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James Holden

Apr 14

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Good morning.

It’s Friday so we’re listening to something more upbeat. Today we’re listening to James Holden, an English electronic music producer based in London. Holden grew up in Leicestershire with repressive parents and snuck out to local raves in community centres.¹ There he had his first, lasting brush with club music. In his own work he channels the melodic and rhythmic essence of that music without aping its structure. Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities came out on March 31, Holden’s first solo album in a decade since 2013’s The Inheritors. Both records spin heady mixtures of electronic and acoustic sounds, with The Inheritors applying more distortion. Holden is hardcore about creating his sounds from scratch: “Half the composition is building the instrument,” he told The Quietus. “If I buy a synth from a shop, I’ve outsourced my favourite bit of the creative process.”

Imagine This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities - James Holden (60m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal

The Inheritors - James Holden (80m, a kind of vocal sample on track 2)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal

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Have a wonderful weekend.