Search - James Holden :: Balance 005

The Progressive Torrent: Wave and Synchrocity

Infinite Catalyst | Monument, CO | 01/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Since the trance/house/breakbeat explosion hit the mainstream market around 98/99 the world gasped in awe as electronic music revealed itself not only as disco and dance music confined to clubs, but throbbing beats and melodies that enhance epic movie scenes and rush the mind with panoptic frequencies, flooding the cerebral cortex with dopamine and serotonin.

Ever since mainstream explosion, (and subsequent increases in funding) Dj's have flourished, some as residents in clubs, some as producers and actual production specialists. In that time Dj's, and their growing base of listeners realized what was now capable, with Einsteins theories on Electron behavior and Mozart's revolutionary theory in his symphonies. Someone and something needed to put the two together.



Enter James Holden, feeding the parched ears and watering mouths that have longed for the most extreme use of mathematics in beat, ambient echoes in song, and musical theory in melody.



James Holden Joins the upper echelon of electronic masters with this CD released in a series of other Balance CD's. (Phil Kieran, 04, Anthony Pappa 06, Kacey Taylor 03, etc.)

In Balance 05 the term progressive (which some ignorants view as to mean monotony, or slow transition) is defined through the medium of house, and authentic evolved house. Holden is a prodigy. He is arguably a gypsies Mozart of electronica, having the musical sense of a maestro, and more importantly the transitional intuition of his greatest predecessors.

Holden picks up where Juan Atkins, Sasha, Nick Warren, Hernan Cattaneo and other house greats left off, yet he keeps to tradition and incorporates all the things the rest of us enthusiasts have been waiting for. Epic, washing, aurally suffusing musical theory with punctual and aching beat.



The first track, The MFA's "The Difference it Makes," pays homage to the roots of house: disco. A classic house beat is washed with flowing pulsing synth. I'm not talking Crystal Method synth, I'm not talking Depeche Mode Synth, I'm talking about heavily engineered complex pentatonic octave bending synth. Chord progression reaches Sehnsuct.



Holden's sense of swell, build, phase, reverb, frequency, and bass line complimentary are nothing short of the intricacies that can be found in the roar of a waterfall as the London Symphonic Orchestra performs Gustav Holst's Planets Symphony.

Pardon me if I'm babbling, I'm listening to it right now, and words and description beg to leap from my fingers. That's the kind of music I want to listen to. That's the kind of music that belongs in the fantastic themes of our movies; this is the kind of music that blows your mind more than any hallucinogenic substance has capability of. Just look at the track list. For those of you familiar with the scene you can recognize legitimate vinyls when you see them, and for you newcomers, trust us.





Buy this CD. Become a tourist of the cosmos as Holden guides you through the vast reaches of space, through pitch black Chasms of dark energy and shadowy house, through the garish colors of gaseous nebula with ambient epic anthem, to the center of our galaxy where light is so bright you'll swear your retinas are burnt and your eardrums bleeding after your done with this mix."

TOPOR

T. Scarisbrick | 02/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I grant this mix to be the most important release in the past few years. The fuzzyness and uncertanty of many opinions about this music will hopefuly be a little cleared up with this cd. It collects everything we always wish for in our music: beautiful melodies carved out of well-processed' sounds, intelligent percussion, even minimalism, full-filling beats, melodic basslines. Every part of this album seems to work with any other part. Be it the MFAs' "Difference it makes' or Petters'"Tonediary" everything seems to transform itself into another movement.
The devoted listeners will agree that technically in the past few years our music has been getting more and more complex, I think that it is the reason of the decline in the more trancy approach now that musicians are focusing a lot more on the different changes that this music brings to the brain. Before, the atmosphere around you seemed to be the main focus of the dance music. Now the atmosphere of the mind seems to be taking hold.
James Holden brought one of the first results of these experiments into light with his Balance. It is very techno-friendly with the lightness of Holdens style showing through. It is dreamy, and yet it makes me feel very strange, something that has been boiling inside, that feeling that a lot of electronic music brings has been magnified.
The bottom line, the mainline;) of this review is that this music brings undescribable pleasure and a view of the future.brilliant"

The best progressive dance mix ever (sorry sasha !)

alexisalex | uk | 12/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From the first time I played this I absolutely loved it! This is a fantstic 2 cd set,where both cds are very different but great ! (Slight preference for cd2, but absolutely love both).The comparison with sasha is apt, (in the sense that if you like sasha you will love james holden). Wonderful selection of tracks, uplifting,progressive, experimental,interesting,trippy,and very very dancey !), and unbelievable mixing. Superb! Wonderful ! Shot straight to the top of the list.



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