SOUNDS FROM THE FLIGHTPATH ESTATE (VOLUME TWO)

Those of you who spend time immersed in the Bagging Area will know that Swiss Adam is part of a collective known as The Flightpath Estate, a Facebook group dedicated to the music, art and work of Andrew Weatherall.  It was established in 2013 and has become a virtual home to his fans, friends and family. It is also the host of the Weatherdrive – thousands of hours of recordings of Andrew Weatherall’s DJ sets, mixes and radio shows.

In recent years, the collective has been part of regular shows put on at The Golden Lion in Todmorden, a pub, music venue and community hub within the small town in West Yorkshire, close to its border with Lancashire.  Back in February 2024, the collective compiled a double LP – Songs From The Flightpath Estate –  which sold out its pressing of 1,000 copies within a few weeks, and in doing so raised more than £6000 for charities.

Volume Two, of which 1500 copies were pressed, came out at the end of last month.  Ten more tracks inspired and influenced by the spirit of Andrew Weatherall, again exclusively on vinyl.  It’s the sort of music that, more often than not, takes me out of my comfort zone….and yet, I am quite happy to suggest that this must be one of the best releases of 2025.

Even before the vinyl was put on to the turntable, I got a sense of excitement from reading Adam’s sleevenotes which provide the background to the process that has gone into compiling the record along with a description of each performer and each track.

The ten tracks take 68 minutes to listen to.  It opens up with the longest of them all, twelve-and-a-half minutes of what is a previously unreleased Sabres of Paradise track that had been stored on DAT after being worked up a few years back – 1993 to be precise.  Lick Wid Nit Wit (From The Flightpath Estate Mix) is an extraordinary recording/mix, amid-uptempo number dominated by a jazzy bassline and perfect percussion while being underpinned by an organ and synthetic strings.  It is hypnotic and captivating.

I was so blown away by the track, that I thought it would be a hard task to maintain the standard, but somehow, they just about do it, although Dicky Continental has a near impossible task to really hold a listener’s attention with Large Bongos, the second track on Side A, but being the most soulful of the ten cuts, it does fit in perfectly after the mind-blowing opener.

Side B of the record was particularly enjoyable, consisting of two contributions with a running time of more than sixteen minutes. The first is by Unit 14, whose identity is shrouded in mystery as he/she/they don’t want to be known. The track is called Rough Spirit and I can’t do any better than use Adam’s description of it being ‘speaker-rattling techno of the highest calibre’.  It blends magnificently into Richard Fearless‘ offering, which is called Haywire in tribute to a club that he and Weatherall used to play in London.  These two tracks were blasted out especially loud one wet afternoon last week in what was an empty house, with the downstairs folk both out at work.  I am a considerate neighbour if nothing else.

Side C is taken up in turn by Los Angeles-based David Harrow whose Aanndee was fascinating; just as I thought I was getting comfortable early on and thinking of which Hacienda type acts to associate it with, it totally shifted in mood and tempo. Not the sort of music I’d ever have associated with LA, but again, really engrossing. It is followed by Red Snapper with Oraqeb, one which has a something of a TV/film soundtrack feel to it; finally there is another true highlight – Estate Kings (Number Rework) by Factory Records legends, A Certain Ratio. This offers more than a reminder of what Barry Adamson does so well – ‘Manc Noir’ to borrow another of Adam’s phrases in the sleevenotes.

Side D initially is turned over to the unknown/underground act of Bedford Fall Players, whose tune changes tempo on more than one occasion and whose title In The Trees (It’s Coming) can be attributed to the sample lifted from a 1957 horror film Night Of The Demon which became really well-known after Kate Bush used it on Hounds of Love.  It’s the sort of tune that would not sound out of place on BBC 6 Music.  It is followed by Richard Norris whose Brave Raver will surely take listeners back, initially at least, to 1989 when New Order released the majestic tour de force, Technique.  This is the one track more than any other I’ve gone back to.

The album closes out with Sleaford Mods, an act I can take or leave….and I’ll be kind by saying I’m glad that Sick When We X, a cover of a Two Lone Swordsmen track,  was stuck away at the end of things as I can gently lift the needle from the vinyl after the last note of the previous track is struck.

Neverthless, Sleaford Mods not withstanding, this is a superb offering.  Maybe not the sort of music you most associate with this little corner of t’internet, but I hope you’ve enjoyed me sharing my thoughts. Congratulations to Adam and the rest of the Flightpath Estate posse. You boys done good.

 

 

JC