Exploding Plastic

While we're playing long dance records here's David Holmes' debut single Johnny Favourite from 1994. Recorded with Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns (two thirds of The Sabres Of Paradise) and released on Warp it's fair to say that this one goes on a bit. Just under sixteen minutes in fact. In that time Holmes manages pounding beats (that do sound very like Sabres), ambient breakdowns and all kinds of progressive house bits and bobs, before building to a pretty explosive ending.

Johnny Favourite [Exploding Plastic].mp3

Trish Keenan

I've just read on the web that Trish Keenan, vocalist and one half of Broadcast, died on Friday morning following complications with pneumonia arising from swine flu. She was 42. Broadcast have been making highly acclaimed records for Warp since 1997, fusing 60s pop art and modern electronics, 2003's The Ha Ha Sound being a personal favourite (the cd version coming in a lovely hardback book). 2009's Broadcast And The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age was chock full of interesting and arresting moments, retro and futuristic at the same time. This is Two Lone Swordsmen's remix of Come On Let's Go from 2000, one of the first records I bought using the then-newly-fangled-to-me internet mail order system at Warp. RIP Trish Keenan.

cmonletsgo tlsremix.mp3#2#2

Red Wilmot

The first time I heard Sabres Of Paradise 1994 single Wilmot it sounded so otherwordly, so strange but danceable, I thought it was close to the best thing I'd heard. Ever. If memory serves it was in the back room at Cream (so my memory could be a little hazy due to, y'know, stuff) and Weatherall hadn't shown up. We got the train over from Manchester whenever Lord Sabre was on (monthly at least) and the guy that did the lights and projections got us in for a quid. Bargain, and no queueing. Anyway Weatherall wasn't there but a promo of Wilmot was, and the whole room started... skanking, for want of a better word.

Then the single came out, and it was as good as I'd heard it that night. At some point late at night in the flat I shared at the time with a man who is now big in local government in London, watching a really crappy black and white tv, a video for Wilmot was shown featuring Weatherall leading a marching band and majourettes through the streets of London at dawn. It's probably on youtube. Go and have a look for it, it's great.

So remixing Wilmot didn't seem like a great idea to me, but Mr Scruff turned in a decent low-key one on the Haunted dancehall album, and then this remix by jazz techno bods Red Snapper turned up on the Warp 10+3 remix compilation. It's pretty good- keeps the horns but speeds them up, clattery drum machine, more techno-ey, less skanking.

Wilmot (Red Snapper remix).mp3

Spine Bubbles

In 1999 Warp celebrated their birthday slightly less expansively and expensively than they have this time around. There were some compilation cds and a load of remixes. This track is about as laidback as Two Lone Swordsmen ever got. Spine Bubbles was a track from their 1999 Stay Down album -the one with the lovely cover painting of Deep Sea Divers, and many of the tracks had a bassy, submerged, underwater feel. When Warp got a load of remixes together for the Warp 10+3 cd Spine Bubbles was remixed by Ellis Island Sound. Somewhat improbably Ellis Island Sound included Pete Astor, formerly of Creation records 80s indie kings/flops The Weather Prophets, and before that The Loft. Ellis Island Sound released a whole album of understated, ambient, instrumental subtleness. I've got it downstairs and apart from the fact I know I liked it whenever I last listened to it, I really can't remember any of the songs. But that's kind of the point of the ambient end of things- wallpaper music to wash over you without leaving much of a trace. Now I come to think of it the Warp remix cd also included a decent stab at remixing the Sabres Of Paradise wonderful Wilmot by Red Snapper. I better go and have a look hadn't I?

This remix, as I started out saying, is laidback and lovely. It hangs around for a bit, bubbling and chirruping, patter patter drums, and then fades away. Nice stuff for a Friday evening if you're not doing fireworks and have had one of those weeks.

Spine_Bubbles_Ellis_Island_Sound_Remix.mp3

Gardener's Question Time

Clark makes weird, distorted, abstract, funky (and difficult to describe) electronic music for Warp, and has done since 2001. This is Growl's Garden from last year. I've got to be in the right mood for his stuff but this and his 2006 album Body Riddle are stunning in places.

Growls_Garden.mp3

Flipping Heck

Bleepy, dubby, low-key, electronica from Nightmares On Wax (Warp Records, 2006's In A Space Outta Sound). Nightmares On Wax is Leeds DJ and producer George Evelyn, who as well as making top records has a good line in hats.

03 Flip Ya Lid.wma