- James Holden dropped through Neumos in Seattle recently, finishing off the West Coast leg of his current tour. Holden is out promoting his DJ-Kicks compilation, which came out late last May. It was Holden's first large-scale release since The Idiots Are Winning in 2006. Inside Neumos around 10:30 PM, the balcony upstairs was closed off, and the main level was sparse but slowly growing as openers Adlib vs. Levi Clark warmed the room with some early bouncy vs. chill house tunes.
A few iconic personnel were already there, like the Shirtless Guy and the Hula Hoop Girl. The rest of the crowd was less distinct, pockets of hipsters and Cap Hill residents out on the town. There were extra visuals set up as well, which was a nice touch—some screens behind the stage and a laser and fog machine combo. (Unfortunately, the consistently disappointing house sound at Neumos hadn't been upgraded, full of screechy mids and lacking a full low-end.) Longtime Seattle resident Eva took over at around 11 and played a short 45 minute set, playing tracks ranging from vocal prog to deep techno and abstract house as people continued to filter in.
Holden's DJ-Kicks compilation starts with samples of birds chirping and either a clock ticking or a broken boat engine grinding, depending on your ear's perspective. Then gradually, it turns into techno soup, and the distinction between songs blurs and focuses as the mix progresses. His set—minus the rainforest intro—basically mirrored that concept.
Jumping into his melody-driven crate, his first few tracks had me humming the Monster Mash and doing the Oompa Loompa dance, and then his next few had my ear struggling to follow layers of synth key changes mixed over beats that chattered around the room like the smoke monster from Lost. There were points where he settled into seriously nice grooves, but they were then promptly interrupted by off-tempo clacks and more techno jazz chords. He would get people dancing, and then the music would stutter into a warped breakdown that was impossible to follow rhythmically. He would wander into a sub-driven bump, and then throw on an electronica tune with no low end under 100hz. Very curious indeed.
By 1 AM though—after some strange and distracting computer-glitching errors—the energy was full on, and danceable or otherwise, his last 45 minutes made the night totally worth it. If Holden's tour, spanning three months and hitting some major spots in Europe, the US, Japan and Australia, is a chance to showcase his tricked out sound, then he definitely did that for the folks who came out to see him, treating us with his distinctive style that always has that same slightly and comfortably unapproachable swing to it.