he mixed in the Waxwerks record store room. It was a great night and the club was at a very good level. No one had any idea it was to be one of the last ever nights there. The landlord abruptly terminated the building lease for The Garage and within a matter of days both back to basics and Waxwerks were without a home. The phoenix will rise from the ashes as it has survived many worse events in his tumultuous history but for now it is biding it's time in the fires of fate. I think it is yet another lesson to learn that music lives on, even when it's home is gone. I am so glad Tristan Da Cunha pushed me to record Andrew's session that night so we all can have something to remember the many great days and nights we spent in The Garage club and Waxwerks record store. Who better to tell the tale than Andrew Weatherall...
