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. 

STFU

In many ways the Trump presidency should have stopped before it even began, it should have been halted dead in its tracks when he mimicked and mocked a disabled reporter, Serge Kovaleski, back in November 2015. Any sane world would have demanded his withdrawal from the process right there, a man clearly unfit to run for public office, and it's to the eternal shame of his backers, his family, the Republican Party and anyone who voted for him that he sailed past this point. 

Since then he has dragged the office of the President of the USA to ever lower lows. His lies are ever present, over 22, 000 falsehoods and lies uttered as President identified by fact checkers. His racist dog- whistles and outright refusal to condemn white supremacist groups. His public praise for violent right wing militias and encouragement of them overthrow Democratic state governors. His appointment of family members to top jobs, the shameless nepotism of a mob boss. His determination to rip up democratic norms and conventions, the checks and balances upon which the entire system rests. His long running campaign to discredit people like Anthony Fauci, actual experts within their field. The laying the groundwork throughout this year for challenging a defeat at the ballot box by telling his supporters that postal voting is fraudulent, that Democrats will rig the election and that he may refuse to handover the reins of power even if he is soundly defeated. His approach to Coronavirus which has led directly to the deaths of over 200, 000 Americans to date. His posturing outside the Church of the Presidents holding an upside down bible, during the worst civil unrest for decades. His refusal to take questions from female reporters. His racist approach to Central American politics. It goes on and on and on...

 And it matters to us in the UK because like it or not the US is the central player in global politics and how things work. What happens in the USA affects us over here- and the general, widespread debasement of public life affects us all too. I read an article recently that described discussions among commentators and historians about whether Trump is a fascist. He shares many of the characteristics of fascist dictators (the fact that he hasn't invaded anywhere or committed acts of genocide don't necessarily rule him out). One of the descriptions of him was a 'post- fascist populist'. The funny thing about all populist leaders, and Trump especially, is that they actually despise the people they claim to speak for. Trump would rather admit the true size of the small crowds at his inauguration in January 2017 than spend any time with the poor saps in MAGA caps at his rallies. He left thousands of them standing in the freezing cold after a rally recently. He encourages them to refuse to wear face masks, a policy that has led to tens of thousands of infections among his supporters, people who are collateral damage in the Trump re- election campaign, a man with so fragile an ego that killing his own people is preferable to losing.

I've no idea what will happen today and tonight. There have been all sorts of forecasts, a narrow Biden win, a big Biden win, a Trump resurgence. It looks like a Trump tactic may be to declare victory at some point during the night, regardless of the count and see if the media go with it, an actual anti- democratic power grab. Are we still squeamish about using the word fascist? He has said that he will contest any result in the courts, and has rushed through an appointment to the Supreme Court to enable this. It looks like any kind of Biden win will lead to Trump having to be prised out of the White House, the US political system and Constitution creaking at the sides as legal crowbars are applied to jemmy the bastard out. 

He has to go. He has to be defeated. For fuck's sake America, please, get it done. 

Back in June Public Enemy returned with a new single, the righteous fury of non- Trump America diffused into one three minute song, a song that opens with Chuck D declaring 'whatever it takes, rid this dictator...' and builds to the chorus, 'State of the Union/ Shut the fuck up/ Sorry ass motherfucker/ Stay away from me'

Public Enemy also updated their 1989 single Fight The Power for 2020, bringing Nas, Rhapsody, Black Thought, Jahi, YG and QuestLove on board, a song is still as relevant as the day it was written.