Already available in the shops and as a download it’s the return of Andrew Weatherall. As a DJ and producer his name rolls back into dance music history with projects like Two Lone Swordsman, The Sabres Of Paradise and of course going further back his was the deft touch that brought such albums like Primal Scream’s Screamadelica to life. Along the way his production and remix credits include the likes of New Order (check out his most excellent dubby reworkings of ‘Regret’ if you ever get the chance), Saint Etienne and Bjork. These are just three of the many artists he has lent his skills to over the years.
The Bullet Catcher’s Apprentice is in some ways a lighter shade of work than we have been used to from Weatherall…but only just. Kicking off with the moody bass driven Feathers it’s a mixture of clipped shining guitar fragments set over a muscular drum pattern. Halfway through the spikiness of the track hands over to a somewhat ethereal range of synths. It’s a wide open track, everything gets its own sense of space and you can see why it was the choice for radio play (occasional and specialist as it is).
The tempo remains upbeat and informal with the second track You Can’t Do Disco Without A Strat. A slightly gothic framed chunk of dance that sounds almost like someone summoning the ghost of Peter Hook in a ouija board session (if he was dead that is). Dark as it is there’s some spirited funk guitar buried deep in this one that never quite gets allowed out to play. Still on a dirty great sound system this one should do the business.
La Sirena is a more muted affair, focussed and possessing some lean but brutal drums. Like a Kraftwerk line but battery fed, while on the top shelf of the track you get echo laden punk/surf guitars. It’s a twisted little number for those dark and sweaty basement nights out when it’s late and the mind is in one of its more recreational states.
Edie Eleven comes into play like a juggernaut. Pitch black repetition that takes an unexpected jacknife with some almost flamenco style guitar loops rising up in the midsection and some gorgeous bubbling acid sounds fading in for good measure. The build on this one is beautifully slow, slowly breaking out into Weatherall’s almost trademark echo sounds. I had reservations about this one when it started, by the end it was my favourite on the EP.
The closer is the Repeat/Repeat mix of You Can’t Do Disco. Its all a bit monged out in here. Heart beat styled drums with sounds drifting in and out of the distance, nothing wrong with that I hasten to add but it has to be said the phrase for this one would be ‘dark as fuck’. Kind of takes you back to the days when Weatherall tracks used to scare you.
As a whole it’s the sound of someone working with unabashed freedom and no compromise. It is after all out on Weatherall’s own label and to my surprise this is his first true solo outing. If this is what we can expect however then the best is quite possibly yet to come.
