About

1993 debut album by the trio of Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns. Unavailable on vinyl and CD since original release. Remastered from the original tapes by Matt Colton, contains “Smokebelch II (Beatless Mix)” for the first time on the 2LP edition.

Coming off the back of his work on the era-defining Screamadelica album by Primal Scream, not to mention groundbreaking remix work for the likes of New Order, My Bloody Valentine and the Happy Mondays, Weatherall was as revered by fans of indie guitar music as he was namechecked by hardcore ravers. The increasing demands on his services led to a studio partnership with Kooner and Burns, forming the production trio The Sabres Of Paradise (named after a 1960 book about a Muslim chieftain’s efforts to repel a Russian invasion).

The opening track on Sabresonic (named after the popular weekly club night Weatherall was then running) started life as a remix of the Primal Scream track “Don’t Fight It Feel It” but got so radically mutated that it turned into something entirely new. As well as reflecting on contemporary trends in dance music (“Inter-Legen-Ten-ko” is a swipe at the IDM genre name), the album also brought in older influences - “R.S.D” is an acronym for “Red Stripe Dub”, the deep influence of King Tubby et al evident at various points throughout the album, whilst the epic icy vistas of the 14 minute+ “Clock Factory” are informed by the electronic experiments of industrial groups such as Coil.

The album also flagged future trends in electronic music, with the timeless “Smokebelch II (Beatless Mix)”, a beautiful re-work of an old Chicago house tune by Lamont Booker, becoming a staple of chillout compilation albums for the rest of the decade.  — (via Label)
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Sabres of Paradise's debut album, Sabresonic, established the trio's club bona fides in spades, whether that club was an all-night rave, a sweaty bar with crummy speakers, or a chill-out room. Andrew Weatherall, the most well known of the group, had already established himself as a trailblazing remixer, and this record felt like his calling card to be a dues-paying member of the techno club. He, Jagz Kooner, and Gary Burns whipped up numerous tracks that rolled well past the five-minute mark, underpinned by thumping drums, thunderous sequencers, and sleek synths. 

The opening "Still Fighting," a reclaimed bit of club nirvana that was meant to be a remix of a Primal Scream track, sets the stage, and the rest of the album follows its template. "Smokebelch I" pairs post-industrial drum sounds with echoing cymbals and minimal synth burbles, "Inter-Lergen-Ten-Ko" shimmers and glides, and "Ano Electro (Allegro)" comes across like a Hi-NRG track filtered through the PA system at an ironworks. Paired against these are tracks that take different approach, dispensing with beats and ramping up the atmosphere. "Clock Factory" is 14 long minutes of horror film soundtrack, with backwards sounds and synths stabs building to a fever pitch; "Smokebelch II (Beatless Mix)" diverges into blissful ambient territory; and while "R.S.D." has a beat, it's not techno and more cop-show funk topped by gleaming synth sounds. 

It adds up to a strong record that often gives techno sounds of the day a slight twist, but unfortunately Sabresonic doesn't display all the glorious rule-breaking joy and gusto that Weatherall's best remixes have, and that's the main flaw here. A little more attitude or derring-do was what it needed to put it over the top. As it is, it's merely a really strong, very interesting electronic album instead of a classic, which is still pretty darn good. — (via AllMusic)

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Label: Warp Records
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo
Reissued: 2025 / Original: 1993
Genre: Electronic
Style: Leftfield, Techno, IDM

File under: Electronic // Leftfield
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