Conquistador

Through the magic of social media I spent twelve minutes last night listening to this unexpectedly. It popped up in my timeline and now I’m passing it on again.

Conquistador (Sabres of Paradise Mix 3)

This is a big file and the file host will probably say there was a problem playing it as a result but it should be fine to download.

The bit at seven minutes with the wire stretching noises followed by the increased tempo sounded particularly good. As was often the way in 1993 Weatherall, Burns and Kooner turned in three remixes of Conquistador for the 12″. I’ve posted Mix 1 before back in 2012 so here’s the other one.

Conquistador (Sabres of Paradise Mix 2)

Shorter, chunky progressive house and with squiggly bits but liable to get you going if you like this kind of thing.

Espiritu were Vanessa Quinones and Taplin from Frazier Chorus, signed to Heavenly (a label that continues to put out top quality music to this day). Espiritu combined house with Latin beats and put out two albums and multiple singles. It became a one woman show after a while and more recently Vanessa has formed a band called Vanessa And The Os with James Iha (x-Smashing Pumpkins) and more recently still has been making French pop as Allez Pop.

At roughly the same time this popped up in my timeline too.

This is a picture of Jagz Kooner’s Roland TR 808 which he is/was selling. In the accompanying blurb Jagz wrote that this is the actual machine that many Sabres Of Paradise songs and recordings were done using as well as some of Primal Scream’s recordings (Swastika Eyes, some of XTRMNTR, some of Evil Heat). That’s an actual piece of musical history. I considered having a whip round and getting part shares in it but couldn’t raise the funds in time (offers above £3750).

Bonita Manana

It’s Thursday- here’s another techno track from the Weatherall cassette and this is a beauty. I think you might like this one even if you don’t fancy techno that much. Espiritu were a latin-housey bunch on Heavenly Records. This Sabres Of Paradise remix keeps much of the vocal and takes some time to wind itself up and then lets loose, chugging away for a good fifteen minutes. Easy does it.

Bonita Manana (Sabres Of Paradise remix)

En Vacances Et Espiritu

By the time this publishes we should be about to get on the road- M6, M1, M25, Dover. Our ferry sails for the continent at 5.25, then a short hop to a B&B hotel at Boulogne overnight. On Friday we’re off to Arzano, Britanny to spend eleven nights in a Eurocamp tent, and one night at Caen on the way back. I’m particularly looking forward to Carnac- love the odd standing stone. Passports, clothes, extra bedding, mp3 player (mine), mp3 player (ET’s), arguments about music in the car (mine and ET’s), docking bay, provisions for special needs thirteen year old who distrusts French food packaging (prawn cocktail crisps and digestive biscuits mainly), immune system support sub-cut medicine, pump, syringes and sharps bin (plus covering letter from consultant), letter detailing all IT’s medical issues and needs kindly translated into French by the MFL dept at work, books (including that Grey trilogy for Mrs Swiss), various chargers, cables, leads and plug adapters, wet weather clothing as well as flip flops and sunglasses and sun cream, camping chairs and table, and… does anyone else take all this stuff? (Ha, I’ve just re-read last year’s En Vacances post and it’s very similar to this paragraph. Zero points for originality at Bagging Area).

So, have a good time at home with the Olympics and all that while we’re gone. Let me know if Weatherall releases anything vital. Please remember to feed the cat. Take the post in. Water the plants. The rum’s all gone I’m afraid but you might find some red wine on top of the fridge and there’s the odd beer in the fridge, next to the rotting cucumber I forgot to chuck out before we set off. Please put any records you play back in the correct sleeves. Try not to riot like last year. That’s it I think.

Espiritu were a dance act on Heavenly in the early 90s who made a couple of memorable records. Memorable chiefly because they were remixed by Sabres Of Paradise. Here’s one where Weatherall and the Sabres boys put the 303s into action and send us on a long trip. Ooh la la.

Conquistador (Sabres Of Paradise Mix Number 1)