David Holmes – Johnny Favourite

I always liked this track but felt a mixture of being overwhelmed yet underwhelmed at the same time, so some 25 years later I put it on and well, got say it just seems a bit of a directionless meandering bit of whatever. Sonic wise its not bad listening but just a bit murky on the whole concept. Maybe if it was called train to Aswan at night I might understand it a little more.

This is what I had to say about it in 2000:

Composed almost entirely from Tangerine Dream samples (from Poland, Force Majeure, and the Wavelength soundtrack, if you're trainspotting) backed by a TR-909, and partly inspired by Alan Parker’s thriller Angel Heart, the 1994 trance techno single "Johnny Favourite" was David Holmes' first release under his own name ... although it was actually a collaboration between Holmes and Sabres of Paradise members Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns.

And here is my review from April 1994:

Summary: An infectious trancer disappointingly reliant on loops sampled from Tangerine Dream.

This is probably going to burst somebody's bubble, but the meat of this track is provided not by David Holmes but by his cleverly programmed sampler, looping segments from two of my favorite Tangerine Dream albums: Force Majeure ('79) and Poland ('84). The Inevitable mix is dominated by trademark Sabres of Paradise production: prominent hi-hats that hiss, spit & slide, a steady kick drum, and flangey reverb. Holmes adds a thoughtful, anthemic flutey progression under the penetrating drum machine, but the Tangerine Dream loops make the song. I don't mean to sound like one of those folks who thinks that how a song was created is more important than the end result, but hearing these samples used in a context so similar to where they were originally really makes me wish Holmes wasn't getting all the credit. The Ambience mix uses the same sounds, minus most of the drum machine, letting the rhythmic samples move your head into a new space in classic TaDream style. This is another one of those this-is-what-Tangerine-Dream-OUGHT-to-be-doing tracks, like David Morley's Shuttle EP on R&S last year.

David Holmes debut single, _Johnny Favourite_, comes on no less than Warp, and though it seems to come from the time when progressive house ruled the land, it shows Holmes’ talent for rhythmic propulsion. The “Exploding Plastic Inevitable Mix” grounds the beat with what sounds like guitar strumming, then, halfway through, jumping into the atmosphere with an angelic vocal, and, at the 2/3s point, an ambient break. The “Exploding Plastic Ambience Mix” starts at the halfway point (without the beats, of course) and introduces small dribs of rhythm and the filtered guitar line.

This is blinding. So intense, with huge peaks and breakdowns like you used to get in the olden days...

The overall sound, though, is obviously influenced by Burns & Kooner - it sounds like a Sabres of Paradise release.

I disagree. This may be Holmes best IMO (ok, so Scubadevils/Death Before Disco comes close). This was powerful journey music. It takes you deep, hypnotizes you in wicked groove, breaks into emotional pads that roll your eyes back, then finishes with a buildup into an enormous verb'd kick that blew the roof off every hall I heard it played.

Homer was obviously still feeling his way with this one, working towards his recognisable sound. This is a great deal murkier and grimier than later releases - it sounds more typically Warp than typical David Holmes...