Six Hours Of Andrew Weatherall and DJ Harvey In Amsterdam

In 2012 Andrew Weatherall and DJ Harvey played a back to back set at Trouw in Amsterdam, the only B2B set Harvey has ever played apparently. It was recorded but for reasons unknown the set has remained locked away in the vaults of Resident Advisor ever since- until a couple of days ago when RA launched it onto the internet, causing some excitement and fuss. It's already been streamed over 33, 000 times. It's at Resident Advisor's Soundcloud page which you can find here. 

It starts out slowly, Andrew and Harvey playing some slow mo, cosmic warm up tunes, bringing things up gently. There are times when its fairly easy to spot who might be on the decks- Andrew with that chuggy, ALFOS, cosmic sound, all synth arpeggios and tracks that build insistently over time, keeping the bpms in the 122- 127 range. The disco- dub edit of Echo And The Bunnymen that featured at ALFOS nights makes an appearance. Harvey drops the spangly disco, the funk and the soul. There are times when it could be either of them making the selection. It's six and a half hours of fun, ideal for an August weekend with the sun out. 

In 2011 Harvey released an album Locussolus, pulling together three 12" singles and some remixes into one long player, Harvey's discoball, party house sound spread out over eleven tracks. Andrew remixed Gunship, a disco/ dub affair very much capturing the stellar Weatherall sound at the time- chugging rhythms, spaced out synths, low slung bass and whooshes and whirls. 

Gunship (Andrew Weatherall Dub)

V.A. Saturday

This week's Monday Long Song was by Joy Zipper. Their song Check Out My New Jesus, a woozy ode to drugs/ sex, sparked some conversation among readers. For quite a few people the first time they heard the song and the band was on a free CD given away with the 17th June 2000 edition of the NME. The CD, London Xpress, is a contender for best ever freebie magazine CD. The internet tells me that the NME cover star that week was Richard Ashcroft, a feature where he faced readers questions including 'has all that acid fucked you up?', 'any dieting tips?' and 'what's the latest you've stayed up?'. Also featured in that week's NME were Graham Coxon, Bloodhound Gang, Bon Jovi and Deftones. None of these people should concern us right now, some of them ever, we are here solely for the free cover mount CD. 

London Xpress was done with the record label Nuphonic and featured three guest DJs providing three mixes of various artists. The DJs were Andrew Weatherall, Harvey and David Holmes- that's quite a line up. On the CD the different tracks were available as individual tracks although all three DJs had mixed their selections. The three files below are the three sets as one mixed file. 

London Xpress Andrew Weatherall

Andrew opens the CD with a typically eclectic and downtempo/ electro set. Stuttering, minimal, lo fi, dirty sounds that build into something quite frenetic and funky, a fair reflection of where Andrew's head was at that point given the Two Lone Swordsmen releases from the period. He finishes with German badn Lali Puna who Andrew and fellow Swordsman Keith Tenniswood were obsessed with, various remix exchanges taking place between TLS, Radioactive Man and Lali Puna. Andrew's selections here are first rate, the work of an inveterate record buyer and sound seeker. 

• Plaid: Tophapy
• Burnt Friedman & The Nu Dub Players: Hard Drive Dub
• John Tejlda: Daydreaming Disaster
• Steve Stoll: Supernatural (You're So)
• 7 Hurtz: Stockers Motor
• Lali Puna: Everywhere All Over

London Xpress Harvey

Harvey starts out all Balearic and laid back, Plaid making their second appearance on the CD, surf guitar and fluttering electronics. He brings the breaks in and the poolside/ sunshine sounds, a contrast to Andrew's much more urban set. Very nicely done. 

• Plaid: Ralome
• Addvibe: Love And Happiness
• Forme: Morfe
• ADNY: Tell Me
• Amalgamation Of Soundz: Salsin

London Xpress David Holmes

Possibly though, the best is saved for last- David Holmes' set is a journey in twenty five minutes, staring out with sweet sounding psyche with children talking about who God is, where he is and what he can do as organ and ba ba baa backing vox  flow behind them.  Then Joy Zipper's laid flat, woozy song, two slices fro David's about to be released album Bow Dow To The Exit Sign and then more scuzzy lounge funk and Ella Fitzgerald concluding with her cover of Sunshine Of Your Love. Stunning. 

• Family Of God: Family Of God
• Joy Zipper: Check Out My New Jesus
• David Holmes: Commercial Break
• David Holmes: Hey Lisa
• Keith Mansfield: Morning Broadway
• Gian Piero Riverberi: Cat Casanova
• Hot Butter: Getting Off
• Ella Fitzgerald: Sunshine Of Your Love

Tonight we are celebrating Eliza's 21st birthday-her actual birthday isn't until next weekend but she's away at a festival in Anglesey next weekend, so the party is tonight at a venue in Altrincham. It should be quite the do. 

I Want It

DJ Harvey looks a bit like that bloke in your local pub who got on one in 1989 and never really got off. Five years ago he put out an album as Locussolus which came with a bunch of remixes- Weatherall, Prins Thomas, Lindstrom, Emperor Machine and this one from Richard Norris' Time And Space Machine, a summer in the Balearic Isles house thumper with a gruff vocal.

Disco Monday

Work seems to be, well, hard work at the moment. Mustn't complain I suppose, there's plenty of people out of work but still...

Here's something uplifting for the start of the week- DJ Harvey's Locus Solus album was one of my favourites from last year, a grower that included a great Andrew Weatherall dub remix. It also came with this remix by Lindstrom and Prins Thomas, where they turn the knob marked Balearic down and push the Disco button all the way to the top for nine minutes plus.

I Want It (Lindstrom and Prins Thomas Remix)

Gunship Diplomacy

It was somewhat traumatic last night, watching United run around unable to get the ball, nevermind then be able to do anything with it. Humbling. Hats off to Barcelona though, and I suppose no shame in losing to them.

DJ Harvey has been making and djing ambient/Balaeric/eclectic music for the last two decades and has an album out next month, DJ Harvey Presents Locussolus. This track, Gunship, is seven minutes of low-key, uptempo, electronic music with some very nice squelchy noises. The album comes complete with a Weatherall remix, two words which raise the excitement levels in the Bagging Area bunker.

Gunship