Compilations are big business and Late Night Tales series has turned into, it seems, good business. After all, they are a label in itself. I’ve been following it since its inception 15 years ago (2001), and have been waiting since. And waiting, and waiting. For them to fail, to come up with one lousy compilation. To chose an artist/curator that will slip up and use a few uninteresting tracks. One track?
You see, there seems to be no such thing as a perfect compilation. There is always a few tracks that simply don’t fit. Sometimes it can be just the order of tracks…
Well, it seems that is something that does not happen with the Late Night Series. They just don’t slip up. Even if they come up with a modern house/techno set (I’m definitely not a fan of the genre), it is still something you’re able to listen (or dance) to. That is why it is absolutely no surprise that the latest set in the series, curated by David Holmes is no exception.
Just mentioning his name in my book would bring some suspicions, after all, he’s a modern day DJ, his cinema inclinations not withstanding. Luckily for me, this tendencies took over when he was making his Late Night Tales contribution. It even turns out to be one of the more memorable ones that came out recently. Although, they all seem to be memorable.
Usually, as with all recent Late Night Tales, the selection comes up with a continuous mix attached and people would tend not to play those - I mean, you just heard that stuff, haven’t you? But with his selection, Holmes obviously had that in mind: when you star playing this set you just simply keep on playing it, and the continuous mix does the trick. Obviously, a good DJ can do that.
And as a great DJ, Holmes knows how to build up his selection. By David Crosby’s “Orleans: you are fully immersed, and when the trio of Lullaby Movement, Jeff Bridges & Keefus Ciancia and Song Sung’s version of 10cc’s “I’m Not In Love” come in, the set reaches its peak. And then Holmes takes you to the continuous mix.
I guess I have some more waiting to do for Late Night Tales to slip up.
