CD: Theo Parrish – American Intelligence

Last month, Theo Parrish released his album, American Intelligence, on vinyl and CD. Now it’s available on digital, but make sure you’ve got room on your hard drive – it’s long. Seriously, marathons have been run quicker than the two hours and three minutes here.

Things start well. “Drive” is a long, straight road of a track with all exits barred by stuttering cymbals. It’s compelling stuff, but Parrish, having created an audio autobahn, sticks to 70 all the way – presumably trying to pace himself. “Life Spice” is next and the sample, which sounds like it was cut on a slant, is more in keeping with off-kilter hip hop. You half expect Doom to arrive, rapping about drinking beers with a horse in a deli. Or something. It’s great anyway.

There’s some compelling experimentation: “Tympanic Warfare” features chainsaw synth waves that create chaos, before scuttling sideways looking for shade and sounding like Isolée in a hall of mirrors. The African-influenced “Make No War” builds slowly, but with no attack – a bit like spending a whole game of Risk amassing armies in Australasia before then deciding to turn in for the night. It’s utterly – and unexpectedly – sublime. Meanwhile, “Fallen Funk” results in a beautiful bruise that sounds like Sa-Ra at their very best, and “They’re Here” is wonderfully insistent, shifting and subtly shape-changing.

However some tracks, including the unfinished sounding “Cypher Delight” and “Helmut Lampshade”, scream “experiment” so loudly it’s hard to hear anything else. “Ah” is another case in point – there are some beautiful passages, but it’s 10 minutes long where five would have been excessive. There is, in truth, a fair bit that could be stripped away.

We end, though, on an endorphin high. The Romanthony-esque vocal stylings and jazz inflections of “Be In Yo Self” never sacrifice melody, momentum or immediacy over 13 near-faultless minutes, while the rhythmic, vocal punctuation of “Footwork” drives the conclusion rather than trying to describe it.

Post-race summary? There was no need for this to be a marathon and it lags awfully going into the final third. Trimmed down however, it would be a first-class, middle-distance medal winner.

Overleaf: Watch the video for "Footwork"