Thank you for the time travel back to my youth, which brought a smile to my face! Smokebelch was one of the first tracks I felt like a connoisseur for discovering by myself without the help of any of my DJ friends, bedroom or otherwise!
Can’t even remember how I first found it - probably on someone’s DJ Kicks I have now excised from my middle-aged memory as this was already circa 2001 and I was definitely buying those on CD back then.
Sweet nostalgia and excellent writing - glad I just discovered you through the controversial Cure review! I pretty much forgot big beat had even existed til you referenced it here, even though it was huge when I was in school! I’ve often wondered why some genres have such short life spans dying quickly or mutating into other genres, while others boomerang bang, or never die even though you wish they would… One of life’s great mysteries!
thanks for reading and I am very glad you liked it. I can't say Big Beat plays a big part in my life but it was massive for a while. I almost didn't mention it because I certainly don't think Haunted Dancehall is a Big beat album. But it certainly does share certain elements with it.
I remember being a teenager and buying haunted dancehall on cassette in the winter of 1994 probably from now defunct way ahead records in Leeds - it blew my mind as I’d never really heard anything like it at the time and it expanded my musical horizons massively from some of those other big electronic records you mention and many (some middle of the road) indie bands that I haven’t really listened to since the 90s…. I revisit sabres frequently enough but thanks for giving me a reason to listen again today! I’ve also passed the article on to a couple of younger artists that I work with who might not have actually heard this - maybe they will dip in!
I hope you enjoyed your listen! I listen to Haunted Dancehall loads when writing this and damn it is an excellent album! I really hope the younger artists give it a go too!
A great history! Weirdly, Sabres are sort of a blind spot for me, despite my fondness for TLS. (I think I even own a copy of Sabresonic II, or maybe even I, but I don't think I've ever spent much time with it.
I can imagine that a lot of people bought Sabresonic II thinking, as it was on Warp, it might be like a Black Dog Productions record or something, only to be confronted with some genuinely chunky house, which must have come as a surprise.
Thank you for the time travel back to my youth, which brought a smile to my face! Smokebelch was one of the first tracks I felt like a connoisseur for discovering by myself without the help of any of my DJ friends, bedroom or otherwise!
Can’t even remember how I first found it - probably on someone’s DJ Kicks I have now excised from my middle-aged memory as this was already circa 2001 and I was definitely buying those on CD back then.
Sweet nostalgia and excellent writing - glad I just discovered you through the controversial Cure review! I pretty much forgot big beat had even existed til you referenced it here, even though it was huge when I was in school! I’ve often wondered why some genres have such short life spans dying quickly or mutating into other genres, while others boomerang bang, or never die even though you wish they would… One of life’s great mysteries!
thanks for reading and I am very glad you liked it. I can't say Big Beat plays a big part in my life but it was massive for a while. I almost didn't mention it because I certainly don't think Haunted Dancehall is a Big beat album. But it certainly does share certain elements with it.
Totally agree with you it resists genre! Loved the genre Venn diagrams you wove in though dissecting it!
I remember being a teenager and buying haunted dancehall on cassette in the winter of 1994 probably from now defunct way ahead records in Leeds - it blew my mind as I’d never really heard anything like it at the time and it expanded my musical horizons massively from some of those other big electronic records you mention and many (some middle of the road) indie bands that I haven’t really listened to since the 90s…. I revisit sabres frequently enough but thanks for giving me a reason to listen again today! I’ve also passed the article on to a couple of younger artists that I work with who might not have actually heard this - maybe they will dip in!
I hope you enjoyed your listen! I listen to Haunted Dancehall loads when writing this and damn it is an excellent album! I really hope the younger artists give it a go too!
A great history! Weirdly, Sabres are sort of a blind spot for me, despite my fondness for TLS. (I think I even own a copy of Sabresonic II, or maybe even I, but I don't think I've ever spent much time with it.
I can imagine that a lot of people bought Sabresonic II thinking, as it was on Warp, it might be like a Black Dog Productions record or something, only to be confronted with some genuinely chunky house, which must have come as a surprise.
So deeeeelightful to read Ben!!! Thank you for this generous article! very fun way to start the day yahooOOoooooooo!
and thank you for your kind comment!