Five Hours Of Music From The Flightpath Estate At AW62

AW62 was a month ago, a weekend long celebration of the life and music of Andrew Weatherall at The Golden Lion in Todmorden. The line up this year was close to perfect- Richard Fearless, Fantastic Twins, David Holmes, Scott Fraser, Duncan Gray, Matt Hum, Adrian Sherwood, a literary event with Lee Brackstone and David Keenan, and DJ support sets from Rusty and Rotter on the Friday and Curley and Sherman on the Sunday. In between, on the Saturday afternoon from 2pm through 'til 8, The Flightpath Estate DJs played (that's me, Martin, Dan, Baz and Mark). The sets weren't recorded but as usual we've recreated our five hour long set, drawing on unreliable memories, notes made on phones and the CDs and USB sticks we had with us. 

Baz played first, on for an hour. Martin, Dan and me then played back- to- back, three tracks each, rotating with each other- I think we got four rotations in each- before handing over to Mark for his headline slot, an early evening hour. In the middle there was an auction and raffle- that was very much a 'you had to be there' event and has not been recreated in the set below. This picture captures me and Martin in the booth, both of us looking a bit like we've just put on the wrong track or put it on at the wrong speed. 

There are a couple of tracks we've left out of the recreated set (and yes, that's a bit of a tease- there may be news about our second compilation album coming soon and a couple of tracks we played in the pub are as yet unreleased but cold feature on Sounds From The Flightpath Estate Volume 2 later on this year). 

The five hours of music can be found at Mixcloud. It takes in everything from dub to Dexys and much more besides.... 

Barry

[0:00] Stranger - Figurine [Monika Enterprise, 2001]
[5:00] Secret Soul Society - Make It All True [Magic Wand Special Editions, 2025]
[10:00] The Cleaners From Venus - This Rainy Decade [Captured Tracks, 2012]
[13:00] Jane Weaver - The Lightning Back [Fire, 2017]
[16:00] The Fall - Cheetham Hill [Jet, 1996]
[20:00] The Raincoats - Fairytale In The Supermarket [Rough Trade, 1979]
[22:00] Boot & Tax - Occhi Blue [Optimo Trax, 2014]
[30:00] Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds - Nine Mile Blubber Pile [In The Red, 2016]
[33:00] Liquid Liquid - Lock Groove (In) [99, 1981]
[37:00] New Order - Your Silent Face [Factory, 1983]
[43:00] Andrew Weatherall - Privately Electrified [Rotters Golf Club, 2009]
[48:00] Vox Low - Rides Alone [Born Bad, 2018]
[52:00] The Clash - Train In Vain [CBS, 1980]

{Martin}
[55:00] Dorsey Burnette - Hard Working Man [ERA, 1960]
[57:00] The Pistoleers - Bank Robber [Raucous, 2002]
[59:00] Jerry Irby - The Night I Whipped The Devil [World Witness, 1974]
[1:02:00] Two Lone Swordsmen - Get Out Of My Kingdom [Rotters Golf Club, 2007]

{Dan}
[1:09:00] Jäverling meets Ganjaman_72 - Chasing Dub [Hoga Nord, 2019]
[1:13:00] SONLIFE - At Dawn [DSPPR, 2025]
[1:16:00] Deeply Armed - The Healing (Keith Tenniswood Remix) [Echo Pet, 2025]

{Adam}
[1:23:00] Escape-ism - Last Of The Sellouts [Radical Elite, 2025]
[1:27:00] The Dubwood Allstars - Under Dubwood [Rivertones, 2012]
[1:31:00] Red Snapper Featuring David Harrow - Hold My Hand Up [Lo, 2024]

{Martin}
[1:35:00] Elijah Minnelli - Lifeboat Mona [FatCat, 2024]
[1:38:00] Holy Tongue - The Bigger Tutti [Trule, 2025]
[1:43:00] The Quasi Dub Development - Let's Communicate [Pingipung, 2014]

{Dan}
[1:46:00] Richard Norris - Mirror Cave Dub [Oracle Sound, 2025]
[1:50:00] Steve Mason - Boys Outside (Andrew Weatherall Dub 1) [Double Six, 2010]
[1:55:00] REDACTED (abridged)

{Adam}
[1:56:00] Dub Syndicate - Right Back To Your Soul [On-U Sound, 2025]
[2:00:00] A Man Called Adam - Estelle [React, 1994]
[2:06:00] Andy Bell - Pinball Wanderer [Sonic Cathedral, 2025]

{Martin}
[2:11:00] Two Lone Swordsmen - A Slow Drive West [Emissions Audio Output, 1996]
[2:16:00] Two Lone Swordsmen - It's Not The Worst (Lali Puna Remix) [Warp, 2001]
[2:19:00] Two Lone Swordsmen - Kist [Warp, 1999]

{Dan}
[2:23:00] REDACTED (abridged)
[2:25:00] Coral D - Love Is What [Tears, 2017]
[2:29:00]  Death In Vegas - Ein Fur Die Damen [Drone, 2004]

{Adam}
[2:34:00] Suicide - Dream Baby Dream [Island, 1979]
[2:37:00] The Beta Band - Assessment [Regal, 2004]
[2:42:00] Totem Projects - Total Edits 19 - Medicine [Totem Projects, 2025]

{Martin}
[2:49:00] Joshua Idehen - Once In A Lifetime [Big Wednesday, 2024]
[2:53:00] Viper Patrol - Stickem [Nein, 2025]
[2:58:00] Troels Yuri - Rhythm is a Constant Beat (Dub on 33) [Witness Protection Program, 2022]

{Dan}
[3:03:00] Escapismo - Nada Importa [Escapismo Ediciones Limitadas, 2024]
[3:07:00] The Liminanas - Space Baby [Because, 2025]
[3:10:00] V - Avventura [Multi Culti, 2024]

{Adam}
[3:14:00] Mogwai - The Sun Smells Too Loud [Wall Of Sound, 2008]
[3:21:00] Talk Talk - Life's What You Make It [EMI, 1986]
[3:25:00] Dexys Midnight Runners - One Of Those Things [Mercury, 1985]

{Martin}
[3:31:00] Durutti Column - Future Perfect [Les Disques Du Crépuscule, 1996]
[3:35:00] Jura Soundsystem - Udaberri Blues (Dub Version) [Temples Of Jura, 2018]
[3:38:00] 23 Skidoo - Coup [Illuminated, 1984]
[3:42:00] Vox Low - Galactic Pot Heater [Oráculo, 2018]

{Mark}
[3:49:00] Rude Audio - North Star Dub [unreleased]
[3:56:00] Leftside Wobble - Underground Hicks [2018]
[4:00:00] That Petrol Emotion - Abandon (Boys Own Mix) [Virgin, 1989]
[4:05:00] Vous Tous – Chant 4 Freedom [SKunk, 1993]
[4:13:00] David Holmes – Don’t Die Just Yet (Arab Strap Remix) [Go! Beat, 1997]
[4:17:00] Felix Laband - Righteous Red Berets (Luke Vibert Remix) [Compost, 2016]
[4:23:00] Death In Vegas - Witchdance Dub [Drone, 2018]
[4:29:00] Dream Baby Dream - Banana Trance (Calm's Mellow Mellow Acid Dub) [Hell Yeah, 2024]
[4:34:00] Acid Arab - Halim Guelil [Crammed Discs, 2023]
[4:38:00] Mytron & Zongamin - 08932168 [Multi Culti, 2025]
[4:42:00] Primal Scream vs Adrian Sherwood - JU-87 [Creation, 1997]

AW62

AW62 was last weekend, a proper gathering of the clans at The Golden Lion in Todmorden, an 18th century stone walled pub nestled into a gap between a hill and the canal, to celebrate the life of Andrew Weatherall on what would have been his 62nd birthday. Andrew's brother Ian, one of the event's key movers, said that it was planned as a party that had 'everything except Andrew'. The line up of DJs and acts was testament to the spirit of the man, a diverse and exceptional bunch of DJs, writers, artists, producers, publishers and bands. 

Some highlights from a weekend packed full of them- this is necessarily a highly selective account drawn from my at times unreliable memories. Everyone who attended will have their own version and highlights but these were some of mine. 

Friday night saw Richard Fearless DJing in the downstairs bar, a vinyl techno masterclass- minimal, sleek, machine music, emotive and huge sounding on the pub's recently upgraded sound system, causing quite a stir among the crowd and packing the space in front of the DJ booth out with dancers. 

I took this picture while Fearless was playing. It may not be in focus or even a vaguely coherent picture but it sums the night up quite well from where I was standing. 

Saturday night was split between upstairs and downstairs. Upstairs Duncan Gray played a house set and then Scott Fraser took over at midnight. Downstairs David Holmes headlined, picking up where Matt Hum left off. David has played The Golden Lion often in recent years. He changes his set every time, saying he doesn't plan it too much, just goes with the flow and the feel in the pub. His set on Saturday night was out of this world, a huge range of dance music, from spangly chuggers to amped up noise, breakbeats and the sudden switching to huge piano tracks. Towards the end of his set, a 2 am finish, I was stuck in a corner by the door, just enjoying the music and the volume. Joe Strummer's voice came out of the speakers, his famous 'people can do anything...' speech from a radio show followed by ecstatic synth noise (an unreleased Holmes and Matty Skylab track, David said afterwards). There was a pause at 2am and then two or three more tunes, one a rumbly, garage band guitar song, one an explosion of synth chords, a wall of noise, and then finishing with the huge, extended Leftside Wobble remix of Tomorrow Never Knows, The Beatles most experimental, most progressive song filling the pub and scrambling heads. Thoughts were indeed laid down and voids were very much surrendered to. 

Saturday afternoon was our turn to play again, The Flightpath Estate DJs given the privilege of being part of the proceedings. Me, Baz, Martin, Dan and Mark played throughout the afternoon and into the evening. At one point I looked out into the space in front of the booth and saw author David Keenan and White Rabbit Books publisher Lee Brackstone  dancing and singing along to a song I was playing, the magnificent One Of Those Things by Dexys, from 1985 (a song even Kevin Rowland eventually had to accept he'd ripped off from Warren Zevon's Werewolves Of London). 

One Of Those Things

I spoke to David Keenan at some point, excitedly telling him about the experience I had reading Xstabeth a few years ago, a book which at several points blew my mind a little. This photo has me and David, me somewhat out of focus, mind probably still blown. 

Saturday afternoon also saw the fabled raffle and auction, Claire Doll's hard work and creativity raising  thousands of pounds for charity, Weatherdolls and Sabres cross stitch and a box of records found in Andrew's lock up when it was cleared out, promo copies of the David Holmes remix of Smokebelch and other delights. Golden Lion landlady Gig conducted the auction action in her own inimitable style. Holmes bid for and won this Gnostic Sonics banner.

Sunday saw the crowds, fans, punters and artists drawn back to the pub and its beer garden, bathed in early April sunshine. Andrew's friends Sherman and Curley played dub and ambient sounds the whole afternoon. Meanwhile the Sunday afternoon literary event came in three parts- a Lee Brackstone hosted discussion with Andrew's partner of seventeen years Lizzie Walker, Two Lone Swordsman guitarist Chris Rotter, Ian Weatherall and The Flightpath's own Martin Brannagan, Lee asking the questions which included 'when did you first meet Andrew?' which drew a range of funny responses. 

The second part was Lee and David Keenan, an interview and a reading from his new book Volcanic Tongue. The third was Keenan interviewing  Adrian Sherwood, a fascinating half hour with one of Andrew's heroes, the main man of UK dub whose reminiscences and thoughts could and should fill a book. David Keenan (and David Holmes, sitting on the front row) unpicking all sorts of aspects of On U Sound and Sherwood's music and career and the nature of dub. Genuinely amazing to sit in on and as much a part of the weekend as the DJs and music. 

Adrian Sherwood The Producers Series #1

This hour long Sherwood mix comes from the Test Pressing blog, published back in 2010. The tracklist can be found at Test Pressing- Creation Rebel, African Head Charge, Dub Syndicate and Doctor Pablo all feature. 

Sunday night finished with the twin attack of The Jonny Halifax Invocation playing live upstairs and Sherwood DJing downstairs. Criminally I missed both- having been at The Lion since Friday night, suffering from a distinct lack of sleep and having to drive home at some point that night, I called it a day at around 6 pm. 

Everyone involved in AW62 should give themselves a well earned pat on the back and maybe have a bit of a lie down- Waka and Gig at The Golden Lion, Ian Weatherall, Claire, Lizzie and Curley with the raffle and auction and merch, all the DJs and bands, Lee and David bringing the literature angle (books and writing were as big for Mr Weatherall as music was). It was a brilliant weekend and event- heart warming and inclusive, packed with energising and exciting music, and filled with great people. The Lion always draws a lovely bunch of punters and AW62 was no exception. And when the lie down is over and everyone's recovered, more please next year...

Monday's Long Song

I got back from AW62 at The Golden Lion last night having had a wonderful weekend in great company, an incredible line up of artists, some brilliant moments in a truly magical and a concurrent lack of sleep. I'll write a longer, more detailed piece and post it later in the week. In the meantime, here's a long song from Friday night. Rusty and Rotter were playing records in the downstairs bar, the place was filling up nicely with lots of familiar faces and some new ones too and from the Lion's sound system the intense, ecstatic noise of Fuck Buttons began pumping out- waves of sheer joy, oceans of sound, bleeps and ripples, eventually the thud of a kick drum, building and building, repetition and momentum.

Surf Solar was released as a single. It came out on 7", an edited version, but the album one is over ten minutes long- from Tarot Sport, produced by Andrew Weatherall, a job so demanding- the intensity of the music- that he compared it to hard physical labour. What a sound the three of them cooked up though...

Surf Solar

Forty Five Minutes Of Two Lone Swordsmen

At the airport in Belfast they have robots to serve your breakfast. You have to go to the till and speak to a human to order but then the human loads your mugs and plates of food onto these robots and they bring them to your table. The eight year old me reading 2000AD in 1978 would have been beside himself at this aspect of the future but somehow, it just seemed a bit ridiculous. They even give the robot a smiley face to make them seem more human.

None of which has much to do with today's post and Sunday mix- except that the music Two Lone Swordsmen made is still far more of the future, more the soundtrack to 2000AD, than the robots at Belfast airport ever will be. When Andrew Weatherall formed Two Lone Swordsmen with Keith Tenniswood they made it a mission to go further and deeper, to take a more thorough and more purist approach to electronic music. After the sprawling magnificence of 1996's The Fifth Mission (Return To The Flightpath Estate) which went from stoned, paranoid ambience to big beat to two step and back again, they drilled deeper- minimal, brutalist electronic machine funk, ambient techno and glitchy dark electronic dub (with a detour into hip hop on A Virus With Shoes and then an exciting mutation into garage rock and rockabilly). Sometimes the music seemed a bit unfriendly and it lost a few people along the way but this being Mr Weatherall, there's no shortage of gold in among the darkness. 

This forty five minute mix is a celebration of Andrew's birthday today- he would have been 62 today. Many of his friends and family are at The Golden Lion today, day three of AW62 which will end tonight with a live performance by The Jonny Halifax Invocation (who have promised some live band TLS action) and a dub set from Adrian Sherwood. Happy birthday Andrew.

Forty Five Minutes Of Two Lone Swordsmen

• Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi) (Two Lone Swordsmen Dub)
• We Change The Frequency
• Cotton Stains
• Lino Square
• Black Commandments
• Untitled Two Lone Swordsmen Remix
• Glide By Shooting
• Hope We Never Surface

Saint Etienne's 2000 album Sound Of Water was a bit of a departure for them. The Two Lone Swordsmen Dub of it's single Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi) was a deconstruction, reducing the tune to its minimal dub basics, the wobbly bass a particular treat.

We Change The Frequency is from 1998's Stay Down, sometimes the TLS album I think is my favourite and one which has really grown over the years, lots of short, repetitive mechanical pieces and some gorgeous ambient techno, everything submerged in oceanic depths of bass and echo (like the deep sea divers on the cover). Hope We Never Surface is the opening track and always seems to be like a door opening... or a hatch...

Cotton Stains is on 2000's Tiny Reminders, the furthest and most purist they went, tunnel vision electro Six sides of vinyl, each disc starting with a track made up of static, a tiny reminder, before drilling into the netherworld of basement glitchy electronic bass and techno. Cotton Stains is the real sound of robots serving up breakfasts at airports- just before they declare independence and overthrow the security. 

Lino Square is from The Fifth Mission (Return To The Flightpath Estate), a fractured, mechanised but funky little number with a wiggy synth pattern kicking in after a few minutes. 

Black Commandments is from a 7" single that came with an EP, A Bag Of Blue Sparks, released on Warp in 1998, that included the track Gay Spunk (a title borrowed from Peter Hook's bass amp spray paint message).  

Untiled Two Lone Swordsmen is a remix of Ganger's Trilogy, a 12" from 1998, a nine minutes long and dusty with a flicker of guitar running through it. Ganger were from Glasgow, post- rock and krauty.

Glide By Shooting is one of the finest TLS tracks, a track on the double vinyl remix EP Swimming Not Skimming. Depth over surface. Eight minutes of sleek, mesmerising brilliance. 

Soundtrack Saturday At AW62

Today is day two of AW62 at The Golden Lion, a weekend celebration of the life of Andrew Weatherall at one of his favourite places, the day before what would have been his sixty- second birthday. The photo above is from our trip to Belfast in February. We were on a bus going round the city centre, turned a corner and there it was, this mural of the man. Serendipity. 

Saturdays in 2025 have all been soundtrack posts, a year long series of songs and tracks from film and TV. In 1994 the film Shopping came out, a Paul Anderson film about a group of British teenagers into joyriding and ramraiding with some future stars among the cast (Jude Law, Sean Pertwee and Sophie Frost) and some people who were already stars (Sean Bean, Marianne Faithful and Jonathan Pryce). I don't think I've seen it since 1994 and don't remember much about it except that it opens with the jaw dropping, spine tingling, twisted hip hop magnificence of Sabres Of Paradise's Theme.

Theme 

The soundtrack pulls together lots of mid 90s hip hop and rap- The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy, Credit To The Nation, Kaliphz, Stereo MCs- along with Senser, Smith and Mighty, Utah Saints, Orbital, Salt 'N' Pepa, Shakespears Sister, EMF and more. Andrew appears again twice, once with Sabres v James (Jam J Spaghetti Steamhammer) and once as producer on One Dove's Why Don't You Take Me.

Jam J 

Jam J is somewhat overlooked in the Sabres back catalogue, a four track/ remix 12" that becomes a thirty three minute suite of hypnotic dubtronica/ dub techno, James and Brian Eno completely reworked into the Sabres netherworld, the guitars eventually coming through as Andrew, Jagz and Gary take us on a dub excursion. It's best heard as one unbroken piece of music, from Phase 1 to Phase 4. 

• Phase 1 (Arena Dub)
• Phase 2 (Amphetamine Pulsate)
• Phase 3 (Sabresonic Tremelo Dub)
• Phase 4 (Spaghetti Steamhammer)

In 1996 Andrew made a brief foray into the world of film as an actor, appearing as a shaven headed club owner called Buddha in a long forgotten London gangster film Hard Men, in a case of mistaken identity.

AW62 And The Return Of Death In Vegas

Today is the first day of the AW62 at Todmorden's Golden Lion, a three day weekender to celebrate what would have been Andrew Weatherall's 62nd birthday (6th April, Sunday). The line up is a bit of a dream, kicking off tonight with Richard Fearless playing downstairs in the pub, ably supported by Rusty and Rotter, while Fantastic Twins play upstairs. On Saturday David Holmes headlines with Duncan Gray and Scott Fraser both playing, Matt Hum on before David. From 2pm on Saturday through until 8ish, me and my friends in The Flightpath Estate have the privilege of DJing for the afternoon and evening crowds- it's an honour and a joy. 

Sunday keeps the fun going with a Sherman and Curley dub set, a White Rabbit literary discussion (hosted by Lee Brackstone with the Flightpath's Martin joining the panel) and then to finish the weekend off, The Jonny Halifax Invocation playing live upstairs while Adrian Sherwood DJs downstairs. The evening events are all sold out but the Saturday and Sunday afternoon events and sessions are free- if you're in the area, come down and say hello, it'll be great. 

By way of happy coincidence Friday night's headliner Richard Fearless announced the release of a new Death In Vegas album a few days ago with the appearance of a new track- Death Mask. Fearless has been mining an increasingly intense and beautiful techno seam for over a decade now, going deeper and deeper into the techno- earth's core. 2011's Trans- Love Energies and 2016's Transmission albums, 2018's Honey 12", his pair of albums under his Fearless name- Deep Rave Memory and its ambient techno counterpart Future Rave Memory- plus various one off singles on his Drone label such as 2017's mighty Sweet Venus, have all lit up the Bagging Area stereo, streamlined machine music of the highest order that straddles the line between ice cold and emotional overload. Death Mask fits right into that techno continuum, seven minutes of rattly drum machines and thudding kick drum, dub's space echo, slightly anxiety inducing synths, a squeak that nibbles away at the upper end and the sweet rush of momentum. Music to engulf and to immerse oneself in...

The tracks were all recorded inside Richard's Metal Box, a shipping container overlooking the Thames in East London. If any music sounds like it was recorded inside a shipping container, it's the music on Death Mask. Death Mask and the squally and equally intense While My Machines Gently Weep are both available over at Bandcamp ahead of the rest of the nine track album, which comes out in early June.