Description:

Up-and-coming DJ and producer James Holder takes us on a suitably-choppy expedition through his nerdishly obscure record collection in the style of the Another Late Night or Back to Mine series, taking in everything from retro German pop to Aphex Twin along the way.

Which means?

Despite the heterogeneity, Mr Holden definitely has ambient/progressive leanings, and so this 2CD mix album cuts a daring route through some of the most experimental noise-making of recent (and not-so-recent) years. Although he doesn’t feature on this release, an obvious musical contemporary of Holden’s, on this evidence, would be Four Tet. Like him, Holden is less concerned with repetitive beats and basslines; instead opting for a more impressionistic approach to ‘house’ music (if you can even call this ‘house’, given the connotations of pumping, hands-in-the-air euphoria, which this certainly is not).

Is it much cop?

Holden should be applauded for making such a musical mash-up gel into what are two thoroughly-listenable mixes. From shoegaze to bopping electro to conventionally dancier efforts, this is a genuine cross-genre affair. At times it does venture into the extreme leftfield but remains, on the whole, refreshingly interesting and unusual.

How many good tracks?

The transition from Death in Vegas’s ‘Anita Berber’ into Petter’s darkly electronic ‘Some Polyphony’ is nothing short of hair-raising, while Warp kids will be satisfied with the presence of two Aphex Twin tracks and a Boards of Canada ‘reprise’ (which presumably just means ‘remix’). Another highlight is a beautiful song from Arab Strap’s Malcolm Middleton, which somehow finds a folky space between deep trance and Aphex Twin.

And the worst?

Some of the more blippy electronica is hard to stomach, and scarcely worth Holden’s record-box rummaging.

Biggest disappointment?

That there aren’t a few more recognisable gems in amongst the dusty obscurities. It sometimes comes across as self-indulgence on Holden’s part, as if he’s saying, ‘Listen to this German subpop! Aren’t I interesting?!’ Sometimes music is inaccessible for a reason.

Verdict:

Although there are definite cases of coolness-over-sense in his selection process for this album, ‘At the Contols’ is nevertheless an intelligent, unashamedly progressive assemblage of some choice cuts of electro nonsense that will have connoisseurs squealing with glee. More Jean-Michel Jarre than Judge Jules.

(3/5)

Release Date: 27 March 2006