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)

Like A Kiss On The Run

One of the few positive things to come from lockdown was discovering more 'new' artists and music. I was about five years behind the curve, but Kelsey Lu is one of the most exciting and challenging artists I've heard in a long time. 

They first appeared in my 2020 round up last December with their ambient soundscape Hydroharmonia (Part 1) and again in May, with their excellent collaboration with Boys Noize, Ride Or Die. I've been listening to the latter regularly since and the single version featured in my Raindrops Keep Falling mix earlier this month. Today's selection doesn't even begin to do justice to the vast range and spectrum of Kelsey Lu's talent and creativity, but it will fit snugly onto a side of an old school cassette tape, if you're so inclined.

 

I'd recommend either/both of their albums, Church (2016) and Blood (2019). It's also well worth your time looking up their videos and live shows on You Tube, for some stunning visuals, costumes and spellbinding performances.

1) Empathy (2016)

2) Hydroharmonia (Episode 2) / Poor Fake (Omar-S Remix By Alex Smith) (2020)

3) Foreign Car (NAR x ADR Exhaust Diffusion Mix) (2019)

4) let all the poisons that lurk in the mud seep out (Live for Stephen Colbert's #PLAYATHOME, 02/06/21): Kelsey Lu ft. Kelly Moran (2021)

5) Shades Of Blue (Video Version) (2018)

6) Hydroharmonia (Episode 1) (6:20 Edit) (2020)

7) Blood (A COLORS Show, 18 April 2019)

8) Due West (Album Version By Kelsey Lu & Skrillex) (2019)

9) Ride Or Die (Extended Mix): Boys Noize ft. Kelsey Lu & Chilly Gonzales (2021)

 

Like A Kiss On The Run (45:48) (GD) (M)

Let Me Make A Sound Into The Wild

Ride Or Die: Boys Noize & Kelsey Lu ft. Chilly Gonzales

I belatedly discovered the music and performances of Kelsey Lu during the first lockdown in 2020, and I’ve been completely captivated ever since. I love that you never quite know what you’re going to get next, from classical to R&B to ambient soundscapes to techno, sometimes within the same piece of music. Their story is also a fascinating background that explains in part the rich diversity and unique character of their songs. There is a great interview with Kelsey Lu in The Guardian from Sep 2020.

Following the release of Let All The Poisons That Lurk In The Mud Seep Out, their collaboration with Yves Tumor on Christmas Day 2020, Kelsey has collaborated with Boys Noize & Chilly Gonzales on Ride Or Die. The Boys Noize You Tube page states that the song “reflects upon the tumultuous emotional tenor of our uncertain future before exploding into delirious, peak-time techno”. As if this isn’t enough to draw you in, the video is rather spectacular too.

I featured Kelsey Lu’s 20-minute immersive ‘nature soundscape’ Hydroharmonia (Episode 1) in my best of 2020 post a while ago, but I would strongly recommend checking out any and all of their back catalogue. With more new music - and hopefully performances - imminent in 2021, now’s the time to ride or die.
 
Buy Ride Or Die on Juno Download 

 

Outside
Inside
That side you'll know
That side you know
Outside you'll know
That side you know
Outside you know
Outside you'll know
That side you know
Outside you

Knew it from the start
Didn't I? Didn't I? Didn't I?
Like a kiss on the run
Salty cheeks from the sun
Be my ride or die
Like a kiss on the run
Salty cheeks from the sun
Be my ride or die

In the desert sky
A message right before my eye
In the desert sky
Flashed before my eyes, beforе my eyes, beforе my eyes
Yah, your cheeky bones said to the sky
Let me make a sound into the wild

Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die

Like a kiss on the run
Like a kiss on the run
Like a kiss on the run
Like a kiss on the run
Like a kiss on the run
Like a kiss on the run

Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die

Like a kiss on the run
Like a kiss on the run
I saw the signs
I saw the signs
Are you still lovin' on the sidelines
Got used to livin' on the sidelines
No use still living undecided
Be my ride or die

Outside you know
Outside you'll know
That side you know
Outside you know
That side you know
Outside you