Ahhhh the joys of creating a new label! I have started Holding Hands Again to bring to light some records from the past that I adore and think should be made more widely available so that everyone can slam them in the club.
Wiggle is a label that I hold very dear to my heart. It doesn’t need an introduction but suffice to say I play and love a lot of records off this classic label. A Long Weight by Timmy S & JB is probably my favourite release on there and so I am ultra buzzing to be able to announce that it will be the inaugural release on my new imprint.
In my opinion it really sums up the classic Wiggle sound. Squiggly wiggly synths, skittering pacey drums and weird FX. These tracks have been doing the business for over twenty years and I fully expect them to continue to do so for many more decades to come.
This re release has been freshly remastered for maximum boost and it comes with a new acid mix that the guys found when they were looking through their old DATs. Tasty.
All three tracks are produced and sculpted for the club. They want big sound systems and dark rooms.
Close your eyes, hold hands and experience transcendental space flight...
When I started Holding Hands I was certain about a couple of things. I never wanted to press any stupid coloured vinyl and I wanted to put out some absolute bass bin shaking, massively ripping slam jams. I’ve done my best to stick with these ideals across the releases and I hope the effects on the dance floors round the world speak for themselves. For release numero 7 I have decided to switch up the format and put out a various artists EP. We’ve got a couple label regulars and a couple fresh faces, each bringing a different vibe but with one overarching theme. The tracks have gotta slam...
OK enough of my blather. Go and listen to the damn things yourself and decide if you like them, rather than trying to work it out from reading a bloody press release you weirdos.
All four tracks are produced and sculpted for the club. They want big sound systems and dark rooms.
Close your eyes, hold hands and experience transcendental space flight...
Well you know what they say, home is where the heart is. I must say it feels all nice and warm to be back on the label myself as Desert Sound Colony.
I’ve put together a few more rippers for you to enjoy. I hope they serve you well in the club and spin a few people from one side of the dance floor to the other. Imagine everyone’s brains are attached to yoyos and you have control of them. You could metaphorically be walking the dog with their minds if you play these at the right time. Doesn’t that sound appealing...?
It is too awkward for me to ‘big up’ my own productions in the way that a normal press release seems to want, so I will just say that I have been playing these three out for the last six months and the results have been pretty much as described in the paragraph above. They are aimed straight at the dance floor, peak time tackle for when you also want to get everyone feeling pretty weird. Expect swingitty swung rhythms throughout and the feeling of having a rave in a drainpipe.
OK enough of my blather. Go and listen to the damn things yourself and decide if you like them, rather than trying to work it out from reading a bloody press release you weirdos.
All three tracks are produced and sculpted for the club. They want big sound systems and dark rooms.
Close your eyes, hold hands and experience transcendental space flight...
a1. Desert Sound Colony - Tickle Me Pink
b1. Desert Sound Colony - Birds Fly Dry
b2. Desert Sound Colony - Grabbing The Golden Goose
Wow, how time flies. I can’t believe I am putting out record number five already. This release comes from star of the future Adam Pits. I have known Adam for a long time as he was a few years below me at school and then proceeded to go to uni in Leeds like I did. He is from the same crew as Breaka, and there must be something in the water up there because these guys and the rest of their mates are producing the best shit in town right now. It is a privilege to put out Adam’s first piece of wax because these two tunes are dynamite from start to finish.
All three tracks are produced and sculpted for the club. They want big sound systems and dark rooms. Close your eyes, hold hands and experience transcendental space flight...
The fourth release is a big one for Holding Hands as they branch out into brand new territory with their first new signing on the label. Breaka usually runs in very different circles, producing footwork, juke and DnB from his home in Leeds. These are the first tunes of his at a slower tempo to be released but you can certainly hear those in6luences loud and clear in these certified UK 125-130bpm bangers.
Rory’s Theme has the tension of an early Metalheadz release but when it drops it makes the hair stand on the back of your neck. The synths fly high with exultation whilst the 808 sub kicks and rolls up and down your body. The track has the truly rare combined qualities of a pure elation mixed with enough stank face to get your gun fingers punching through the heavy air of a pounding club. Basically, it’s a certified peak time weapon.
As has become customary for Holding Hands, Puffer Jackets sits bang in the middle of several difference genres and influences. The sound of 2009-2012 UK bass mixed with the grime and 2-step of 2018. This one will turn a club upside down and inside out. You better hope you aren’t standing too close to the subs when it kicks in...
For the B2 Holding Hands head honcho Desert Sound Colony steps in for remix duties of Puffer Jackets. Slightly slowed and dubbed out, this one rounds out the EP perfectly with a deeper take on the Breaka sound. Perfect for the beginning of a night or for a hypnotic section of a set late on, this one is built to captivate you and take you drifting away...
All three tracks are produced and sculpted for the club. They want big sound systems and dark rooms. Close your eyes, hold hands and experience transcendental space flight...
After the success of their first release, DSC – Far Reaching/Too Hard, Holding Hands is back with their sophomore outing and as before it is taking no prisoners.
Inspired by a Nicolas Lutz set as he warmed up Fabric for Villalobos a couple years back, the Furnace has a break beat that will push the subs of any club to the limit. With every build and drop it increases in momentum until you are left with no choice but to throw down on the dance floor with unbridled passion. The Furnace may be all about the big beat but it is no one trick pony. The tune has a depth and weirdness to it that will certainly keep you coming back for more…
The Sorcerer is a collaboration with good friend of DSC’s, Guava. It is made up largely of recorded percussion and vocals at DSC’s studio in South London, which gives it a very special swing on the dance floor. The track lulls you into a false sense of security for the first third before finally letting the big freakiness out of the box. This is one for any DJ that wants to leave clubbers going nuts and scratching their heads at the same time.
Both tracks are produced and sculpted for the club. They want big sound systems and dark rooms.
Close your eyes, hold hands and experience transcendental space flight…
Holding Hands is blasting off with a bang of cosmic proportions, featuring two cuts from Desert Sound Colony’s dance floor alter ego ‘DSC’.
Far Reaching, as its name suggests, takes inspiration from the deep well of our musical past. Drum & bass, jungle, breaks, house and hardcore are all present. That being said, this is not just a revival record. These sounds combined take your mind out of the past and place it firmly in a previously unimagined future. Hard as nails to begin with, the track eventually builds to a glorious rapture.
Too Hard is deep like the Mariana Trench and made for dance floor meditation. Kicks rock you back and forth as a soft canvas of pads drapes itself over your mind. Space is the place people, space is the place.
Both tracks are produced and sculpted for the club. They want big sound systems and dark rooms.
Close your eyes, hold hands and experience transcendental space flight…
DSC Bio 2017
After several years writing and touring as the band Desert Sound Colony, Liam Wachs has decided to move back to his roots with a new dance music alias, ‘DSC’.
His previous releases on Scissor & Thread were informed by 60s psychedelia and his pastoral surroundings in the British countryside. Pulsating, and built on a core of slowed down club rhythms. Now with the advent of DSC and his own label Holding Hands, he is looking more towards London and Leeds where he spent his formative years. Small dark rooms with big sound systems are the inspiration. Beats and space are there for the exploration.
Holding Hands
Holding Hands is a record label with very simple goals. Put out banging tunes on black vinyl and get them to DJs who want to rinse them in clubs.
We aren't interested in all the bells and whistles. Colour vinyl where you can't see where one track starts and another ends. Lovely artwork is nice but for our purposes it's unimportant.
This is music that hits you in the gut and rattles your bones. Music that makes the end of your nose itch as certain frequencies come soaring out of the sound system. These are the tunes that you hear when your eyes are rolling back in your head with your best friends all around you on the dance floor.
It is how it should be. In the club we are all holding hands.
![Breaka - Rory's Theme / Puffer Jackets [w/ Desert Sound Colony Remix]](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0488/8057/products/hhands004_{width}x.jpg?v=1522858651)
![Desert Sound Colony - Aunt Wendy's Wedding in Wales [Repress]](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0488/8057/products/hhands003_{width}x.jpg?v=1510059843)
