Search - James Holden :: DJ-Kicks

Patlabor

Human_Patch_Office | Seattle | 06/08/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Its been a very long four years since James Holden has put out anything either in the way of a mix or original music. Funny as it may seem, when I saw this album I thought 'well gosh Autechre with thier wonderful Oversteps album and now a DJ Kicks album by James Holden? Excellent!' . . . But I say now with a heavy heart and after much consideration that this album has fallen short of what I believe Holden is capable of.



The album opens with a few peeping birds and ticking clock. A strange hym boots up, and then fine sounding claps. And then more music, and very good music. The opening tracks by Piano Magic, Grackie, Mordant Music, Maserati, Caribou and Luke Abbot all satisfy and draw you in to a paralytic listening mood which demands full concentration. And then by track seven foreign sounds begin to intrude , and something strange happens. This may be a matter of personal taste, but there is something very strident about the noises in 'The Sun Smells Too Loud'. I don't hate the song, its just very difficult to comprehend. I dare not question the creative impluses of an artist of James Holden's calibur, but there is something wrong with almost every song from about seven on. Excluding seven -- and this is my biggest source of dissatisfaction with this album -- it sounds like the track prior to the track currently playing is playing, and when the current song finally gets to stand on its own, the next song begins to play. This confusing orchestration continues for almost the rest of the album, and with songs as wild as these, it doesn't work for me (yes I know its a mix.). There's so much noise and chaos sounding during tracks that its hard to enjoy what I believe are good songs. For example, consider James Holden's song triangle folds. This song is really fantastic. The version featured on this album is still playing for a full two minutes and fifteen seconds into James Ruskin's 'definition of', marring the essential beauty of it. Sometimes this sort of thing works, but it doesn't on this album. Its hard to enjoy songs on this album because at all times no less than 3 songs are playing in muddled disharmony. These songs, in all of thier far corner, dark, abstractivness, almost offend the ear when blended together as they are on this album. They are also far too short in most cases (Auto Dimmer is a charming melody that sounds like bright pink smoke billowing off of an exploding spacecraft, clocking in at a mere 1:26).



Im going to contradict myself and tell you that this entire album is worth your money, and I believe that. There is something special here. The good songs outweigh the "bad" (again, too many songs playing at once), and there are some uncanny tracks (Never Fail, which comforts like a warm shower; Arwen Namarie, which sounds like the dead being resurrected to glory and eternal life). I just feel like im not allowed to really listen to the incredible track selection that Holden has put together here, and I feel like he dumped a bucket of oatmeal all over a large chunk of the album. I would actually give this 3.5 stars, and kudos because in true Holden fashion this album does stand apart from most if not all. There are just some issues that keep it from shining as brightly as it ought."

I love you Holden but it's Just Noise.

Norb | Colorado | 07/15/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I am a huge James Holden fan. I loved "At the Controls", his Balance album and "The Idiots are Winning". I even love some of his way old stuff with Thompson. My question is WTF?



This is just noise. Not a lot of solid beats or rhythm to latch on to. It sounds more like obscure noise mixed together with very little emotion to evoke. I will give him credit that the mixing is flawless. However, the tracks are so dissonant that it is at times incredibly unpleasant to listen to. There are some definite gems for tracks on here but they are boggled down by the clash. The Grackle, Eric Copeland and MIT tracks are superb. I am just wondering what the hell he was mixing into them to make the song and mix structure so awful. This basically sounds like a very slow and noisy version of Joris Voorn or Ritchie Hawtin's DE9 series with not a lot of relief.



I would like to think that I have a good ear for minimal, tech-house, progressive and introspective electronic music. But I can't wrap my head around this. I gave it two listens all the way through and gave up. I love you Holden, but please try again."