The Sabres of Paradise

This article is about the British music group. For the 1960 book, see Lesley Blanch. For the song, see Haysi Fantayzee.

The Sabres of Paradise
Origin	London, England
Genres	Electronic
Years active	1992-1995 2024-present
Labels	Warp Sabres of Paradise Fontana Special Emissions Elastic Dreams
Members	Jagz Kooner Gary Burns
Past members	Andrew Weatherall

The Sabres of Paradise is a British electronic music group from London. ^[1] The group consists of Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns, and formerly Andrew Weatherall. ^[1]

History

The Sabres of Paradise were formed in London, England in 1992. ^[1] Andrew Weatherall formed the group with engineers Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns and became responsible for the Sabresonic warehouse raves. ^[2] The group's debut studio album, Sabresonic, was released in 1993. ^[3] It peaked at number 29 on the UK Albums Chart. ^[4] NME named it the 23rd best album of 1993. ^[5] The group released Haunted Dancehall in 1994. ^[6] It peaked at number 57 on the UK Albums Chart. ^[7] NME named it the 47th best album of 1994. ^[8] It was included on the list of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . ^[9] The group released Sabresonic II in 1995. ^[10] It peaked at number 88 on the UK Albums Chart. ^[11]

The group dissolved in 1995. Weatherall went on to form Two Lone Swordsmen with Keith Tenniswood while Kooner and Burns carried on working together with The Aloof. ^[2]

Weatherall died in 2020. At his funeral, Kooner and Burns met for the first time in years and started to get in touch more. ^[12] In October 2024, The Sabres of Paradise announced that they would reunite to play the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona for June 2025, their first shows in 30 years. ^[13]

Style and influences

In 2011, the then head of music at BBC Radio 1, Christopher Price, highlighted the In the Nursery remix of "Haunted Dancehall" as the style of music that would be played on pop radio to prepare audiences before cutting to an announcement of major news such as the death of the Queen. ^{[14] [15]}

Discography

Studio albums

• Sabresonic (Warp, 1993)
• Haunted Dancehall (Warp, 1994)
• Sabresonic II (Warp, 1995)

Compilation albums

• Septic Cuts (Sabres of Paradise, 1994)
• Deep Cuts (Sabres of Paradise, 1994)
• Versus (Warp, 1995)

Singles

• "Smokebelch II" (Warp, 1993)
• "United" (Sabres of Paradise, 1993)
• "Theme" (Sabres of Paradise, 1994)
• "Wilmot" (Warp, 1994)
• "Wilmot II" (Warp, 1994)
• "Jam J" (Fontana Records, 1994) (with James)
• "Haunted Dancehall (As Performed by In the Nursery)" (Warp, 1995)
• "Duke of Earlsfield (LFO Mix)" / "Bubble & Slide (Nightmares on Wax Mix)" (Warp, 1995)
• "Tow Truck (Chemical Brothers Mix)" / "Tow Truck (Depth Charge Mix)" (Warp, 1995)
• "Ysaebud" (Special Emissions, 1997) ^[16]
• "Lick Wid Nit Wit" (Elastic Dreams, 2018) ^[17]

Remixes

• Mad Monks on Zinc (The Sabres Of Paradise Mix) - Holy Ghost Inc. {1992} ^[18]
• I Want You (Sabres 130) - Utah Saints {1992} ^[19]
• Be Still (Sabres Of Paradise Remix) - Peace Together {1993} ^[20]
• 1 2 3 - Sabres of Paradise Mix - K-Klass {1993} ^[21]
• Everything (Everything Grooves Part 1) - Stereo MCs {1993} ^[22]
• One Day (Endorphin Mix), Come to Me (Sabres of Paradise Mix), One Day (Springs Eternal Mix) - Bjork {1993} ^[23]
• Song to the Siren (Sabre of Paradise 100% chunk Mix) -- Dust Brothers {1993} ^[24]
• Bonita Mañana [Sabres of Paradise remix] -- Espiritu {1994}
• Jailbird (Sweeney 2 Sabres Mix) -- Primal Scream {1994} ^[25]
• 11 Years (Sabres Of Paradise Main Mix) -- Wolfgang Press {1994} ^[26]
• Nowhere (Sabres Of Paradise Remix) -- Therapy? {1994} ^[27]
• Indigo (Sabres Of Paradise Remix) - Skylab {1995} ^[28]
• Leave Home (Sabres of Paradise mix) - Chemical Brothers {!995} ^[29]
• Hot Flush (Sabres of Paradise remix) - Red Snapper {1995} ^[30]
• Mother India (Sabres At Dusk Mix) - Fun 'da' Mental {1995} ^[31]

References

1. Cooper, Sean. "The Sabres of Paradise | Biography & History". AllMusic . Retrieved 28 March 2016.
2. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 338. ISBN   0-7535-0427-8.
3. Cooper, Sean. "Sabresonic - The Sabres of Paradise". AllMusic . Retrieved 20 February 2020.
4. "Official Albums Chart Top 75: 17 October 1993 - 23 October 1993". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 20 February 2020.
5. "Albums And Tracks Of The Year: 1993". NME . 10 October 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
6. Cooper, Sean. "Haunted Dancehall - The Sabres of Paradise". AllMusic . Retrieved 20 February 2020.
7. "Official Albums Chart Top 100: 04 December 1994 - 10 December 1994". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 20 February 2020.
8. "Albums And Tracks Of The Year: 1994". NME . 10 October 2016. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
9. "Artists beginning with S". The Guardian . 21 November 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
10. "Sabresonic II - The Sabres of Paradise". AllMusic . Retrieved 20 February 2020.
11. "Official Albums Chart Top 100: 30 July 1995 - 05 August 1995". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 20 February 2020.
12. Cardew, Ben (30 July 2025). "Sabres of Paradise - The reunion interview, live at Primavera Sound". Line Noise. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
13. Eede, Christian (24 October 2024). "The Sabres Of Paradise Reunite for Live Shows 30 Years After Splitting". The Quietus. Retrieved 7 November 2025.
14. Knight, Sam (17 March 2017). "'London Bridge is down': the secret plan for the days after the Queen's death". The Guardian . Retrieved 27 August 2017.
15. Price, Christopher (11 September 2011). "Soundtracking 9/11". Huffington Post . Retrieved 27 August 2017.
16. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 478. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
17. Kolada, Brian (20 January 2018). "Classic track from Andrew Weatherall's Sabres Of Paradise group getting a vinyl release". Resident Advisor . Retrieved 20 February 2020.
18. "YouTube".
19. "spotify".
20. "YouTube".
21. "spotify".
22. "YouTube".
23. "spotify".
24. "YouTube".
25. "spotify".
26. "YouTube".
27. "spotify".
28. "YouTube".
29. "spotify".
30. "spotify".
31. "spotify".

External links

• The Sabres of Paradise at AllMusic
• The Sabres of Paradise discography at Discogs