Anyone checked this out yet? Listening to it now and wtf? The tracks range from "uh this sounds pretty cool" to "wtf is this bleepy epileptic noise" :shock:

What happend to this guy?!?!?! He's gone off the deep end :shock: :what

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

Haven't heard it. This an album?

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

He reckons he's in some war against people making "normal" music. Hope it spells disaster for him because I'm sick of the bs he dribbles on with in his interviews.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

Sure is a wierd lookin mofo.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

Yeah it's an album and yeah he looks weird. In fact, he looks like he's been ingesting too many mushrooms.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

Yeah he has some weird insights into music. His DM remixes are damn near undancable. His stuff is just too freaking strange for dancefloors, but the last few dj mixes I've heard from him have been pretty good. His Transitions mix was pretty sweet IMO.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

OK so I had to check this out...

My god this is bad. That's my review. 0/10 for this.

PS: In case my post above set a bad tone in advance for me... I loved Balance, I've loved almost everything to come out of Border Community - I'm not a hater.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

the DM remixes are hot... at least the one that he played in his Kiss 100 mix this year... I love that track. I also enjoyed Lump, however some of the other stuff on that release are crazy sounding...

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

is it mixed?

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

nevermind, the word is it's unmixed. bummer:(

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

Nope, single tracks. They seem to flow together though, when played on iTunes ... but hell, any bleeps would flow together.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

^^ haha

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

track 8 is outstanding :RockOn:

but all in all, I think it's a good album

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

I think it would be delusional to expect Holden to come out with a "dancefloor album" for his 1st artist album.

I haven´t heard it yet but I have made no secret that I consider Holden one of the few true geniuses out there, and I´m certainly not expecting him to "drop bombs" on this one, so I´m ready for anything.

However, I saw him live last 12th October and make no mistake, this guy is an awesome DJ, it was probably the best DJ set I´ve ever seen, sublime is the word that comes to mind, he creates an atmosphere of euphoria, psychedelia and strangeness like no other, hearing Petter´s "Some Polyphony" surrounded by a completely ecstatic dancefloor was one of the most amazing moments of musical communion I´ve ever experienced at a club. Same for Ellen Allien and Apparat´s "Jet".

And "A Break In The Clouds" will always be one of the most defining anthems in dance music history for me

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

Worse than the Nathan Fake album.

Far from a genius IMO.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

I've caught him DJ-ing and liked his early productions like most people, but this? :shock: There's no coherence in the music, you guys making any sense out of the tracks?

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

I'm gonna probably pick up the new Agoria album instead.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

Haven't heard this album yet and it might be a collection of bleeps, but that's what I've always heard people saying about Sonic Youth as well (a collection of guitar noises). I'm sure there is SOME coherence to be found in the tracks and if not, well it's always interesting to see a new and weird approach on music anyway. Might check it out.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

[quote=man_who_wasnt_there;398943]Worse than the Nathan Fake album.

Far from a genius IMO.[/quote]

You are implying that Nathan Fakes album was bad. Thats probably the most ridiculous thing I've read on this board.

Anyway .... this release is a bit pretentious but there are a few great tracks on there. I certainly wouldn't consider it a bad album. Judging from everyones response to it I guess I just don't understand what you people were expecting? Is it really that much of a surprise?

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

[quote=feather;398947]There's no coherence in the music, you guys making any sense out of the tracks?[/quote]

Keep [I]listening[/I]. In [B]order[/B]. Until you [U]like it[/U].

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

[QUOTE=Kinetic;398940]I think it would be delusional to expect Holden to come out with a "dancefloor album" for his 1st artist album. [/QUOTE]

Nobody was expecting a dancefloor album...

There's no cohesion, there's no melody, this whole album has nothing.

Frankly it doesn't even sound that twisted, which was about his only saving grace in the first place.

Idiot Clapsolo is about the only thing on the album which has an appealing arrangement to me, which in turn saves Idiot a little as well.

Lump and Cordury sound as if they're built exactly the same to me, just with different noise.

That's about all worth mentioning on the album.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

[quote]Thats probably the most ridiculous thing I've read on this board.[/quote]

Same could be said for your comment.

I've listened to 100s of albums like most on here and Nathan Fake's was simply a poor attempt. Happens all too often that producers fail to produce when it comes to an LP.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

[quote]Nobody was expecting a dancefloor album...[/quote]

Exactly, people were only expecting something worth listening to, unfortunately this ain't.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

I didn't know what to expect because I know his sound has changed drastically, which I thought left me in an open frame of mind to check out the album (took me a few days before I got around to it), which is why this is even more of a shock. I've heard twisted shit and this is not twisted. I've heard stuff by Noto and Ryuchi Sakamoto which I thought was pretty abstract and this is not it.

Come on, look at Holden's track record: Break in the clouds. Fine Day. Solstice. I have put out the light. Even Kaen Turned. Regardless of how dancefloor-friendly his productions were/are, at least those tunes made some sense. There comes a point in creativity or art where it becomes self-indulgent.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

[quote=man_who_wasnt_there;398961]Exactly, people were only expecting something worth listening to, unfortunately this ain't.[/quote]

I didn´t express myself correctly, what I meant is that if people know Holden´s work somewhat, then they should know that it was never going to be easy listening, immediate stuff, the Silver Planet/Balance days are far behind.

The Sonic Youth comment made earlier is completely spot-on, I´ve made that comparison before, to me Holden is to dance music what SY were to rock in the late 80´s, he takes dance music music conventions and subverts them,

Anyway, I´m listening to it and I like it a lot: I think it is a coherent album and above all, it is completely in line with his more recent stuff (and most Border Community releases too), so that´s probably the comment I find most strange amongst your opinions. Chaos, imperfection and silence seem to be things that he purposely picks up and tries to organize into a whole and he succeeds mostly, just like Aphex, Squarepusher, Mu-Ziq or Four Tet. I´d say this is a good album for anyone into that type of stuff.

[QUOTE]There comes a point in creativity or art where it becomes self-indulgent[/QUOTE]

Now with that one I might agree. It is clearly an "egotistical" album, Holden did exactly what he felt like doing, he certainly doesn´t seem to cater to anyone here, it´s a case of "fine if you like it, fine if you don´t". There´s always been and there always will be artists like Holden, who seem to defy conventions by being so self-centered. I always remember what I´ve heard about The Velvet Underground : almost no one liked them while they existed, but everyone that did, eventually started a band

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

All of which is fair enough Kinetic but this album isn't for me. Though I do like the artists you've listed, including FSOL (definitely no comparison intended).

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

[quote=feather;398965]

Come on, look at Holden's track record: Break in the clouds. Fine Day. Solstice. I have put out the light. Even Kaen Turned. quote]

Please don't forget Horizons, and of course his work with Mainline ... who could forget Inner Space and Narcotic!!!

I haven't heard this album yet, and I am a tad discouraged by the comments on the forum. I may well just stick to listening to his Balance album ... Nathan Fake - Outhouse .... mmmmmm

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

he is a weird lookin dude, he's got such a long neck (probably from consistently pulling his head out of his ass). now i love james holden, but his attitude needs to fucking go. i feel like he is insulting all the people in the industry around him, who play music that they like, that may not be ground breaking (god forbid). now saying that i do love his music, and i like 4 tet and all that stuff so i will buy it... but i am guessing i will not like it as much as his dancier stuff. these guys are trying a bit to hard imo, and need to take it down a notch. i kinda agree with the nathan fake comment above. i like a few songs on the album... but overall its just very average.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

Accadia - Into the dawn (james holden remix)

those were the days!

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

i think its alright. the nathan fake one was really good

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

man he must be overly medicated

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

where the hell can i listen to clips of this? i tried 3beat and itunes? boreder community does not have clips either?

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

I dont have much to add besides what Kinetic said earlier is spot on my opinion.

This album is something that takes time to enjoy, especially sitting through all of it at once. But at the same time, i like it a lot. Im not gonna be listening to this allt he time, but so far i have listened to it 3-4 times and every time i hear something new and different.

Yes this album is pure ego, but who cares as long as he makes good music. Sure the days of Nothing and A Break In The Clouds were amazing, but he moved on. Cant fault him for wanting to do something different.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

I'd just like to add this isnt his artist album. It's an EP with a bunch of tools, hence why it probably comes across as rather disjointed to most of you that are treating it like an album. As for a real artist album - that comes next year..

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

His Balance album was back when he was still into Prog, that's why it's good...at least the first cd IMO.

His Kiss100 Mix was pretty damn good i'd say. I can't seem to get into his productions though.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

[quote=man_who_wasnt_there;398960]Same could be said for your comment.

I've listened to 100s of albums like most on here and Nathan Fake's was simply a poor attempt. Happens all too often that producers fail to produce when it comes to an LP.[/quote]

I just don't understand your taste I guess. I read that you really liked John Grahams album (album of the year I seem to remember you calling it) so I'll just leave it at the fact that we obviously have [I]very[/I] different taste in music. To each his own.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

nevermind him tim, ninety percent of his posts are bourbon based.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

No point in ever comparing albums against compilations.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

a couple tracks i really enjoyed. just too damn weird for my taste. better luck next time.

Re: James Holden - The Idiots Are Winning

[quote=asdf_admin;399828]a couple tracks i really enjoyed. just too damn weird for my taste. better luck next time.[/quote]

I guess it is aptly titled then.