The Sabres of Paradise

Andrew Weatherall's Sabres of Paradise were one of the U.K.'s most celebrated experimental techno groups. A combined effort of Weatherall and collaborators Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns, the group released a flood of singles and EPs, many of which were collected on compilations released by Warp and Weatherall's other main focus: the Sabrettes label, with releases from Plod and Slab, among others. Born in Windsor, Berkshire, Weatherall considers himself a DJ first, and his exhausting schedule of deckwork has been arguably as influential as his records, inspiring scores of other DJs and anticipating trends in trance-techno, inelegant dance, and even trip-hop. Still, tracks such as "Smokebelch," "Theme," "Wilmot," and the expansive Haunted Dancehall did much in helping to push the post-techno envelope beyond the often staid conventions of the dance floor. Weatherall also gained visibility through remix and production work, working with Primal Scream and Scottish ambient-pop group One Dove, and reworking tracks for James, The Orb, Björk, Therapy?, Happy Mondays, The Future Sound of London, Bomb the Bass, Skylab, and Moody Boyz. His mixing skills can be sampled firsthand via the three-CD collection Cut the Crap, released by Six by 6 Records.