Andrew Weatherall

Back in the late spring/early summer of 89 my best mate Chipie took me to my 1st acid house night at the Windmill in Soho
the name of the night has always eluded me but other memories will stay with me forever like my 1st Pink Cali lol
and 100% the sounds my ears experienced that night and how profoundly it changed my life musically and lifestyle alike.
That night 2 tunes were seared in to my cerebral cortex “The Real Life” Corporation of One & “Cocaine” The Maxx
the Dj that night was Andrew Weatherall and from that night onward i was hooked on the sound and the scene period.
Over the following years i followed Weatherall like my new best footie team
nights at Yikes at The Centre Slough / The Full Monty,Windsor / Flying London / Full Circle Heathrow /
Sabersonic nights in Shoreditch with Alex Knight and quite a few adventures in Manchester & Liverpool
We were all given sonic educations on these many nights pure masterclasses in bass hedonistic deck slapping.

Easter 94 at the old Town & Country,Kentish Town,London Weatherall on tour with The Orb
is a night I shall never forget cannot sadly remember much of The Orb but am sure they were good!!..
What i do remember as again am sure everybody that was there will 100% attest to was Weatherall’s 2hr + set
it was the “Mutz Nutz!! Da Dogs Danglees”
Weatherall started with dropping a brace of tunes from one branch of the sonic tree so to speak
then dropped down behind the decks to change hats quite literately to then reappear
to drop another couple of bangers from a complete different branch of the sonic tree
like deep thumping prog house to electro punk and then straight into psychedelic disco rock
you had no idea what was coming next but Andrew had the nouse & ability to take you sonically absolutely anywhere he wanted
and make you feel that it was the best journey of sound you had ever been on.

Through my merry pranksters minds eye on the night as i recall
spouting proper profusely to all my mates on the journey home and no doubt for many weeks after,
my theory to the hat changing track changing genre warping Weatherall was that his set/show
was loosely themed on a party promoter newly in the game who had booked the best djs
from across the whole sonic dancefloor hedging his all and reputation on his bookings
hoping at least some would keep the dancefloor heaving if some have cleared it
but ended up having the party of all parties by mixing it up completely which is what
that dancefloor was that night the party of all parties
set to the background of what back in the day was probably the best light and stage show
there was as was the Orbs forte then as now which set the bench mark in what is today Vjing

We all know the vast catalogue Weatherall has put out and all have heard his incredible talent through his remixes
and of course in the process putting a lot of people on the proverbial sonic map
which many now know through Weatherall’s work and everybody will have their favourite Weatherall tune/tunes
but my two favourite tracks amongst the many classics are his 1992 game changing remix of F.S.O.L. Papua New Guinea
that completely blew ears away 11 mins of tribal dance that brought in a new era of sound defying dub and bass to dance,
the following year 93 saw Weatherall adopt the moniker Lord Sabersonic of The Sabres of Paradise and release Smokebelch
which i still listen to every week 27 years on,this track always has and always will awake every one of my senses period.

Andrew Weatherall spent his entire working life mixing it up completely, never sticking with one sound or another
and ultimately created a sound or two on his epic sonic journey and an ethos that will in all probability
be listened to for many many years to come and hopefully inspire future sonic game changers.
Joe Meek the genius producer/mixer from the 60s who produced one of the weirdest sounds to come out of the 60s “Telstar”
had a keyboard/drum machine named after him i truly think some piece of kit in my opinion a turntable
like Pioneer should release a CDJ Weatherall 3000 in honour of Andrew Weatherall a djs dj..
Who knows..if someone started something on faceshite or twatter am sure there would be more than a ripple

R.I.P. Lord Sabresonic