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Theo Parrish - American Intelligence

    • Label /
      Sound Signature
      SS055/56/57
    • Released /
      November 2014
    • Style /
      House
    • Comments /
      57 / View
    • Rating /
      3.5/5
    • Previous
    • Next
    Theo Parrish - American Intelligence Theo Parrish - American Intelligence
    Theo Parrish - American Intelligence In 2014 Theo Parrish took his new live show on the road. It wasn't the first time he'd been involved with live performance—he was playing shows with his Rotating Assembly ten years back—but this was Parrish putting himself out there, front and centre, performing his own material on stage with a band. This was Theo Parrish the musician, not Theo Parrish the producer or Theo Parrish the DJ. The idea of musicianship, of creating everything from scratch, also drives American Intelligence, Parrish's first solo full-length since 2007. For someone whose back catalogue is littered with examples of clever sampling, Parrish has distanced himself from sampling as an art form, explaining to Slices this year that "As I grew older, [I began] respecting what I was sampling and editing." So you won't find many nifty samples on American Intelligence—it's all Parrish's music, and the vocals come from Parrish himself, or Ideeyah, an important cog in his live show.

    American Intelligence forms a kind of companion piece to the live show. It's presented in two versions: the triple-vinyl version, which clocks in at nine tracks, and the more unwieldy 15-track double-CD, which sags heavily as the second disc wears on. The tracks that Parrish performed live this year provide American Intelligence with its strongest moments. There's "Footwork," an irresistible call to dance floor and one of 2014's best singles, "Ah," with Ideeyah on vocals, is sweet and mostly drum-free, and "Be In Yo Self," equals anything in Parrish's catalogue in terms of groove and depth. The drums skitter on "Drive," on which Theo asks, "Where's your drive? Has it died? It keeps me alive." It sounds like a question posed to people around him—lazy DJs, unadventurous live acts, a music press he feels is suffering. "Life Spice's" stuttering loop makes it sound like an Ugly Edit of "Miss You" by The Rolling Stones, while "Welcome Back" is a three-minute imagining of a trip to the grocery store interrupted by a traffic cop, played out by Parrish and backed by belligerent drums.

    The three rhythmically complex tracks that open the second disc of the CD version—"Cypher Delight," "There Here," "Thug Irony"—rumble on for a combined 20 minutes, and in truth they don't justify the length. American Intelligence is not as easy to love as Parrish's best 12-inches, records often defined by their samples—the orchestral Blade Runner sample in "Solitary Flight," the Mass Production sample on "Lake Shore Drive" all those years ago, the entire Ugly Edits series—but it's the next chapter for an artist who isn't interested in repeating himself.
    • Published /
      Tue / 23 Dec 2014
    • Words /
      Aaron Coultate
    • Share
    • Tracklist /
      A1 Footwork
      A2 Cypher Delight
      B1 Ah feat. Marcellus Pittman, Ideeyah & Duminie Deporres
      B2 Creepcake
      C1 Make No War
      C2 Drive
      D1 Fallen Funk
      E1 Be In Yo Self feat. Ideeyah & Duminie Deporres
      F1 Helmutlampshade

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      Sound Signature is a Detroit house label run by Theo Parrish.
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  • More on Theo Parrish

    • Theo Parrish
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      Theo Parrish was born in Washington D.C. in 1972 and raised in Chicago, IL where his passion for music developed. MIles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Nina Simone, George Gershwin, Bob Marley, as well as his uncle, jazz musician Dexter Sims, all h..
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    Upcoming dates

    • Fri22/Feb 2019

      Milan

      I'll BE Your Friend: Theo Parrish - Abstract

    • Sat23/Feb 2019

      Naples

      Theo Parrish All Night Long

    • Fri15/Mar 2019

      Lyon

      Theo Parrish & Julion De'angelo all Night Long

    • Sat16/Mar 2019

      Brussels

      C12 • Theo Parrish

    • Sat06/Apr 2019

      South

      Sound Department 06.04 w/ Theo Parrish and Anthony Parasole

    • Sat11/May 2019

      Chubu

      Fuji & Sun '19

    • Wed12/Jun 2019

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      Kala 2019

    News

    • Wed, 06 Feb 2019

      Post a comment

      Gilles Peterson invites Theo Parrish, Tirzah for his first We Out Here festival

      The inaugural edition of the BBC DJ's new weekender with Worldwide FM and Brownswood Recordings takes place this August at Abbots Ripton.

    • Tue, 29 Jan 2019

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      Kala Festival completes lineup for 2019

      Hunee, Theo Parrish and Fatima & The Eglo Live Band are set to play in the Albanian Riviera.

    • Thu, 27 Sep 2018

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      Waajeed reveals debut album, From The Dirt

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      Printworks reveals autumn and winter programme featuring Nina Kraviz, Theo Parrish

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      Theo Parrish releases three-disc live mix from his last night at Plastic People

      Thanks To Plastic is out now via Sound Signature.

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      François K returns to Tokyo for Space Lab Yellow tribute night

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      Theo Parrish - American Intelligence

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      Mind Fair - Kerry's Scene

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      About Group - You're No Good (Remixes)

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