Ennio Morricone RIP

I posted this way back in the early days of the blog. 

Rest Easy Maestro

If there is anybody who could be said to be a better film scorer (don't know if that is the correct term) than the sadly departed John Barry then it would have to be Ennio Morricone, from his spaghetti westerns through the Mission to Cinema Paradiso they are all classics. My personal favourite has got to be Once Upon A Time In America, bits of which I used to drop into mixes all the time when I thought of myself a bit of a budding Weatherall back when delusional in the early 90s.

There are probably loads of scored by Morricone that I have never heard of. Today's track being a case in point it comes from the 1970 Italian film "Ciita Vioenta", Violent City or otherwise known as The Family which starred Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland and was set in New Orleans. I have no recollection of ever seeing this film but if it was ever on terrestrial telly when I was a teenager there is a good chance that I did as my father is a big Bronson fan!

I discovered this track on the Cherrystones compilation which I bought as David Holmes had something to do with the compiling. Most of the tracks on the cd were new to me but all are really good even the Cher track, a cover of I walk On Gilded Splinters and worth the five and a bit quid it is now going for on Amazon. It was more than double that at the time of release.

Ennio Morricone - Svolta Definitiva

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance To A Repeat

Repost time.

I have had no time to think of anything for today, so instead here is a post from back in June 2009 when I was still quite new to this blogging lark.

Have a good weekend people.

What do you get when an ex scooter boy, dj decides to combine 2 of his passions, Progressive House and Northern Soul? Possibly the funkiest track of 1996 - My Mate Paul.

By the time Holmes released this track he was already responsible for a couple of the best progressive house tracks as part of The Disco Evangelists and Four Boy One Girl Action. He had also released his debut album and 4 singles.

Later he would go on to set the standard for Essential Mixes which in my opinion is yet to be bettered and also compose film soundtracks.

I would go on but I have a feeling that Holmes will show up on Acid Ted pretty soon and don't want to steal his thunder.

The only other thing I will mention is that he did a damn fine remix of The Sabres of Paradise's Smokebelch amongst many others.

David Holmes - My Mate Paul

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

On paper it was a match made in heaven, get one of the best djs and remixers of the day to remix an already great throbbing piece of progressive house by arguably the greatest dj and remixer of the time, what could go wrong?

Absolutely nothing,  David Holmes passed back an amazing piece of music that no matter where you played it it sounded wonderful. It was equally as powerful when listened to at volume at home as when dropped in the middle of a sweaty, smoke filled club. For me Smokebelch II is the pinnacle of the prrogressive dance sound, other tracks come close but none better David Holmes' mix of the tune in my opinion.

Right, I'm off to a wedding, seriously I am.

Have a good weekend people.

Sabres Of Paradise - Smokebelch II (David Holmes mix)

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

During the early to mid nineties there were two names that if credited on the back of a 12" single would guarantee that I bought it. The first which will be of no surprise to anyone was Andrew Weatherall and the other was an ex scooterboy, dj and club runner from Northern Ireland by the name of David Holmes.

During the nineties Holmes was quite a prolific remixer putting in exceptional mixes  for the likes of everybody from Saint Etienne to that dreaded Irish band, in fact that is the only thing I have against him, that unlike Mr Weatherall he did try to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear for those band wagon jumpers and not only on one occasion. However as soon as I put on Holmes' remix of Smokebelch II I could forgive him capital offences let alone such misguided misdemeanours.

Holmes did not just try his hand at remixing but also released records in his own right and also in collaboration with the likes of Stuart McMillan, Kriss Needs and others during this period producing some of the best progressive house tracks of the time such as DeNiro, The Hawaiian Death Stomp and Minus 61 in Detroit to name but 3.

At the turn of the century Holmes focused his efforts on movie scores and now has a pretty successful career in this field, with the likes of Ocean's Eleven and Out of Sight to his credit.

He is also responsible for the best essential mix ever.

Here is the track that brought Holmes to my attention.

Fortran 5 - Persian Blues (Full On Orchestral Philharmonical Mix)

Picture at the behest of DVD