Sean Johnston: 10 Tracks that Define ‘A Love From Outer Space’
Cameron Holbrook
The epiphany came when the late Andrew Weatherall found himself in a bookshop, picked up a random book, and opened it up to find an eye-catching illustration of a man wearing a blindfold. Andrew Weatherall — a man widely regarded as one of the UK's most prized selectors, DJs, producers, and all-around giants of the underground — approached seasoned DJ/producer and Hardway Bros member Sean Johnston with the image. This illustration would become the logo for their new moniker and coveted club night: A Love From Outer Space (ALFOS).
Through their shared love of the slowed-down rhythms of new beat, knotty disco, kosmische, speaker-shaking dub, and slothful psychedelic music, Andrew and Sean started the project back in 2010 with the uninhibited and unassuming attitude of simply playing the music they want to play. What started as a simple dance floor gathering amongst mates quickly turned into one of the UK's most storied and singular club nights. The event would go on to garner a fiercely loyal and cult-like dance floor community of individuals who love adventurous sets that never dip above 122 BPM and for those who resonate with the ALFOS ethos: body music for discerning musical ears, first and foremost.
The untimely passing of Andrew Weatherall in 2020 left a gaping hole in the heart of music enthusiasts from every corner of the scene, but in honor of his late musical cohort, Sean Johnston has carried on the mantel — bringing A Love From Outer Space back to the disco and nurturing the collective bond of the community they built together on a more global scale.
In honor of the 15-year anniversary of ALFOS, Sean Johnston has compiled and mixed a stellar 19-track compilation titled after their namesake, A Love From Outer Space. Featuring an abundance of hidden gems and exclusive sounds that pay tribute to their club night while both honoring the past and embracing the future, we touched base with Sean Johnston to walk us through ten of this compilation's phenomenal tracks.
Via mid-80's pop sophistication, to unlikely Balearic Beat heroes, (La Passionara), The Blow Monkeys, represented here by the previously unreleased Neville Watson remix of "Save Me", helped define the sound of the nascent ALFOS nights at The Drop in Stoke Newington, and as championed by Andrew.
Jonny Sender’s "Zhivago Zhivago" blends his deep roots in New York's 1980s underground scene (Konk), with European influences, particularly from Geneva, where he had been DJing. After reconnecting with "In Flagranti", Sasa and Alex, they collaborated on tracks, reviving connections with old friends like Sal P. ("Liquid Liquid") and Justin Strauss ("Whatever Whatever"). Inspired by deep house and techno's unconventional phrasing, Jonny slowed the tempo to create a more cosmic sound. The soundtrack to ALFOS on the Adriatic.
Released on Prins Thomas' Full Pupp label, Lars Christian distills the scandolearic beat to its purest arpeggiated essence. First aired at Convenanza Festival in its brief Sete incarnation - music to fall down stairs to...
Eddie Rushca has a strong pedigree in avant electronics with projects including The Laughing Light of Plenty, The Naturals, and Future Pigeon, but his solo Secret Circuit project produced a number of tracks cherished by the ALFOS faithfull. Lux Fragil resident, Tiago, turned in this masterful cosmic disco remix which subtly references The Spencer Davis Group, (or possibly Macho), which has proved to be an outright anthem at the club over the years.
Released on Golden Bug's La Belle Records, Tel Aviv based producer, Niv Ast, turns in a relentless but irresistible jungle percussion workout, which functions both as a DJ mix tool, and late night floor detonator.
Kimo, one of Southeast Asia's rising stars, has previously released records on his own label, Double Deer and Is it Balearic Recordings. This outing for a reinvigorated Paper Recordings, proved to be a perennial Weatherall festival favourite.
Is there a more conspicuous acid house instigator than Quinn Whalley? Best known for his contributions to Paranoid London, Decius and Warmduscher, (if that wasn't enough), he also had the distinction of a release as Slack on Andrew's Sabres of Paradise label. A serial collaborator, Whalley has also had a hand in numerous, anonymous aliases, including Popular Tyre, who were purveyors of wonky vocoder disco - an esoteric project, largely championed by myself alone. Quinn found "Lazer Beam" as an abandoned project on a derelict hard drive and kindly shared it as an item of interest. Subsequent plays at ALFOS confirmed its status as an ALFOS classic and it is released exclusively for the first time on this compilation.
Some may find the appearance of Phil Kieran and Andrew Weatherall on Hot Creations incongruous, but what a beautiful anomaly this is! Phil is a Belfast-based DJ, electronic music producer, and composer known for his work across film, TV, and theatre and long term friend of ALFOS. In the aftermath of Andrew's passing, during lockdown, and with time on my hands I started working my way through his less familiar productions. I was almost rendered speechless by the beauty of this remix, which I believe to be one of his best ever productions. Subsequent plays at Phonox confirmed its status.
Das Komplex, aka Marcin Łukaszewicz, is often hailed as the uncrowned king of Polish nu-disco, and a global ambassador for the thriving Polish electronic music scene. His fans include heavyweights like DJ Harvey. In recent years, Das Komplex has released music on renowned labels such as Pets, Love On The Rocks, FASRAT, Young Adults, and King of Kong and his tracks have been a constant in ALFOS sets over the years. Only fitting then, that we should call on Marcin for an exclusive production for this compilation.
Brioski first came to our attention via The Emperor Machine remix of Radio Anatomy which was popular in the very early days, later reinforced by his Boot & Tax project, another ALFOS favourite. Subsequent social media outreach to Claudio produced a number of demos which included Late Night, Hey Gringo and Calling 626, all of which became firm favourites at the club. Late Night and Hey Gringo were picked up by Throne of Blood for release, but Calling 626 which closed numerous parties remained unreleased and highly sought after, until now.
Sean Johnston's A Love From Outer Space compilation is out now via Material Music Curates. Buy it on Beatport.
