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James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

44 durable postsStarted 2004-10-11Latest 2015-07-10
#5369Post 1 of 44

Did anyone else make it to NYC to see this gem of a set? Holden was phenomenal and full of surprises. It was quite possibly the best set I've ever heard. Every track was stellar. Every sound was innovated with intention. The vibe and atmosphere thus created was huge.

I can't put the sounds into words, so I won't blaspheme the experience by trying to do so any further, but if anyone else was lucky to catch this set, they'll know what I mean.

Does anyone know if this set (or similar) is floating around somewhere? Track listing?

:HolyShit: Wow. :HolyShit:

#276412Post 2 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

Holden is a hero. I don't usually like melodic music cause it threads to close to the commercial cheese that is incessantly pumped out. James, however, is a genius ... not sure how he does it.

Long and short of it is.. HAS ANYONE GOT THE SET THIS GUY IS TALKING ABOUT? I WANT!! :)

#276415Post 3 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

You have sparked my interests! Try SLSK...

#279106Post 4 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

[web:0b3997cada]http://www.globalclubbing.ru/mp3.html?lang=en[/web:0b3997cada] James Holden is the man ! ! Here is a set from earlier this year probably not as current as you'd like but there's some great tracks ....

#279109Post 5 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

oh :Rolling:

#279115Post 6 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

He?s a good bloke is James, i just wish he?d stop harressing me outside Bedrock with his flyers. Makes good roach though. :lol:

Caught him a few times in London, very good DJ and a very nice bloke.

#279231Post 7 of 44

His exposure set from earlier this year is probably the best set of his I've heard this year. 3 hours long. It's got all his good shit in it. The set's a few months old, but it's got his journey all over it. Good to Great mixing also.

A torrent link to the set = [url]http://www.torrentbox.com/download.php/5008/james_holden_exposure_mp3.torrent[/url]

And the TL of the set. It's killar I tells you!

  1. petter - freak & love.
  2. Paul Jackson - The Way We Do It
  3. Petter - Untitled Acid
  4. Josh Wink - Oakish
  5. ID
  6. Scape one - Milieu (James Holden Edit) with Holden & Thompson - Nothing (acapella)
  7. PQM and Phil K - They just won't let me be
  8. Petter - All Together
  9. ID
  10. Agoria - la onzieme marche (Alexander Kowalski remix)
  11. ID
  12. Reinhard Voigt - Supertiel
  13. MFA - Difference it makes (Petter mix)
  14. Ozgur Can - Sometimes
  15. Jase From Outter Space - Do What You Want (Infusion Mix)

Part 2

  1. Jase From Outter Space - Do What You Want (Infusion Mix)
  2. The MFA - 2 Billion Year Journey
  3. Kosmas Epilson - Architech
  4. Nathan Fake - Adamedge
  5. ID
  6. Meerkat - Colours (James Holden Re-edit)
  7. Petter - Modern Eternity
  8. ID
  9. Britney Spears - Breathe On Me (James Holden Dub)
  10. Britney Spears - Breathe On Me (James Holden Club Mix)
  11. Perc - Closer (Nathan Fake Remix)
  12. Yilmaz Altanhan - Eighties
  13. The MFA - The Difference It Makes
  14. Petter - Left Turned
  15. Nikola Gala - Swing 2 Harmony

Part 3

  1. Nikola Gala - Swing 2 Harmony with PQM - You are Sleeping (Accapella)
  2. Filterheadz - Yimanya
  3. Luke Chable - Melburn with Holden & Thompson - Nothing (Accapella)
  4. The MFA - Motherload
  5. James Holden - I Have Put Out The Light
  6. Valentino - Flying (Sultan & Tonedepth Remix)
  7. ID

--djway

PS I'm in Australia, no I didn't hear Holden, but the Troopers have also given the set glowing reports!

#279416Post 8 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

Sunday was a great night. I doubt you'll find it on the net though... At least not so soon.

#279419Post 9 of 44

I saw him Friday night and he was very similar to a set of his from recently @ plattenburg (sp?). It was trancetastic at times too.

Technically he was good, but i didnt like the music all that much. Least i didnt pay that night hehe.

#279421Post 10 of 44

saw him play in chicago a few months ago.

he followed Mazi and Jay Tripwire.

biggest let down i've ever heard when James came on. The first three records were kicking acid (i'm guessing they were the only acid records he owned.) Then he proceeded to go into what sounded like one big record for the next hour or two. Wasn't overly impressed. Tripwire and Mazi freaking tore that place a new one tho.

#279426Post 11 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

Sunday nite Was great!! Only Problem was he ended Early??? o well

#279444Post 12 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

Yikes! have you ever heard good prog? maybe the best medicore unmixed trance set ever!

every set I've heard of his has been awful & when I was unfortunate enough to waste 10$ on him live the 30 minutes I heard made my ears bleed...I do not get what all the hype is?

where you on drugs?

#279445Post 13 of 44

^completely agree.

#279448Post 14 of 44

[quote=Jenks";p="64737] [b]he followed Mazi and Jay Tripwire.[/b]

biggest let down i've ever heard when James came on. The first three records were kicking acid (i'm guessing they were the only acid records he owned.) .[/quote]

looks as though they had the line up backwards... also seems like a bit of very very contrasting styles. IMO

#279451Post 15 of 44

lineup backwards indeed. although mazi and jay did play until around 2am i think...then holden's nonsense till 5am.

#279454Post 16 of 44

[quote=";p="64762] ^completely agree. [/quote]

^completely agree agree.

#279457Post 17 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

I wouldn't consider what he spun on sunday proggy at all. He started out with some minimal and built it up from there. During the peak hours I would call it melodic tech house... I do understand where the trance comments come from though because he was like that at Sullivan Room here last year...

#279459Post 18 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

[quote=kfitz";p="64777] He started out with some minimal .... During the peak hours I would call it melodic tech house... ...[/quote]

  1. James Holden wouldn't know minimal techno if it slapped him in the face.

  2. Melodic Tech House? There's a new one. :lol:

#279466Post 19 of 44

Ive seen some reviews that said he played a lot of prog but "good prog"...which to me is an oxymoron. either way you like what you like....

#279483Post 20 of 44

I love his production work and the Border Community artists he supports, and I think his Balance mix (which is more of a studio mix than a dj mix) is absolutely brilliant, but I've downloaded a few dj set and they don't do it for me. Dj'ing is a real art that requires years of nurturing, and moving the floor is not easy. For me the sets simply don't "move the floor" and lack a sense of rhythmic continuity that helps put people in a trance (i use this term in its real meaing) and lock them in a groove.

#279488Post 21 of 44

[quote=DreamGirlie";p="64786]Ive seen some reviews that said he played a lot of prog but "good prog"...which to me is an oxymoron. either way you like what you like....[/quote]

"good prog" is an oxymoron?

how so?

#279582Post 22 of 44

^because there isn't any. lol.

#279649Post 23 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

:LoveYou: :Bingo:

#279674Post 24 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

[quote=Jenks";p="64779][quote=kfitz";p="64777] He started out with some minimal .... During the peak hours I would call it melodic tech house... ...[/quote]

  1. James Holden wouldn't know minimal techno if it slapped him in the face.

  2. Melodic Tech House? There's a new one. :lol:[/quote]

  3. Typical elitist techno-head post. I have no idea how much JH "knows" about minimal but he used it effectively in his set. Deal with it...

  4. Maybe I described the sound poorly, maybe it was more like ambient techno or tech house with a ton of effects, but whatever it was it was neither proggy or trancey...

#279687Post 25 of 44

[quote=DreamGirlie";p="64786]Ive seen some reviews that said he played a lot of prog but "good prog"...which to me is an oxymoron. either way you like what you like....[/quote]

DG... I missed him at Avalon... But my friends that saw him said that it was a great show... Too damn bad because I love his work and would have loved to see him at the Avy.

#279698Post 26 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

[quote=kfitz";p="65013]

  1. Typical elitist techno-head post. I have no idea how much JH "knows" about minimal but he used it effectively in his set. Deal with it...[/quote]

:ROFLMAO: fair enough on the elitist techno head thing, but seriously man, i've seen JH live and i've seen countless minimal djs live as well, whatever it was JH was playing, i can assure you, it wasn't minimal techno. I'll give that kid his due in the studio, (hell, even i've played that spears dub thing he did.) Even the first part of his set (3-5 records) when i saw him live was pretty nails, but then it went downhill fast and into a boring hodge podge that sounded like one big fucking prog record. Of everything i've ever heard from him, records, sets, reviews, etc...never heard him get the minimal tag. If you wish, pm me, and i'll give you some links to some proper minimal techno, and if you tell me that's what james holden was playing, i'll eat my hat.

cheers

#279732Post 27 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

[quote=Jenks";p="65038][quote=kfitz";p="65013]

  1. Typical elitist techno-head post. I have no idea how much JH "knows" about minimal but he used it effectively in his set. Deal with it...[/quote]

:ROFLMAO: fair enough on the elitist techno head thing, but seriously man, i've seen JH live and i've seen countless minimal djs live as well, whatever it was JH was playing, i can assure you, it wasn't minimal techno. I'll give that kid his due in the studio, (hell, even i've played that spears dub thing he did.) Even the first part of his set (3-5 records) when i saw him live was pretty nails, but then it went downhill fast and into a boring hodge podge that sounded like one big fucking prog record. Of everything i've ever heard from him, records, sets, reviews, etc...never heard him get the minimal tag. If you wish, pm me, and i'll give you some links to some proper minimal techno, and if you tell me that's what james holden was playing, i'll eat my hat.

cheers[/quote]

I don't mean that he spun a minimal set. All I really mean was in the very beginning he spun a few minimal records and brought it up from there. I'm talking 2-3 tops. I respect your opinion of minimal and your opinion of JH on the night you saw him. Apparently the reviews have been pretty bad on most of the nights he's been in the US, but in NY he brought the goods. I wasn't much of a JH fan prior to Sunday, but I am now. As far as proper minimal is concerned, I'm not much of a spotter so I can't give you track names, but I've seen the likes of Hawtin, Magda, 112, etc on many occasions so I do know what quality minimal sounds like... As a matter of fact, I got to see StL's very own Drew Rasse the last time he came down here...

:Cheerz:

Yanks vs Cards in the WS!

#279751Post 28 of 44

oh good god, Drew. you know him?

#279759Post 29 of 44

[quote=Jenks";p="65095]oh good god, Drew. you know him?[/quote]

I don't know Drew but i know his brother Zach... Dennis Rodgers had him over for his birthday party...

#279876Post 30 of 44

[quote=themonk";p="64803]I love his production work and the Border Community artists he supports, and I think his Balance mix (which is more of a studio mix than a dj mix) is absolutely brilliant, but I've downloaded a few dj set and they don't do it for me. Dj'ing is a real art that requires years of nurturing, and moving the floor is not easy. For me the sets simply don't "move the floor" and lack a sense of rhythmic continuity that helps put people in a trance (i use this term in its real meaing) and lock them in a groove.[/quote]

i can only vouche for what i heard sunday night, and that was prog at its finest, its envelope pushing outward. whoever wants to label it trance gets a raised eyebrow that says, "you don't know what the fuck you're talking about." i know trance, and this isn't it. not pvd. not astral projection. not epic or psytrance or progressive trance or any other dorky nonsense (not to hate, but...).

what i heard, sober, was a combo of very fresh and odd and psychedelic melodies (i'm a musician and i know music), tweaked to all hell but still minimal. top notch production, morphing 80s synth-like sounds vocoded, matched with tripped out, minimal rhythms and crisp to muddled beats juxtaposed against bassdrop surprises. some "new genre" may do that, but this easily qualifies as prog in the sense that his sound is redefining sound itself.

i've always known prog as sasha and digweed define it. others do it well too, but these guys are the godfathers, as are their tastes in track and production.

holden produces with intense sophistication, and his dj set matched, if not exceeded, that level of sophistication. he was dead on point. every sound was carefully considered and well-worked.

i haven't heard a set on the net that is even half as good as what i heard sober on sunday night at cielo. then again, i left at 230/300.

#279995Post 31 of 44

[quote=kfitz";p="65105][quote=Jenks";p="65095]oh good god, Drew. you know him?[/quote]

I don't know Drew but i know his brother Zach... Dennis Rodgers had him over for his birthday party...[/quote]

dennis = 1 cool mfker.

#280000Post 32 of 44

[quote=Jenks";p="64913]^because there isn't any. lol.[/quote]

I disagree, but whatever, thats neither here nor there, I dont want to get into a useless argument, lol. I like all kinds of EDM if it is good, it's good...

classic line on your signature by the way... did you make that up?

#280004Post 33 of 44

[quote=djway";p="64512]His exposure set from earlier this year is probably the best set of his I've heard this year. 3 hours long. It's got all his good shit in it. The set's a few months old, but it's got his journey all over it. Good to Great mixing also.

A torrent link to the set = [url]http://www.torrentbox.com/download.php/5008/james_holden_exposure_mp3.torrent[/url]

And the TL of the set. It's killar I tells you!

  1. petter - freak & love.
  2. Paul Jackson - The Way We Do It
  3. Petter - Untitled Acid
  4. Josh Wink - Oakish
  5. ID
  6. Scape one - Milieu (James Holden Edit) with Holden & Thompson - Nothing (acapella)
  7. PQM and Phil K - They just won't let me be
  8. Petter - All Together
  9. ID
  10. Agoria - la onzieme marche (Alexander Kowalski remix)
  11. ID
  12. Reinhard Voigt - Supertiel
  13. MFA - Difference it makes (Petter mix)
  14. Ozgur Can - Sometimes
  15. Jase From Outter Space - Do What You Want (Infusion Mix)

Part 2

  1. Jase From Outter Space - Do What You Want (Infusion Mix)
  2. The MFA - 2 Billion Year Journey
  3. Kosmas Epilson - Architech
  4. Nathan Fake - Adamedge
  5. ID
  6. Meerkat - Colours (James Holden Re-edit)
  7. Petter - Modern Eternity
  8. ID
  9. Britney Spears - Breathe On Me (James Holden Dub)
  10. Britney Spears - Breathe On Me (James Holden Club Mix)
  11. Perc - Closer (Nathan Fake Remix)
  12. Yilmaz Altanhan - Eighties
  13. The MFA - The Difference It Makes
  14. Petter - Left Turned
  15. Nikola Gala - Swing 2 Harmony

Part 3

  1. Nikola Gala - Swing 2 Harmony with PQM - You are Sleeping (Accapella)
  2. Filterheadz - Yimanya
  3. Luke Chable - Melburn with Holden & Thompson - Nothing (Accapella)
  4. The MFA - Motherload
  5. James Holden - I Have Put Out The Light
  6. Valentino - Flying (Sultan & Tonedepth Remix)
  7. ID

--djway

PS I'm in Australia, no I didn't hear Holden, but the Troopers have also given the set glowing reports![/quote]

How do you open the torrent file??

#280005Post 34 of 44

[quote=Jenks";p="65359][quote=kfitz";p="65105][quote=Jenks";p="65095]oh good god, Drew. you know him?[/quote]

I don't know Drew but i know his brother Zach... Dennis Rodgers had him over for his birthday party...[/quote]

dennis = 1 cool mfker.[/quote]

Dennis is the shit...

#280106Post 35 of 44

[quote=nastyrasti";p="65228] i can only vouche for what i heard sunday night, and that was prog at its finest, its envelope pushing outward. whoever wants to label it trance gets a raised eyebrow that says, "you don't know what the fuck you're talking about." i know trance, and this isn't it. not pvd. not astral projection. not epic or psytrance or progressive trance or any other dorky nonsense (not to hate, but...).

what i heard, sober, was a combo of very fresh and odd and psychedelic melodies (i'm a musician and i know music), tweaked to all hell but still minimal. top notch production, morphing 80s synth-like sounds vocoded, matched with tripped out, minimal rhythms and crisp to muddled beats juxtaposed against bassdrop surprises. some "new genre" may do that, but this easily qualifies as prog in the sense that his sound is redefining sound itself.

i've always known prog as sasha and digweed define it. others do it well too, but these guys are the godfathers, as are their tastes in track and production.

holden produces with intense sophistication, and his dj set matched, if not exceeded, that level of sophistication. he was dead on point. every sound was carefully considered and well-worked.

i haven't heard a set on the net that is even half as good as what i heard sober on sunday night at cielo. then again, i left at 230/300.[/quote]

dude, I don't know how you can classify JH's set last Sunday @ Cielo as the best progressive. Of course, it was not progressive in the general meaning of the term. Just because you are musician, it doesn't guarantee you can identify every style of music... hell, every kid on this board is a DJ.... and I don't see how you can make association between the style played by Holden and Digweed...

I would have to agree with kfitz as far as classifying the set. To me it seemed like electro progressive. But not progressive. I was ready to be devastated by Solstice or Nothing, but it seems like Holden right now is far away from that kind of progressive. Overall, the set was nice, I kind of was surprised too by it and in the end I liked it too... Props to Made and the people @ Cielo for making this event happen and for creating the warm athmosphere during the night.

And if you left around 230/300 I think you might have missed the best part...

#280972Post 36 of 44

[quote=nastyrasti";p="65228] i've always known prog as sasha and digweed define it. others do it well too, but these guys are the godfathers, as are their tastes in track and production.

holden produces with intense sophistication, and his dj set matched, if not exceeded, that level of sophistication. he was dead on point. every sound was carefully considered and well-worked.

i haven't heard a set on the net that is even half as good as what i heard sober on sunday night at cielo. then again, i left at 230/300.[/quote]

let me begin my ripping

sasha and digweed have both sucked hardcore every time I have seen them. The reason we haven't heard music anywhere as good in a while is because most of the music flooding nyc is poppy and crappy

holden was great opening with really chilled techy prog (sorry for the stupid lingo throwing), but as the night progressed i drank myself into oblivion to enjoy it, I'll be honest. He should have gotten deep and dark to contrast his opening nicely but he stayed light and fluffy which the crowd loves but as a dj he wasn't anything special. None the less I had a good night.

ps i was the 6'4 guy by the bar with kinda long dirty hair who was hanging with a few mates

#281134Post 37 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

go Frodo :Rolling:

holden's on a tear as of late imo...hope he doesn't taper off

#281194Post 38 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

he is the man his sound is amazing, maybe the best

[img]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid116/pbc4c4b1078a3677774772d4793073a6f/f8b4fb6c.jpg[/img]

#281195Post 39 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

i heard from someone that went there that the music was really reallly good. however , i had holden also had trouble beat matching.

thats kind of a turn off. a dj that has trouble beat matching.

i still love his productions though.

#1747399Post 40 of 44

Re: James Holden in NYC at Cielo = best prog I've ever heard

Can any1 upload this set?

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