What Is It Holmes?

David Holmes's 1997 album Let's Get Killed was a mixed bag, as all his albums have been. The single, Don't Die Just Yet, was superb- trippy and moody with dramatic strings, and a Serge Gainsbourg sample. This is from the cd/12" single, Don't Chant Just Yet, where Holmes remixes his own track assisted by Tim Goldsworthy.

Don't Chant Just Yet

Select Shun Three

Third from Select magazine's free cds, an outtake from David Holmes' Bow Down To The Exit Sign. Song 1 is a lovely laidback instrumental, with strings similar to Don't Die Just Yet. Very nice. Also on the cd several bands who've been and gone- Regular Fries, Wookie, Lowgold, V-Twin, Add N To X, JJ72, ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Stanton Warriors and Slipknot which just goes to show that November 2000 wasn't a great time for music, and that I kept this cd solely for this Holmes track.

I'm sorry about the title pun- I'm bored of it's crapness already.

08 Song 1.wma

Exploding Plastic

While we're playing long dance records here's David Holmes' debut single Johnny Favourite from 1994. Recorded with Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns (two thirds of The Sabres Of Paradise) and released on Warp it's fair to say that this one goes on a bit. Just under sixteen minutes in fact. In that time Holmes manages pounding beats (that do sound very like Sabres), ambient breakdowns and all kinds of progressive house bits and bobs, before building to a pretty explosive ending.

Johnny Favourite [Exploding Plastic].mp3

I've Been Waiting So Long

A third track from David Holmes' mix on the London Xpress NME/Xfm free cd for you, following the Family Of God and Joy Zipper posts last week. This is Ella Fitzgerald covering hoary old rock band Cream's Sunshine Of Your Love, and it's really, really good, with horns replacing that guitar riff and predictably huge vocals.

I have now broken a Bagging Area unwritten rule of not posting anything by Eric Clapton, even though he doesn't appear on this. And yes Clapton apologists, I know, Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers etc, but it's a personal prejudice formed in the 1980s and I can't do anything about it.

19 Sunshine Of Your Love.wma

I Like Your Clothes When They're Undone

Also from the David Holmes mix on the 2000 London Xpress cd New York's Joy Zipper with Check Out My New Jesus. Distorted guitars, stoned drumming, l-a-z-y vocals about new jeans, Jesus and like other stuff man, and a general summery, narcotic haze. Tabitha Tindale and Vincent Cafiso went on to work with David Holmes and Kevin Shields, and be scuppered by collapsing record companies.

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God's Children

Here's an oddity.

Back in 2000 the NME and Xfm put a cd out, free with the NME, with mixes by Andrew Weatherall and David Holmes. I know that the idea of either NME or Xfm being associated with the distribution of good music may seem strange today, but stick with me.

The cd was called London Xpress. You can pick it up on ebay for a few quid. Weatherall contributed a mix of seven mainly minimal tech-house tracks. Holmes put in a brief alternative version of his legendary Essential Mix, opening with this track- Family Of God by Family Of God. It's laid back and trippy, has bah-bah-bah backing vocals and American children talking about their idea of what God is like. Listening to it, it seems to be recorded with a kind of Super 8 film quality (if that makes any sense), and actually would work really well with the Go! Team track I posted the other day now I think about it. Discogs says Family Of God were Adam Peters and Chris Brick who recorded a few albums and singles in the late 90s. That's the sum of knowledge I have about the them.

The rest of Holmes mix was equally druggy, electic and inspired, with an early Joy Zipper track (Check Out The Patches On My New Jeans), a couple of solo tracks from Bow Down To The Exit Sign, some Keith Mansfield, some Fred Neil, some Hot Butter and Ella Fitzgerald doing Sunshine Of Your Love. I'll stick some of it up here over the next week or so.

12 Family Of God.wma