Pressed

The Wolfgang Press were a post- punk band with industrial tendencies on 4AD who turned to face acid house in the late 80s and early 90s and made some avant- dance records up to 1995 when they abruptly stopped. They were labelled goth by the music press at times, a charge they always denied but there's no doubt that there's a gloomy element to their music. Unsurprisingly they benefitted from being remixed in the 90s, their sound lending itself to be being chopped up and rejigged by the likes of Adrian Sherwood, Barry Adamson, Jah Wobble, Apollo 440 and Sabres Of Paradise. I posted a song by them back in 2013, Ecstacy (released in 1985), but nothing since and bizarrely for this blog I've never posted either of the Sabres remixes. 

11 Years Sabres Main Mix 1

11 Years Sabres Main Mix 2

The Sabres remixes are both from 1994, that stage were Weatherall, Kooner and Burns were making really stoned sounding music, remixes that reek of clouds of marijuana smoke, hip hop drum loops, lots of echo and a guitar line or synth/ organ part winding it's way over the top. Head nodding stuff. 

The Jah Wobble remix of Chains is a different kind of fish completely, a very bright and spacey affair, BJ Cole's pedal steel guitar locating it way out west with the long whale sound noises and shimmering sound effects sounding like they're being beamed coming in from 50s science fiction film. A 90s breakbeat and sections of Michael Allen's growly vocals being dropped in, and Wobble's bass occasionally surfacing,  make for a something very enjoyable, not unlike listening to several radio stations all playing at the same time but weirdly in sync. 

Chains (Wobble Mix)

Wolfgang

Nine surrealist artists about to head out for a night on the town in 1930. On the back row-Man Ray, Jean Arp, Yves Tungay and Andre Breton. At the front Tristan Tzara, Salvador Dali, Paul Eluard, Max Ernst and Rene Clevel. After a pleasant afternoon in a gallery, with some snarky criticism of some of the art, and a couple of quiet pints sitting on the pavement with the newspapers watching girls go by and thinking up new manifestos, things will turn sour. Salvador will get the hump and stomp off, following passive-aggressive messages from the wife. He only returns after a sub-group of surrealists cajole him back with promises of absinthe. After watching the evening match everyone is pissed off that Real Madrid won which puts a downer on it all. Then there is an argument over who pays what at the restaurant and someone is sick in a gutter and they are shouted at by the restaurant owner who threatens to call the gendarmerie. No one owns up but Man Ray's shoes are splattered with muck. Much later, following a spilled drink in another bar, Yves Tungay has to hold Breton back who is snarling and spoiling for a fight with a sailor on leave; 'leave him Andre, he's not worth it (and he's bigger than you)'. A disagreement about nightclubbing- some of the men just want to go to a bar with a dj but Tzara knows the doorman at a club and reckons he can get everyone in- two for one on drinks as well. They end up in the bar, where the girls are much younger than them and not really interested in a bunch of very drunk, balding surrealists whose suit and tie combos are looking a bit out of place. Plus, the dj is playing vapid happy house. Two taxis are needed to get home, causing further disgruntlement for the men waiting for the second cab, which inevitably is late.

The Wolfgang Press were 4AD's 'we are not goths' band. They were definitely doomy and erred on the darker side of things but also moved towards the dancefloor as time went on, creating some fine records in the process even if they're not the kind of thing I want to listen to all the time.

Ecstacy

I'm off to work today to see how far the government have instructed the exam boards to play politics with GCSE grades and young peoples' lives.