RiL077 - My Bloody Valentine - Soon (Andrew Weatherall remix)

There are a few records that I’ve called by the wrong title for years, Pepe Bradock's - ‘Burning' instead of ‘Deep Burnt’ was one, but my biggest mistake was calling Weatherall’s life changing remix of MBV - ‘Glider’ instead of ‘Soon’.  Reading record labels can be confusing and the record is the ‘Glider EP’ but that’s just no excuse. This is a record whose every detail should have been pored over. Years later and I’m finally correcting my mistake and atoning for my sins, it is indeed ‘Soon’ and the band’s own ‘Glider’ is the flip side. 

My Bloody Valentine themselves deserve to go down in music history folklore as one of the most unique, genre defining bands to ever exist, anywhere on the planet. MBV defined ‘shoe-gazing’ while creating the most awe inspiring full frequency metal racket at live shows. All you needed was a trench coat, pint of snakebite black and a good gaze down at your brothel creepers. Throw in a landmark remix by the Weatherall, at the very peak of his first purple patch, and you have ‘Soon’ in your hands. The early 90s were not just about house music. It was also a time of slowed down balaeric beats and indie crossover. A place where Manchester ‘baggie’ met London’s Boys Own and produced a whole spate of great records including Oakenfold’s remix of Happy Mondays - ‘Halleluja'. 

Weatherall’s remix shows the blatant disregard for samples, that existed before people started getting sued, using a very recognisable section from Westbam - Alarm Clock. It was also a big record at back to basics in 1991 and it was really fun to mix between the two records. I have to give credit to Alistair Cooke, who was the co-founder of back to basics, for really making this record a huge at the club. I actually inherited his copy after his death and it is still marked ‘bongo’ which he scratched onto all the labels of his records on the side he wanted to play. I also used to do this but with a black marker spiral.  It was a good way of being able to see which cut you needed quickly in a dark, sweaty club. Previously, there was more than once when I played the wrong side and it could end up to be a big mistake at peak time. 

I think it’s also a nice touch that some of the guitars in ’Soon' are samples from the Gang of Four, who also deserve their place in music history,  as one oft most influential  bands to ever come out of Leeds.