Following the dissolution of both his Sabres of Paradise project and its associated label, U.K. dance figure Andrew Weatherall established the three-part Emissions label collective. Through this venture he introduced Two Lone Swordsmen, a partnership formed in early 1996 with Emissions engineer Keith Tenniswood that would become his most ambitious endeavor to date. Although the duo retained the warped, downtempo grooves familiar from earlier Sabres recordings such as "Smokebelch" and "Wilmott," they shifted toward a framework built on minimal electronics and taut, brittle electro-funk. Their debut full-length, the expansive double-CD/triple-LP The Fifth Mission, appeared in 1996 and was bookended by the EPs "Tenth Mission" and "Third Mission." Later that year they issued two further LP-length remix collections, each titled Swimming Not Skimming yet featuring distinct track listings on the CD and vinyl editions. By year's end the pair had completed at least six additional remixes for artists including Slab, Alter Ego, Sneaker Pimps, and David Holmes. Release activity remained steady through the decade's close, yielding the albums Stay Down in 1998 and Tiny Reminders in 2000, along with several mini-LPs, all issued after a new arrangement with Warp. In 2001 they returned with the Further Reminders EP, followed in 2004 by the remix anthology Peppered with Spastic Magic and the post-punk- and electro-inspired album From the Double Gone Chapel. The comparatively rock-leaning Wrong Meetings arrived in 2007.
