Return of Weatherall: Stray Harmonix – Mountain of One #Ambient #Electronic

This isn’t really Weatherall returning. His passing in February 2020 still seems inexplicable and some kind of cosmic joke. In the aftermath I’d meant to do a series on Weatherall but have yet to find the heart to do so. Bagging Area had Daniel Avery’s tribute – Lone Swordsmen – a few days ago. Here’s Stray Harmonix with theirs.
Stray Harmonix have more cause than most to mourn Weatherall’s passing. They are Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns. Record producer Jagz Kooner and multi-Instrumentalist Gary Burns, alongside Weatherall, were the founding members of Sabres of Paradise. Hard to believe that it’s been 23 years since they worked together. The accompanying material says “Having been reunited at the passing of Andrew Weatherall in early 2020, they agreed to rekindle their production sound and Stray Harmonix was born.
The track is Mountain of One and it’s dedicated to Weatherall. It’s a hard listen in many ways. There’s an ominous tolling of bells quality to the cinematic electronics. It is ambient in an abstract, far off kind of way. It has an inward infinite sadness. An elegiac piano floats around the track as sounds wheeze and strings drone. Magnificent mournful music.
Lovely stuff. Great to hear them back together again.