i've never been really into holden, but i had heard many many good things about him live, so i was actually kind of intriegued to see him at the cocoon party in miami. he opened for sven vath in the main room. for those that know me, you know my musical tastes are pretty open minded and forward thinking, but the music that he played that night was just boring. nobody was into it, everyone was just standing around. the music seemed to be entirely to obscure and too abstract for a miami nightclub.

it was just slow with no real structure and didn't seem to go anywhere. i really went into this thinking i was going to be shown the "james holden light" so im honestly suprised with my negative reaction. his set just didnt have any drive and there was no energy when sven came on. if you've heard sven, you know he plays a bit hard. i'm a big fan of a lot of warm up music, but there was nothing warm about james' set. it just seemed quite odd and i dont know, i guess my expectations were too high.

so what is it about james that gets a lot of you guys off? i'm all for forward thinking music, but this just wasn't danceable. i've heard other sets where i felt the same thing, however i just assummed listening to it on pc speakers didn't give it justice (i.e minimal).

Re: James Holden

nope, I feel the same way about holden. His sets just always lack that oomph and definitely lack any sort of direction. :roll:

Re: James Holden

that and he can't mix. listen to the kiss 100 for proof, cool tracks tho. stick to producing, plz.

Re: James Holden

yea, james holden can get VERY abstract at times and get lost in his own musical world, to be honest i dont even think he's even that great of a dj, he can mix sure, but his track selection leaves alot to be desired.

his strengths lie in his production work.

also, this may have something to do with it :p

[url]http://www.higher-frequency.com/e_news/february05_i/28/6.htm[/url]

Re: James Holden

^ bar his balance disc 1 I havent liked any of his dj sets to be honest. Too out there, too wacky, to obscure. He might do well to remember that most people go to a club to be entertained and to dance

Re: James Holden

at the controls is a good listen. the kiss mix was the loft set, right? i like that one alot...nice music on it. never seen him live, but i'd like to.

what he's doing now is sooooo much better than the silver planet/nothing/break in the clouds crap

Re: James Holden

hmm. surprising to hear that you didn't enjoy the live show. currently holden is the man imo. he is the one guy that i really excited to see live next. i can see why a lot of people don't like his style. he seems to really be pushing a choppy style of electro/tech around. i wouldn't consider myself an electro kinda person, but james does it with a style that i feel is unmatched by a lot of dj's. he finds new ways to pump out beats in time measures that don't fit the rigid four four you find in a lot of house music. i played the drums for years and hear that he has a ear for off beats and how to make them sync up. maybe thats why people have a hard time dancing to it? i've been listening to his live sets quite a bit lately and keep getting amazed at how he can switch up the tempo and time measures from track to track while keeping a uniform feel to the set. his kiss 100 transition set i thought was amazing. like a quick greatest hits of his longer live sets. although, its possibly he was too forced to get all those big tracks of his into an hour set and maybe it felt choppy to others?

Re: James Holden

i still listen to his sets to catch some of the killer tunes he occasionally drops.

have you heard that nintendo synthy track in the loft set? fucking insane!!!

Re: James Holden

[img]http://www.higher-frequency.com/e_news/february05_i/28/6.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.wildlifesanctuaryfund.com/images/Lemer-cls-204.jpg[/img]

Re: James Holden

[quote=daveman]he seems to really be pushing a choppy style of electro/tech around.[/quote]

i dont know about this :lol: check out the tune text xxx by 5 green circle on traum schallplatten, now that is proper choppy tech!

Re: James Holden

[quote=anonin]i dont know about this :lol: check out the tune text xxx by 5 green circle on traum schallplatten, now that is proper choppy tech![/quote]

its not that i'm looking, or even into that kinda style. its just that with everyone not liking the direction edm is taking i am glad that an effect wizard like holden can put out some incredible remixes in the kinda style that people actually enjoy.

Re: James Holden

Lots of textures and moods great music

Re: James Holden

only pot?.....i thought he were into heroine or something....dont blaime me to think that....hes looks and his music looks alike

Re: James Holden

[quote=Digger]only pot?.....i thought he were into heroine or something....dont blaime me to think that....hes looks and his music looks alike[/quote] [SIZE=6] LOL![SIZE=2]

[/SIZE][/SIZE]

Re: James Holden

im into the majority of his stuff, melodic stuff always grabs me. yes some of it isnt very dancey but electronic music is more than just dancing your sox off. at the controls is in my stereo constantly at the minute. everyone has their own opinion of course

Re: James Holden

IMO his mixing has gotten worlds better from what it was just a couple of years ago. It sometimes almost sounds like he's using Ableton but I've never read anything or seen him live to be able to determine whether he toys with it or not. There are a few mixes of his that have grabbed me, but they're usually pumping. I could see catching him live being a bore since it would really be more of a concert rather than a DJ.

Re: James Holden

you guys are just all pissed coz he doesnt make trance any more

Re: James Holden

^I actually think his track selection and mixing is way better now with his change to techy beats. It really does tend to be his lack of programming and hence direction that bores me.

Re: James Holden

[quote=Lrn][URL="http://www.higher-frequency.com/e_news/february05_i/28/6.jpg"][IMG]http://www.higher-frequency.com/e_news/february05_i/28/6.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL="http://www.wildlifesanctuaryfund.com/images/Lemer-cls-204.jpg"][IMG]http://www.wildlifesanctuaryfund.com/images/Lemer-cls-204.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/quote]

yup twins :lol:

Re: James Holden

i dont know i fell in love with nathan fakes essentail mix from a few weeks back and if james holdens label is responible for producing nathan fakes new cd, then i cant hate on his experimental stuff

Re: James Holden

his balance cd's are fantastic on a massive stero system system (good quality stero system);

probably all computer mixed but great stuff - havent heard anything as good from him since tho

Re: James Holden

i have never hear a good holden set:|

Re: James Holden

I really enjoyed his Transitions set. I don't think its really danceable, but for listening its ace.

Re: James Holden

It took me a while to warm up to holden and his style of music. Off course balance was the first to grab my attention and he has pushed the boundaries of new and everchanging music we all enjoy. He has unique style that some don't enjoy, but at the contols is incredible. Granted its not 2am club pounding beats buts it pushing the envelope and making us consider a new sound. you can't put that down. holden is on top of his game. keep him at the controls!!

Re: James Holden

[quote=solidify] keep him at the controls!![/quote]

and set the controlls for the heart of the sun 8)

Re: James Holden

You guys wanna have a laugh? Well let me tell you, to me Holden is so far ahead of the game, right now, that if you ask me my top 3 DJ?s, I?ll say nr. 1 is Holden on a good night and nr. 2 is Holden on a bad night. Then I?ll say someone totally different like Desyn masiello at nr. 3.

I understand why some people don?t like his stuff...I think at this point in time there?s no middle ground with James Holden, you love it or hate it. I can totally see why people say you can?t dance to it, or that it?s boring. His stuff ain?t pre-digested, it ain?t sweetened for you, it?s not straight ahead four by four stuff, it?s music to move your body, fuck your brain and twist your soul.It demands more than booty-shaking from people. Hell, I love his stuff, but I can?t listen to it all the time! It?s hard and yeah, it can get into it?s own space too much.

Maybe because, these days, I don?t go out as much, I don?t club as much, his sound right now caught me in a frame of mind where it is exactly want I want to hear. It challenges me, it opens my mind to new sounds, it has shown me new types of music, and for someone interested in music production, it shows me you can create progressive dance music without sticking to any rules, either of structure or sound.

But if someone caught his set that I posted a few weeks back in the P & R forum, live at Barcelona?s Sonar festival...how can you call that boring? I was there and it was insane, people were losing their minds, they were dancing, pumping fists, headbanging, screaming...

Oh and one more thing that I totally respect...even when playing the Essential Mix or Digweed?s show, he stuck to his stuff...he didn?t tone it down...you had the tech-funk bits, the glitchy bits, the mindfuck bits and the scary evil shit...and sometimes, just a little melody to take you out of hell and remind you there?s a heaven.

Fanboy? Totally.

Re: James Holden

great producer, mediocre dj.. IMO

Re: James Holden

[quote=Steve Graham]great producer, mediocre dj.. IMO[/quote]

+1

Re: James Holden

lots of good responses...

I guess the thing with holden is you really just dont know what to expect at times. most dj's i see , i already have a good inclination of what type of sounds i'm going to be hearing. holden is pretty much one of the last dj's who really can be all over the board...sometimes in the same night.

I had heard a wmc set from bed i think of 05 or 04 and it was some more driving techy acidy house stuff (none of which i recognized) so i guess i assumed he would turn it up a bit for the conference. i think a lot of it had to do with the timing as well, like i said he was opening but it's 1am in miami at nocturnal, so the music just didn't fit the atmosphere imo. perhaps at 6am after the tiefshwarz set and a spliff or two and a nice couch i could of taken his set into another light.

Re: James Holden

I love his balance cds, I really like some of his sets... Have only seen him once and he was amazing at the controls... :shock: And it wasn't only my opinion, he had the dancefloor going crazy, great contact with the audience too. Mixing was spot on, as somebody said he's got an ability to mingle 2 totally different beats together... In a review of that night some dude said that he's a mathematician's approach to mixing and I guess there's some truth in this :lol: So I can't really relate to all those negative opinions... I will surely check him out next time he comes here and see if that night was an exception or the rule ;)

Re: James Holden

I read this thread before I got to the Kiss mix, so I was curious to see how it was. Anyway, I liked it a lot, but I've always liked the experimental stuff just as much as the "regular" stuff. That mix of Depeche Mode is wicked.

There were lots of great tracks, and I'd heard almost none of them before. So for me, a very enjoyable mix.

Re: James Holden

i remember hearing some older sets by holden and he was playing all the tracks sasha was how origional:roll: :evil:

Re: James Holden

maybe it's because Sasha was playing all of Holden's stuff? :lol: he had a period of fascination with james work

Re: James Holden

I love Mr. Holden. Hands down beats any producer out there with beauty and emotional song appeal. He certainly has his own class and style.

His mixing is very strange and unique. Some of the sets I have heard are indeed on point, and some others I just feel he wants to create that cataclysmic feel.

I have much respect for the young chap. He does some excellent work.

Re: James Holden

[quote=ubiqe]maybe it's because Sasha was playing all of Holden's stuff? :lol: he had a period of fascination with james work[/quote]

:oops: if so i just got burned big time:twisted:

but yeah it was stuff sasha overplayed and then holden was playing it seemed like a copy cat but if it was his tracks i guess he has a right to play them of couse they sounded better when Sasha threw them down though ;)

Re: James Holden

^^^ was sasha clapping at the time? :lol:

Re: James Holden

I really like his production and studio mixes. As early as Fear of a Silver Planet the guy's been pushing music ahead.

Never seen him live, but some live mixes around are packed of very cool stuff. I guess since I don't go out clubbing I appreciate him in a different way. Certainly Miami does not seem to be the right place for his current style.

Re: James Holden

we need to ban anyone from jamesholden.com... those people are douchebags imo

Re: James Holden

I'm traveling to San Francsico to see him next month. Sometimes his sets can be a bit obscure, but he can also tear some shit up. I'm a big fan and have been from the begining, can't wait to see him.

Re: James Holden

i think he sometimes gets screwed by who he is playing with and his timeslot.. i saw him last year.. and he came on after luke fair and before chris fortier.. so of course it seemed a bit of a let down.. but take nothing away from him, he knows what he is doing even if no one else does, lol.