Joy Is The Ploy

The second of three David Holmes mix CDs that I compiled for my friend Dave on 13th March 2005. I previously posted volume three in December 2021 and according to the stats, it's proved to be a popular Dubhed selection, hopefully with human beings as well as blogbots.

 

This one spans David Holmes' career from his first solo single in 1994 to his full band excursions with The Free Association, taking in a slew of remixes along the way. Johnny Favourite, here in it's downtempo, ambient B-side version, is a prime contender for The Vinyl Villain's It Really Was A Cracking Debut Single series. I remember buying the 12" single at Way Ahead in Derby, getting it home and putting it on my turntable, placing the needle in the groove and...being transported. Both versions are essential listening, in my opinion.

There are a couple of rarer Holmes songs here. Jackson Johnson originally appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of Bow Down To The Exit Sign in 2000. I picked it up in the UK the following year on the excellent London Xpress compilation. In 2010, it became more readily available on the 'best of' collection, The Dogs Are Parading.

A little harder to find is Grumpy Flutter Pt. 1 which (I think) is only available on 1996 compilation, The Science Behind The Circle, itself highly recommended as it features additional tracks from Andrew Weatherall, Carl Cox, Secret Knowledge, The Aloof and Ashley Beedle, to name a few. Both Grumpy Flutter Pt. 1 and Jackson Johnson are an indication of Holmes' prodigious output and the quality of his music that these didn't even make it onto official singles or albums. 

Delakota's version of Don't Die Just Yet takes the form of a short narrative about a toxic couple in the Australian wilderness and was a 'remix swap', Holmes repaying the favour with an excellent rework of their track I Thought I Caught, which appeared on volume three of my mix CDs. 

 

I can never quite decide if I like the Manic Street Preachers remix; I invariably decide that I do. The mix CD's title is taken from a second remix of You Stole The Sun From My Heart that Holmes did. It appeared on a promo 12" in the UK and a promo Remixes CD in the USA and I've never heard it.

The remix of Dawn Of The Replicants' Skullcrusher is a particular favourite, as is Gone featuring Sarah Cracknell, which came in a package of really strong remixes with Alter Ego's second take a standout. 

Closing track, the Children Re-Mix of Everbody Knows was the opener of The Free Association selection I posted in June 2021 and works well whether it starts or ends a selection.

 

1) Johnny Favourite (Exploding Plastic Ambience Mix By David Holmes, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): David Holmes (1994)

2) Sugarman (VV Featuring Chilly Gonzales Remix): The Free Association (2003)

3) 69 Police (Skylab Remix By Matt Ducasse & Duncan Forbes): David Holmes ft. Sean Gullette (2000)

4) Jackson Johnson: David Holmes (2000)

5) Die Laughing (David Holmes Mix 2 By David Holmes, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Therapy? (1994)

6) Swastika Eyes (David Holmes Mix) (Full Length): Primal Scream (1999)

7) Don't Die Just Yet (Delakota Mix By Cass Browne & Morgan Nicholls): David Holmes (1997)

8) Skullcrusher (David Holmes & Tim Goldsworthy Remix): Dawn Of The Replicants (1998)

9) Gone (Alter Ego Decoding Gone, Pt. 2) (Remix By Jörn Elling Wuttke & Roman Flügel): David Holmes ft. Sarah Cracknell (1995)

10) You Stole The Sun From My Heart (David Holmes' A Joyful Racket Remix): Manic Street Preachers (1998)

11) Grumpy Flutter Pt. 1: David Holmes (1996)

12) Everybody Knows (Children Re-Mix By Stephen Hilton & Pati Yang): The Free Association (2003)

Joy Is The Ploy (1:19:10)