''Let's Get Killed'' is the second studio album by

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

electronica DJ and producer David Holmes. It was released in the UK on 8 September 1997 through Go! Beat Records and contained two

UK Top 40 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

singles: "Don't Die Just Yet" and "My Mate Paul"; "Gritty Shaker" was also released as a single. In addition, the album includes a re-working of the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

theme, retitled as "Radio 7", and a remake of Serge Gainsbourg's songs "Melody" and "Cargo Culte", retitled "Don't Die Just Yet". ''Let's Get Killed'' was Holmes's first album release in the United States, following the domestic acclaim of his debut long-player '' This Film's Crap Let's Slash the Seats''.

Background

Holmes grew up in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

as the youngest of ten children. By the age of 15 he had begun to DJ in his local pubs and bars, playing

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and disco. This eclecticism would remain into adulthood, and is a feature of his DJ sets. When he was 17, Holmes visited

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, spending time in the South Bronx, Washington Square and

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

areas. He took a DAT recorder with him as he explored the city, and taped conversations with many people he spoke to. Holmes kept the recordings for over ten years, using them as the basis for ''Let's Get Killed''. ''Let's Get Killed'' is so called because on one occasion Holmes and his associates were ''"... chased by eight guys through the South Bronx who were after our expensive audio equipment"''.

Music

Holmes used the recordings he made in

of conversations and other street-level noise as samples on the album. These snippets of conversation were often spoken by people from New York's cultural underbelly, including

prostitutes Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

pimps Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

and drug-dealers. The samples were used in between the tracks on the album, and in some cases in the tracks themselves. The record contains a wide variety of styles within the electronica spectrum, including

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

, breakbeats,

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...

and drum 'n' bass. David Holmes has produced many

film scores A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

, and it has often been said that his studio albums have a cinematic feel to them.

Critical reception

''Let's Get Killed'' was well received by critics in general, and the dance music press in particular. Both Jockey Slut and

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

awarded it Album of the Month, whilst

DJ Magazine ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...

gave it a rating of 10/10. The NME said, ''"Holmes both evokes the endless possibilities, claustrophobia and madness of The Big Apple and offers a critique ... Not bad at all for a trendy DJ"'', and placed it number 40 in the 1997 Critics Poll. Melody Maker also included it in their end-of-year poll, this time at number 24. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine and

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

both gave the album 3 stars out of 5, with Allmusic saying the ''"effect created is like that of a soundtrack, and even though Let's Get Killed isn't attached to a film, it flows with energy and grace"''. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' rated the album A-minus, saying ''"Holmes loves airy cinematic beauty, but he tempers it with frisky Latin percussion, gritty electric guitar ... , sound-collage effects, and snippets of crazed street people."''. On the strength of the album, Holmes won Best Rock Artist at Ireland's National Entertainment Awards, the first time it was awarded to a dance artist. ''Let's Get Killed'' was also included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''.

Chart performance

''Let's Get Killed'' spent two weeks in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, entering at number 34 in its first week. It dropped to number 75 in its second and final week in the chart.

Track listing

All tracks written by David Holmes, unless otherwise stated. # "Listen" – 0:49 # "My Mate Paul" – 5:29 # "Let's Get Killed" – 7:28 # "Gritty Shaker" – 6:40 # "Head Rush on Lafayette" – 1:20 # "Rodney Yates" – 6:24 # "Radio 7" (

Monty Norman Monty Norman (''né'' Noserovitch; 4 April 1928 – 11 July 2022) was a British composer, musician and singer. A contributor to West End musicals in the 1950s and 1960s, he is best known for composing the " James Bond Theme", first heard in t ...

) – 5:49 # "The Parcus & Madder Show" – 0:51 # "Slashers Revenge" – 4:46 # "Freaknik" – 6:45 # "Caddell Returns" – 5:42 # "Don't Die Just Yet" ( Serge Gainsbourg) – 6:43 # "For You" – 0:59

Personnel

David Holmes wrote and produced the majority of the album, apart from "Radio 7", which is a cover of

James Bond Theme The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since '' Dr. No'', released in 1962. Composed by Monty Norman (with arrangements for film provided by John Bar ...

, and "Don't Die Just Yet", which is based on samples of songs by Serge Gainsbourg. Other appearances and credits were: *

Gem Archer Colin Murray Archer (born 7 December 1966) is an English musician and singer, best known as a member of the English rock bands Oasis, Beady Eye and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, making him, alongside Chris Sharrock, one of the only member ...

– guitar on "Radio 7" and "Freaknik". Archer would later join Oasis. *

London Session Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

– "Radio 7" and "Don't Die Just Yet". *

Jagz Kooner Jagz Kooner (born Jagjit Singh Kooner, 1967)Companies House https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07470451/officers is an English record producer who has worked with Radio 4, Manic Street Preachers, Garbage, Infadels ...

– production on "My Mate Paul". *

Keith Tenniswood Keith Tenniswood is a British DJ, producer, and remixer. He was one half of the electronic act Two Lone Swordsmen alongside Andrew Weatherall, and produces music on his own as Radioactive Man. He co-runs the Control Tower electro label with Si ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...

on "Rodney Yates"; additional production on "Gritty Shaker", "Rodney Yates" and "Slasher's Revenge". *

Tim Goldsworthy Tim Goldsworthy is a British record producer, DJ and recording artist. Career Originally a musician/producer for Unkle with James Lavelle, he later worked with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and was formerly joint owner of DFA Records. G ...

– remixing on "Radio 7".

Singles

References

{{Authority control 1997 albums David Holmes (musician) albums Go! Discs albums