David Holmes – Blind on A Galloping Horse review

In late 20th century Britain being a rebel meant a few different things; the country’s miners went on strike for many months over the industry’s savagely managed decline, whilst a few years later London was rocked by demonstrations against a new tax that threatened to criminalise everyone.

In Northern Ireland being radical could cost you your job, home, or life. David Holmes grew up against the backdrop of what was known as The Troubles, a murderous ideological war in which as ever the innocent bore the brunt of it’s despotic barbarism. His response to the turmoil? Set up a Belfast club night in 1989 called Sugar Sweet where you laid your prejudices at the door and partied like you knew how you were getting home.

His career has taken him around the world since, but the revolutionary spirit that prompted him to kick against the pricks then flows now through Blind on A Galloping Horse in the mode of a mains circuit cable. Like an incendiary pamphlet, heroes like Coltrane and Weatherall are namechecked on Necessary Genius, whilst the latter’s unreleased track I Laugh Myself To Sleep makes it to air for the first time and When People Are Occupied Resistance Is Justified feels prescient in the extreme. David Holmes risked a lot for a party; maybe we should do the same.

You can read a full review here.