NOW here’s a contender for compilation album of the year!

David Holmes, the multi talented DJ, producer and music visionary, releases his long-awaited ‘best of’ collection, The Dogs Are Parading, and subsequently takes you on a journey through one of the most creative and musically cinematic minds of the last two decades.

Complete with 3 new songs – The Girlfriend Experience, Your On Fire (Too Fat) and The Lower Orders – as well as a new remix of The Ballad Of Sarah And Jack by Geese and a very special unreleased mix of Living Room, this is a musical masterclass.

For the uninitiated, Holmes’ varied professional life has seen him produce no less than five genre swapping albums, shifting from ’90s big beat battalion (Gritty Shaker, 69 Police) to atmos-heavy soundscapes and dusky intimacy (see latest long player The Holy Pictures) via his salubrious and soulful work with The Free Association (admittedly, not his strongest period).

His original compositions, much like his famously impeccable record collection, are some of the most creative, offbeat and hugely infectious in the annals of electronic music and paved the way for his film soundtrack work, which includes collaborations with such directors as Steve McQueen (Cannes Award winning Hunger) and Steven Soderbergh, (The Ocean’s franchise).

Needless to say, the highlights on this double CD fly thick and fast and take in all manner of styles. Some will be familiar, others are rich new discoveries in waiting.

Album opener The Girlfriend Experience underlines Holmes’ masterful soundtrack ability to mix suitably visceral scores to funky club-fillers. It’s taken from the film of the same name, which paired Steven Soderbergh with porn star Sasha Grey.

But there’s a psychedelia laced headrush to follow it, in the form of the hip I Heard Wonders, while My Mate Paul – from 2000’s D&B noir odyssey Let’s Get Killed – is a sly, sassy, acid-jazz laced toe-tapper of immense quality.

Rodney Yates is pure Ocean’s 11 style slickness, Holy Pictures an indie-dance anthem that wouldn’t sound out of place on Primal Scream’s Screamadelica LP, and Jackson Johnson a mesmerising slice of chillout that oozes feelgood values and style.

But as the stunning Hey Lisa (from 2000’s Bow Down To The Exit Sign) underlines, Holmes isn’t just about funky workouts and mining the club scene… he can deliver a low-key slice of beauty that’s heartbreakingly beautiful. The track embraces slick breakbeats, guitar riffs and strings to create a heart-melter of the highest order.

‘69 Police remains an out and out classic, and a firm Holmes signature track, as does the funky Gritty Shaker – both of which featured on the Ocean’s 11 soundtrack.

While in between there’s some Free Association reminders, the pick of which is the trippy Sugar Man.

CD1 also includes two more highlights in the duskily intimate Theme IMC, which is sparse by Holmes standards, yet hauntingly beautiful, and the fragile, yet amazingly poignant The Ballad of Sarah and Jack.

Moving into CD2 and it’s remix package, there’s even plenty to savour here, not least of which is the new Geese remix of The Ballad of Sarah and Jack, which gets things underway.

Strong, too, are the Holiday Girl Arab Strap remix of Don’t Die Just Yet, which breaks down the beats and piano loops to scintillating effect, and the frenzied big beat workout that is Little Short One.

Of the two previously unreleased offerings on this CD, You’re On Fire (Too Fat) is a funky, if stop-start, dubstep workout that still retains a hipness and contemporary freshness about it, while The Lower Orders is a foreboding slice of atmospherics that adopts an Afrobeat sensibility.

A final couple of mentions must go to the moody Mogwai workout given to Don’t Die Just Yet, which puts an altogether darker spin on the record, and the dusky The Die Hard Rationalist, which once again underlines Holmes’ ability to mix the upbeat with the poignant and intimate.

Like we said, you’ll hear few better ‘best ofs’ or compilation albums this year!

Download picks: Hey Lisa, The Girlfriend Experience, My Mate Paul, Jackson Johnson, 69 Police, The Ballad Of Sarah And Jack, Gritty Shaker, (I Wish I Had A) Wooden Heart, Sugar Man, Little Short One, The Ballad Of Sarah And Jack (Geese Remix), Don’t Die Just Yet (Holiday Girl Arab Strap Remix)

Tracklisting:
Disc 1:

1. The Girlfriend Experience
2. I Heard Wonders
3. My Mate Paul
4. Rodney Yates
5. Holy Pictures
6. Jackson Johnson
7. Hey Lisa
8. 69 Police
9. Sugar Man
10. Living Room
11. (I Wish I Had A) Wooden Heart
12. Gritty Shaker
13. Don’t Die Just Yet
14. Theme IMC
15. Gone
16. The Ballad Of Sarah And Jack

Disc 2

1. The Ballad Of Sarah And Jack (Geese Remix)
2. Don’t Die Just Yet (Holiday Girl Arab Strap Remix)
3. I Heard Wonders (Weatherall Vocal Remix)
4. Living Room (Kevin Shields Remix)
5. My Mate Paul (Major Force Remix)
6. Little Short One
7. Head Rush On Lafayette (Fridge Mix)
8. Your On Fire (Too Fat)
9. The Lower Orders
10. Gone (Alter Ego Decoding Part 1)
11. Don’t Die Just Yet (Mogwai Mix)
12. Smoked Oak
13. The Die Hard Rationalist
14. Return Of The Night Farmers (Instrumental)

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