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- Date Released: May 18, 2004
- Genre: Electronic
- Style: Dance
- Label: Ubiquity Records
Genre-bending minimalism.
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We Say...
Minimal house producers generally seek to mimic silicon chips (their smallness, their futurism), but Theo Parrish takes a holistic approach. Under the broad umbrellas of minimal and house, he synthesizes nature, the history of rhythm, the cityscapes of Detroit and Chicago and the plastic through which he processes his music, and tethers his expansive vision to no paradigm.
Initially pressed to 1,000 dub plates in Y2K on his own Sound Signature label, Parallel Dimensions was re-released in 2004 thanks to Parrish's legendary status as a producer and DJ. It's an early example of his fine ear, a gorgeous assemblage of technology and earthly delights where even his space-ghost sounds sound sprouted from the sands whence they came. With a subtle and painstaking hand, Parrish nestles echoes of dub, jazz melodies, African drum patterns and harmonies (the terrific "Serengeti Echoes"), in a quiet build, delicately blanketing house's 4/4 dogma with finger-snapping, mouth-clicking polyrhythms.
Parrish is very much in his own mind, composing from his soul, but leaving audio shrines to those folks who made it possible for him to be here tonight. On the breathy "Summertime Is Here," he alludes to the diva vocals of deep house; a woman sings lyrics from Marvin Gaye's "I Want You," craning and siren-like, as though she were memorializing a ghost of a feeling. As she stretches her vocals, she coaxes out a wistful chorus of saxophones, followed by handsnaps, high-hat and a muted bass thump; underneath, a cluster of tones on the piano and very slight, funky bass riff haunt its undertone. It's all so muted as to be impressions or imprints. Mid-track, the melodies take center stage and the rhythm decrescendos before they switch again, making mesmerizing patterns that are as amorphous as their roots.
Parrish is a master of subtlety, and Parallel Dimensions hides in many nooks and crannys — brass-section back-choruses, almost-inaudible delays, counter-rhythms that sounds like shoesteps in the rain. But while he understates and illustrates, the funk he pops is as impacting as any smack-yr-head-on-the-subwoofer Detroit & Chicago techno tracks. So intricately crafted it compelled DJ Language to compare Parrish to Thelonious Monk, Parallel Language's sound-menagerie is truly music without borders. -
They Say...
This Ubiquity release is a straight reissue of the CD version of 2000's Parallel Dimensions, a full-length set of productions that Theo Parrish initially put out in a typically limited quantity on his Sound Signature label. The original double-vinyl release contained five tracks, with only three of those -- bizarrely enough -- included on the CD version. Six other tracks, either previously released on vinyl or brand new, fleshed out the disc. Parrish's shrewdest move with the CD version was the inclusion of "Summertime Is Here," a one-sided 12" from 1999 that is sweltering in every sense; the producer incorporates live sax, trumpet, and vocals to help make a blissfully exploratory cross between soul-jazz and abstract house that should be considered a Motor City classic, genre be damned. It foreshadowed where he would take his sound with the Rotating Assembly collaborations and is the central track here, if not Parrish's prolific career. This shouldn't take the focus off several other excellent tracks ("Anansies Dances," "Serengeti Echoes," "Violet Green"), all of which trade in the producer's patented gritty/clunky mid-tempo approach to house. The average track clocks in somewhere around ten minutes, allowing enough space for those all-important subtle changes to generate an optimum supply of intensely hypnotic music that borders on the supernatural. Parrish obsessives who already have the Sound Signature release might want to take note that Ubiquity has made an improvement on the sound quality; the elements of each track are more separable by the ear. Issued around the same time as the Parrish-orchestrated Rotating Assembly album, this widely distrubuted reissue should also help shine light on one of house music's few modern visionaries. (Another note: the vinyl version of Ubiquity's reissue contains the same nine tracks available on the CD version, rather than duplicating the five-track format of the Sound Signature release.)
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| 01. |  |
So Now What |
9:26 |
|
| 02. | |
Anansies Dances |
8:22 |
|
| 03. | |
Serengeti Echoes |
11:55 |
|
| 04. | |
Reaction to Plastic |
6:01 |
|
| 05. | |
Space Ghosts |
5:16 |
|
| 06. | |
Summertime Is Here |
12:24 |
|
| 07. | |
Brain |
4:43 |
|
| 08. | |
Violet Green |
11:02 |
|
| 09. | |
Nefarious Stranger |
5:09 |
|
09 Total Tracks, 74:18 Total Length
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