Tune #94: Meek - Glowing Trees

"FAIL WE MAY, SAIL WE MUST"

This is one of Andrew Weatherall's many tattoos, a phrase he heard at a young age from an Irish fisherman, when the latter had to steer a boat in a stormy weather. Adopting the meaning of the phrase to push his artistic creativity to new levels, Sir Andrew has been an electronic music royalty for over three decades.

In past February I had the opportunity to attend an open discussion with him, held in Athens. While I was not keen on the questions of the moderator or the audience (including my non-intervention), I was amazed by the attitude and spirit of this man. Andrew Weatherall is a great speaker with his humor-flavored feedback on various topics, from music evolution and DJ point-of-view to youth culture (not surprising considering the fact that he was once a freelance journalist). A huge respect should be given to him for his DJ work ethic, staying loyal to his musical roots and never attaining the superstar DJ identity.

The 2-hour set followed after the discussion was quirky, tailored to Mr. Weatherall's ethos. The other half of the duo (i.e. Sean Johnston) was not present, yet the track selection and the atmosphere was very ALFOS-ish (playing below 122 bpm along with occasional techno bombs). As always, the tracks included in the mix were obscure (I guess that only some of them could be identified by Shazam's groundbreaking technology).

There are very obvious tribute tracks to use for today's post:
- Happy Mondays ‎– Hallelujah (Remix): Andrew partnered with Paul Oakenfold for remix duties on a classic Madchester anthem
- Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Remix): A "cool & deadly" remix on Saint Etienne's first single, a cover of a Neil Young track.
- The Sabres Of Paradise ‎– Smokebelch II: Collaboration with Gary Burns & Jagz Kooner for mellow downtempo productions, featured in many chillout compilations
- Primal Scream - Come Together: The production mind behind Screamadelica, responsible for re-inventing Primal Scream and creating a rave 'n' roll album.

However, the following obscurity is selected:

MEEK - GLOWING TREES


In 1994 Andrew Weatherall used the pseudonym Emmet Prague, in order to produce track Glowing Trees. The two versions of the track are ambient techno compositions that do not fit to his dub leftfield style, but reveal his dark side in terms of music production. Limited to 500 copies, it is a must have rarity for Sir Andrew fans.

Long live to techno punk Andrew Weatherall!