

The opening bassline from "Feel Free to Be Who You Need to Be" is caked in grit and subterranean skank, wobbling and warbling through a hypnotic set of permutations. Theo's goblin-treated rap/chant floats overhead for a long, long while, until you've lost your bearings… and then a driving Detroit low-end kicks in. Noodle-y, spaced-out and murky as hell, it definitely shows the guy feeling free as he needs to be.
On the flip, the inscrutably titled "[email protected]" further cements a certain parallel between Parrish and Sly Stone say, around the time of There's a Riot Goin' On, when Sly's composing style went from radio-friendly to brooding and brilliantly eccentric. "360" exudes a weird lo-fi warmth that sounds like it's being played off a reel-to-reel. Originality of melodic elements and strong instrumental chops often set Parrish apart from his contemporaries, and here the keys and guitar coalesce into loose patterns that unfurl like the curlicues of cigarette smoke, underpinned by gorgeous Rhodes playing that gives the whole thing a velvety, In A Silent Way comedown vibe. For some reason it's merely twelve minutes long.
-
Published /
Wed / 4 May 2011 -
Words /
William Rauscher -
Tracklist /
A Feel Free To Be Who You Need To Be
B [email protected] feat. Duminnie Deporres
Comments loading