Oblique Saturdays

A series for Saturdays in 2026 inspired by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's set of cards, Oblique Strategies (Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas). Eno and Schmidt created them to be used to unblock creative impasses and approach problems from unexpected angles. Each week I'll turn over an Oblique Strategy card and post a song or songs inspired by the suggestion. 

Last week's Oblique Strategy card said Abandon normal instruments.

I conjured up Einsturzende Neubauten, Sabres Of Paradise, The Beatnigs and Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy and Tom Waits, a variety of power tools, car bonnets, chains, grinders and bits of metal being used in place of or alongside normal instruments. The Bagging Area community offered a slew of suggestions- Split Lip Rayfield, Nana Benz du Togo, Kraftwerk, Shane Parrish, Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Split Enz, Gruff Rhys and Tony da Gattora, Gasper Nali, Tools You Can Trust and Matthew Herbert. This is Gasper Nali playing on the shores of Lake Malawi. Thanks to Chris, anonymous, Swanditch, Al G, C, Rol, Weareliz, Ernie and Charity Chic for their  contributions. 

This week's Oblique Strategy is this- Do nothing for as long as possible

And part of me did wonder about just leaving the post there and doing nothing further. 

But while that seemed conceptually correct it didn't bring any music into play. I can imagine in the studio musicians turning that card over and it becoming a Mexican standoff. Who breaks first? The drummer? The guitarist? I think bass players could stay out of things for a while, their patience levels are quite high. How long could you keep a track/ song going without doing anything?

The Specials released Do Nothing as a single in 1980, a slightly downtempo song for the band, a Lynval Golding and Jerry Dammers co- write about stasis, nothing ever changing, a life without meaning, police harassment- 'I walk and walk and do nothing' 

Do Nothing

It also gave us the only acceptable appearance of Christmas jumpers. The Specials were not a Do nothing for as long as possible type of band- everyone was very active all the time, all playing at the same time. 

There are quite a lot of songs where the band pause, the silence and a tease, a doing nothing, a moment of tension, before they crash back in. I'm not sure what the longest one is- mostly they aren't able to do nothing for as long as possible for very long. The pause in the extended freak out at the end of I Am The Resurrection is a good example...

I Am The Resurrection

The song started as a joke, Mani playing the bass riff to taxman backwards. Eventually Reni suggested working it up into a song. Ian and John found lyrical inspiration on a church noticeboard in Chorlton and when they got the song figured out Ian suggested the other three should keep playing, a funky/ Hendrix outro that could keep going and going. The do nothing for as long as possible part comes at 5.21 and lasts four seconds. Maybe that was as long as John, Mani and Reni could manage.

It's a good song for tomorrow too- Easter Sunday and resurrections are famously linked. 

Underworld's Second Hand is a ten minute ride, the synths set up and playing and repeating for nine minutes- once those loops are in motion there isn't much to do, the odd tweak here and there for Rick Smith and Darren Emerson, occasionally bring an element in or out, higher or lower in the mix. Karl Hyde is very much not doing very much at all, just the odd delay FXed guitar part. One of my favourite Underworld tracks, an absolute joy.

There a loads of songs about nothing or with nothing in the title. In 1992 Sandals, a London beat poetry/ dub/ progressive house/ acid jazz four piece put out Nothing (with Leftfield assisting on programming, keys and production), a funky, laid back, stoned groove with state of the world lyrics- worth remembering when one turns on the news at the moment, we were despairing about war and US foreign policy in the early 90s as well as in 2026 (and in the 60s and 70s and 80s and 00s...)

Nothing (Extended Version)

'Old man what have you done?' a voice asks over and over. The reply, 'Nothing'. 

Feel free to drop your do nothing for as long as possible suggestions in the comment box. I'm sure you can come up with more apt ones than I have. 

Monday's Long Song

'Gimme an F'

'F!'

'Gimme a 'U'

'U!'

'Gimme a C'

'C'

'Gimme a K'

'K'

'What's that spell?'

'Fuck!'

'What's that spell?'

'Fuck!'

What's that spell?'

'Fuck!'

Deep voice 'War'

This artist- audience exchange is sampled from the 1969 film of the Woodstock festival, Country Joe and The Fish protesting about Vietnam in front of quarter of a million kids*. It kicks off the DSS remix of We Wanna Live by Sandals, a 1993 single on the band's own Open Toe label. The drums rumble in and vocalist/ poet Derek Delves begins his address. 

'Think you know what's right? Think you know what's wrong? How long? Well, it's anybody's guess, we all wake up, get out of this mess...'

We Wanna Live (DSS Remix)

The drums and percussion, courtesy of the four Sandals and on this remix Ashley Beedle, David Holmes, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns, thump and rattle, everything part of a deep and murky, progressive house sonic stew, acid house that's been through the wringer and is now on the other side of the mother of all comedowns. 

Well, it's late 1993 yeah, over five years since the summer of love, two decades since the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, two years since the first Gulf War, three since the Soviets left Afghanistan, two since Thatcher went, five since Reagan left, four since the Berlin Wall came down and the Cold War suddenly ended and the Soviet Union fractured. Yugoslavia is becoming an ex- state, a civil war and sectarian murder, genocide, already underway. 

In Oslo the PLO and Israel, led by the US President Bill Clinton,  announce a peace process aimed at establishing self- government for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. A joint declaration about a peace process in Northern Ireland is issued, paving the way for the Good Friday Agreement five years later. 

'If we don't wake up/ We don't get out of this mess'

'We wanna live!'

There's a sitar, raga scales running down, synths and at seven minutes a breakdown, crowd noise and then a lone voice shouting, 'Party!' and the crowd chanting it back, 'Party!'.

Derek returns. 'How long?' 

Flute, more whispered poetry and more questions. 

The questions remain the same. And now, March 2026, there are psychopaths in the White House. No restraint. No control. Reveling in their power to kill. 

'What's that spell?'

* In a weird coincidence, an hour after writing this post I saw that Country Joe McDonald's death had been announced. He died aged 84 due to complications from living with Parkinson's disease. RIP Country Joe. 

Songs From The Sabres Tour Bus

Sabres Of Paradise board the tour bus and head out on their UK tour tomorrow, a gig in Bristol first, followed by The White Hotel in Salford on Wednesday, Leeds on Thursday, the Forge warehouse in Sheffield on Friday, Bugged Out at Tramsheds in London on Saturday and then bringing the curtain down in Brighton on Monday. Back in May and June they played Fabric in London and Sydney Opera House and a pair of festival appearances- Primavera in Spain and Dekmantel in The Netherlands. I saw them at Fabric and am going to The White Hotel. I'm sure I can't be the only person who did not start 2025 expecting to see Sabres Of Paradise play live, twice. There are a handful of tickets still available for some of the venues I believe- try here.

Back in the 1994 Sabres Of Paradise played twenty two live shows, on their own and supporting Primal Scream. They finished the year with some dates in Japan. The live band- the Sabres studio pair of Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns along with Rich Thair (percussion and drums, on loan from Red Snapper and The Aloof), Nick Abnett (low slung bass) and Phil Mossman (guitar, later of LCD Soundsystem)- would kick up a storm, a heady stew of programmed drums, samples and live instruments bringing those classic Sabres tracks to life on stage- Smokebelch, Wilmot, Theme, Tow Truck... Andrew Weatherall started out on stage with them, playing some keys, but said he felt like a fraud and preferred to DJ before and after, and skulk around in the crowd watching them play, smoking and enjoying seeing his band play the gig. 

The Sabres re- union comes in part from a night The Flightpath Estate put on at The Golden Lion two years ago, a Q&A with Jagz and Gary (with me in the David Frost hotseat) and then Jagz DJing. Rob Fketcher, of Herbal tea party fame, has a live recording of Sabres playing at the club in 1994 and we played it after the Q&A. Jagz stood by the speakers listening and nodding his head. 'We really pretty good back then', he said. Two years down the line, the Sabres albums re- issued in the summer, rave reviews from the shows they played in the summer and a UK tour imminent, the horses saddled and ready to go, I thought it might be good to get a Bagging Area exclusive, songs from the Sabres Of Paradise tour bus in 1994 and 2025. I asked Jagz and he and the rest of the Sabres were happy to oblige...

Jagz Kooner

1994 tour bus song: Nas feat Az and Olu Dara, Life's A Bitch (from Illmatic in 1994).   

'Remember listening to this on the tour bus and when that chorus landed it was a proper 'damn that's a hook and half!', so much so that Bob G improvised it over a Primal Scream song when we toured with them too'.

Life's A Bitch

2025 tour bus song: Rapture in Blue (Midnight Version) by Daniel Avery with Cecile Believe (from Tremors)

'This whole album is a sonic masterpiece and I love the fact he has an entire full live band with him when he tours too. Respect to Dan!'

  

Gary Burns

1994 tour bus song: Cypress Hill, Hits From The Bong. 

Hits From The Bong

'I remember listening to this (very stoned) on the bus quite a lot. Loved the fact it sampled Son Of A Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield which was always a favourite of mine too'

2025 tour bus song: Bloomy Mulberries by K2W0.

'Downtempo and dirty. Reminds me of old school acid house times'. 

Get Bloomy Mulberries at Bandcamp. 

Rich Thair 

1994 tour bus song: Depth Charge- Bounty Killers.

'For me in the 90s J Saul Kane was a huge influence, an amazing, creative producer and sculptor of beats. Jon produced fantastic remixes for The Sabres & Red Snapper. RIP J Saul Kane x'

Bounty Killers

2025 tour bus song: Snorkel- Sirene

'Frank Byng’s Snorkel deserve more recognition for their inventive rhythm chaos. Check the new album'.

Find Snorkel's Sirene at Bandcamp.

Nick Abnett 

1994 tour bus song: The Beach Boys - God Only Knows. 

'Weirdly enough the only music I ever remember being played on a Sabres bus was the Pet Sounds album! Andrew bought it in a service station and we listened to it on the journey to wherever we were heading'.

God Only Knows

2025 tour bus song: Nia Archives / Clipz- Maia Maia. 

'There’s an exciting new school of jungle producers around at the moment. Nia is a great example of an open minded generation of new artists. Good vibes and killer tunes!'

Get Maia Maia at Bandcamp. 

Adam says- a bang up to date blend of Brazilian sounds and new generation jungle, new to me and very good indeed.  

Phil Mossman 

1994 tour bus song: The Sandals- Feet (Slam remix). 

'The thought of the Sandals always brings a smile to my face and takes me straight back to those days. The Slam remix is a seminal piece of 90s techno'.

Feet (Night Slam VI)

2025 tour bus song: Sunn O))) with Scott Walker, Herod. 

The whole Sunn O))) and Scott Walker album is at Bandcamp. It is, it almost goes without saying, pretty intense. Those miles shuttling round the country this week with Scott Walker and Sunn O))) on the bus sound system are going to be quite a trip. 

I've sequenced those ten tracks into one mix, a Sabres 94/25 tour bus tape- it comes in at just over forty six minutes so with a bit of trimming you could get it on one side of a 1995 friendly c90 cassette. It starts with God Only Knows and ends with Herod so it could be described as Biblical. 

Sabres Tour Bus 94/ 25 Mix

• The Beach Boys: God Only Knows
• Cypress Hill: Hits From The Bong
• Nas ft Az and Olu Dara: Life's A Bitch
• Depth Charge: Bounty Killers
• Nia Archives & Clipz: Maia Maia
• Snorkel: Sirene
• K2W0: Bloomy Mulberries
• Daniel Avery ft. Cecile Believe: Rapture In Blue (Midnight Version)
• The Sandals: Feet (Night Slam IV)
• Sunn O))) and Scott Walker: Herod 2014

If you prefer to stream the mix is at The Flightpath Estate's Mixcloud here. Massive thanks to all five Sabres Of Paradise for doing this- see you at The White Hotel on Wednesday Night. Love and Sabres to you all. 

Forty Five Minutes Of Leftfield

I was listening to Leftism recently, Leftfield's 1995 debut album, an album that takes in sublime ambient house (Melt, Song Of Life), bass heavy dub techno pounders (Release The Pressure, Afro- Left) and eye catching guest vocalists (John Lydon on Open Up, Toni Halliday on Original). It was this Top of The Pops repeat that had me digging Leftism out, a 1995 appearance with a blonde Toni moonlighting from Curve and looking every inch the goth- dance star...

The back to back pairing of Melt and Song Of Life, tracks three and four, were the two that struck me the most this time around, a gorgeous way to spend ten minutes. The closing 21st Century Poem also had me appreciating it anew. I began a Sunday forty minute Leftfield mix and immediately had the problem of too many songs, many that are eight, nine or ten minutes long plus a load of remixes. In the end I've gone mainly for mid- 90s Leftfield, Neil Barnes and Paul Daley's glory years, tracks from subsequent albums/ versions of the group left for another time. 

Forty Five Minutes Of Leftfield

• Fanfare Of Life
• Release The Pressure (Adrian Sherwood Mix)
• Renegade Soundwave (The Leftfield Remix)
• Nothing (Extended Version)
• Melt
• Release The Pressure (The Rough Dub)
• Original
• Open Up (I Hate Pink Floyd Mix)

Fanfare of Life is a version of Song Of Life, Leftfield's fourth single, out in 1992, a masterful piece of optimistic ambient house. The Fanfare version also showed up on Cafe Del Mar Volumen Uno, a definitive mid- 90s compilation. There are a pair of Underworld remixes either of which probably could and should have featured on this mix. 

Release The Pressure appears twice, once in its 2019 re- released Adrian Sherwood remix version. You can never have too much Sherwood. The Rough Dub came out on 12" in 1992, Neil and Paul with Earl Sixteen on vox, a dark and deep, epic thumper.  

Renegade Soundwave were a London three piece, much underrated and unappreciated in some ways. Their singles  Women Respond To Bass, The Phantom, Positive ID, Probably A Robbery, Renegade Soundwave and Brixton are all worth spending time with as are their albums, the 1990 In Dub especially. This Leftfield remix of their title track came out in 1994.

Sandals were a beat poetry/ progressive house group who I thought were great, briefly. Several singles and an album with Paul Daley and Neil Barnes producing, mixing and remixing. Nothing was a 1992 single, with the whispered line 'Old man, what have you done?' just as pertinent now as it was then. There are old men all round the globe making the world a worse place aren't there?

'The film starts/ the film ends', Toni Halliday says as Leftfield's heavy bass and beats stomp on around her on Original. Toni was the vocalist in Curve, a duo with Dean Garcia who made a run of electronic rock/ goth dance singles- they've been featured recently over at The Vinyl Villain. While the dance music guest vocalist thing quickly became standard Leftfield's collaborations with Toni and John Lydon were attention grabbing in the mid- 90s. They put John Lydon back on the cover of the music press, somewhere he hadn't been for some time. Lydon's vocal on Open Up is the stuff of legend, a reborn, angry and exhilarating vocal from the former PiL/ Pistol, stridently taking down Hollywood and the film industry. The I Hate Pink Floyd Mix is by Sabres Of Paradise slowing the song down to an industrial dub grind, a PiL influenced remix by Weatherall, Kooner and Burns. 

Island Earth Is Happening Place

In the early 90s Sandals, a four piece from South London, signed to Acid Jazz and put out a series of 12" singles and an album called Rite To Silence. They came up in conversation in a social media post a few days ago and I thought it was time to put some of their music back up here (the last time they featured was back in 2012).

Sandals came together from the club scene and various record stalls and clothes shops, eventually rehearsing in the storage room of a book/record/clothing shop they ran in London's Trocadero. They mashed together a heady stew of beatnik spoken word poetry, soul, funk and jazz, lots of percussion and bongos, some heavy grooves and early 90s clubland sounds.

Debut single Nothing, from 1992, was produced by Leftfield and predates the trip hop sound by a year or two. Samples of voices, boom- boom- bap drums and whispered/stoned street poetry.

Nothing (Extended Version)

In the same year they put out a second 12" single, produced this time by Gary Burns and Jagz Kooner of Sabres Of Paradise, with a more progressive house sound. It was remixed by DSS (David Holmes and Ashley Beedle). It opens with Country Joe's Woodstock crowd participation exercise, 'Give me an F! Give me a U! Give me a C! Give me a K! What's that spell? What;s that spell?' The techno drums come in and Derek Delves begins singing/chanting about the mess we're in, war, the environment, general madness and bad times. It couldn't be more relevant today, the best part of three decades later, if it tried. This being a 1992 progressive house remix it goes on for twelve minutes, never really letting up. Exhilarating stuff.

We Wanna Live (DSS Remix)

Also from 1992 was this one, A Profound Gas, which I played loads at the time and still sounds great today. Flutes, guitars, pan pipes, chunky drums, production from Leftfield and more beatnik poetry with some memorable lines and imagery.

A Profound Gas (Vocal Mix)

The group disbanded in 1996 having had a second album rejected by London Records. It was eventually released in 2009 in Japan. A copy came my way recently and when I've fully had a chance to listen to it, more Sandals will be coming this way.

Shake Your Brain, Shake Your Sandals

I love Acid Jazz, beat poet, house/techno, beardy types Sandals out of all proportion to their actual output or  the actual merits of their back catalogue. This one will make your speakers buzz and your head nod.

Shake Ya Brain

A Gas

Last weekend I posted We Wanna Live by early 90s Acid Jazz combo Sandals. In the comments box reader Anto and I agreed that their 12" A Profound Gas was their best record. I see no reason to change that decision now. The hippy/beatnik lyrics in particular are a profound gas.

A Profound Gas

We Wanna Live

I always liked the post-acid house crossed with beat poetry records made by Sandals back in the early 1990s. Signed to Acid Jazz, produced at different times by the non-Weatherall parts of Sabres Of Paradise and one half of Leftfield, and over the twelve odd minutes of this head stomp of a single remixed by DSS, who if I'm not mistaken were The Disco Evangelists, a pseudonym for David Holmes. That list of names should not hide the fact this is an ace record.

We Wanna Live (DSS remix)

Sandals 'Feet' (Dust Brothers Beatapella)

Enough is enough. I have too many shoes. They are spilling out of every available bedroom space. I am culling my shoes. So far the Going Pile contains five pairs of Clarks (different styles, some in poor condition, but including two pairs of desert boots), a pair of Adidas Stan Smiths, a beaten up pair of Adidas Gazelle, some DM shoes and a pair of black DM boots from years ago (always a little too small if truth be told), a pair of black boots that look like orthapedic boots (TK Maxx mistake), a pair of white (!) basketweave (!!) shoes, three pairs of shoes worn for work but now beyond hope, a pair of red Nike Air (no idea why I bought them), some Dunlop Green Flash (in blue, not very comfortable), a pair of hiking boot things, two pairs of Converse, one pair of black Nike Cortez (older than both of my children), a pair of dark brown wing tip Dr Marten's brogues (much loved but past their best) and a pair of Caterpillar boots (hardly worn). All this is causing me some distress.

I won't describe the Staying Pile (it's bigger).

The Sandals were a post-house acid jazz/beat poetry combo. Very good in parts.

Feet (Dust Brothers Beatapella).mp3 - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download