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meet james holden.............
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| dvanatten |
James Holden is far from your average London DJ-producer.
www.myspace.com/iamtherealjamesholden
Musically he is also a million miles from the faceless repetitive beats mentality of so many of his peers, much more likely to be listening to leftfield albums from the likes of Mogwai, Four Tet or Boards of Canada than the latest essential mix CD. James Holden is a young man plotting a course through the music world all of his very own, putting some personality back into dance music and refusing to stay in the pigeonholes where other people seem so keen to shove him.
It all starts at age 19, with a track called "Horizons". Written during his summer holidays from his maths degree at Oxford University on a £500 PC and a piece of revolutionary music software called Buzz (a freeware internet download), this crossover anthem of the summer of 1999 propelled young James and his bedroom set-up into the top flight of dance music production. The rest, as they say, is history.
James has taken his computer production to a whole other level, exploiting the full potential which the new software opens up and unleashing a life of its own where others merely try to recreate what you could do on conventional studio equipment.
To a music world overly obsessed by scenes, the James Holden success story reads like a catalogue of contradictions. 2003's collaboration with vocalist Julie Thompson, "Nothing", was picked up by legendary UK house label Loaded, yet proclaimed by trance legend Tiesto to be his tune of the year. James has remixed everything from Crosstown Rebels electro-house to Positiva dance-pop; New Order to Britney Spears; Timo Maas dirty breaks to System 7 psy-trance; fast-rising young upstart Nathan Fake to Kirsty Hawkshaw's timeless classic "Fine Day". Meanwhile "A Break in the Clouds", the debut release on his own Border Community label, has become an underground European techno classic, still selling by the thousand a whole year after release, making its way onto compilations from Luke Slater and Monika Kruse, and winning Holden a firm following amongst the ever forward-thinking German dance fraternity.
More recent developments on the studio front include new Holden & Thompson track "Come To Me", scheduled for release next year, and, after a couple of years respite from remixing, a fistful of new Holden remixes: the nintendo acid and tripped out vocal mixes of Britney Spears' "Breathe on Me"; a psychedelic electro-trance version of Nathan Fake's "The Sky Was Pink"; the dancefloor dub of System 7's "Planet 7"; and the frantic animals of Andre Kraml's "Safari" for Crosstown Rebels. Also poised on the horizon is an EP worth of new Holden tracks and, following on from 2002's "Bloodlock" co-write on none other than Sasha's "Airdrawndagger" album, a couple of collaborations with scene stalwarts Ashley Casselle and Slacker.
James' own DJ sets embrace the same spirit of eclecticism as his productions, uniting his own tracks and remixes with acid house, techno, electro and downtempo melodies, as demonstrated on last year's groundbreaking Balance 005 mix CD. "Aphex Twin doing Ferry Corsten up the bum" is James' current (rather unsavoury) description of choice. On the borders of everything yet at the same time accessible enough to be slap bang in the middle of it all, Holden's own steadfast musical vision and his often unorthodox fusion of tracks which the purists have traditionally grouped into distinct genres have won him dedicated followiers the world over. One of a handful of young DJs who have been allowed to rise up the ranks in recent years whose age bears more relation to that of the majority of club punters, the coming year promises business as usual, taking in every corner of Europe, a tour of Australia and Asia and regular trips to the USA.
Mix CD Stream: http://music.download.com/fullalbum...-100987662.html
James' sets are always topped off with a huge helping of previously unheard fresh young production talent, many of whom have found a home on his Border Community label. In just one year the label has gained a reputation as a breeding ground for similarly free-spirited genre-benders, with every release fusing solid dancefloor rockers with leftfield ambient interpretations and handy dj tools. "Border Community is my favourite thing that I do at the moment," says James. "It is really rewarding seeing the young artists we release go on to do great things." Names like Nathan Fake, Petter and The MFA are now following James' lead and already beginning to leave their own unique indellible imprints on the production world. James is also keen to take his troop of multi-talented live acts and DJs on the road with him, bringing the Border Community roadshow to a town near you.
Press:
www.stylusmagazines.com/reviews/jam...are-winning.htm
www.residentadvisor.net/review_view.asp?ID=3725
www.progressive-sounds.com/Music-Re...Balance-005.asp |
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| Demoted |
| ehm... pointless spam? |
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| Scottaculous |
| I already met James Holden and he is cool. And most, if not all, of us know his music. His Balance CD is amazing. Then he got more esoteric and experimental. |
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| nchs09 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Scottaculous
I already met James Holden and he is cool. And most, if not all, of us know his music. His Balance CD is amazing. Then he got more esoteric and experimental. |
meh.... nothing good has been coming out of holden for about a year..... :/ anyhow whats the point of this thread? its as dumb as my "meet the yard" or dance the yard or stopm the yard or wtvr that dumb thread i made a couple of days ago. |
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| Demoted |
| quote: | Originally posted by nchs09
meh.... nothing good has been coming out of holden for about a year..... |
The At The Controls compilation was ing mint. And I like Lump and Idiot off of The Idiots Are Winning. |
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| monkchichi |
| I mean if he listens to Four Tet he can't be all that boring but um yeah what's with the literary blowjob? |
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| dvanatten |
| The point of this thread is for people who don't know who james holden is, to be introduced to him. This thread is also a teaser for the date that he will be coming to atlanta. |
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| Mr. Pink |
consider me ignorant and lazy,
but when will he be here?:conf: |
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| ThomBizznitch |
| quote: | Originally posted by dvanatten
tba |
how do you know he is coming to atlanta???
and i knew if i prayed hard enough it would happen!!!!!
and if you are fibbing... i will find you and make you buy me a plane ticket to england or where ever his next gig is and go with me and pay for all my expenses and do what i tell you to do... haha...
:whip: :stongue: :whip: :stongue:
IT IS TRUE... http://www.tca-web.com/events.cfm OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG I AM GONNA BE UP FRONT ALL NIGHT ING GOING NUTS!!! |
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| Scottaculous |
| nice pull :D |
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| dvanatten |
| :) I'm glad you all are as excited as we are! Official post to come in about a week with ticket information..... |
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