Theo Parrish - Smile

  • Strong words and even stronger music as Theo keeps it realer than anyone in the game.
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  • In 2015 the artist Phillip Simpson took over Untitled Bottega, a community arts space in Detroit's Milwaukee Junction neighborhood. He renamed it The Baltimore Gallery, with a focus on showcasing young artists from the city and making the gallery experience more accessible. It quickly became a hub for a long under-resourced art scene bursting with talent. Simpson eventually started renting the space out for general events, birthday parties and musical performances to help pay the bills. This led to a series of events by Theo Parrish called The Music Gallery, which were put on sporadically until the space's closure in 2019. A night at The Music Gallery was unlike most parties these days, with the DJ and crowd in completely separate rooms. Parrish, along with occasional guests like Specter, Julion De'Angelo and Thomas Xu, would be in one room with a small number of close friends, while the majority of attendees danced in a small square room with an overpowered, raw soundsystem. This setup forced partygoers to interact with each other instead of staring at the DJ. They could truly express themselves through dance. Plus there was always great food available through the night, with no underlying incentive to sell alcohol. It's fitting that Simpson designed the cover art for the latest Sound Signature release, as he shares a brand name with the title. Smile is a beautiful gatefold re-release of tracks from two EPs originally released around the turn of the millennium on UK label Music Is... The inside has pictures of the gallery along with a short essay giving some insight into the mind of label head Parrish. "Smile" has those signature dusty MPC drums with a simple vocal sample. It beautifully expands upon simple parts, mixed to perfection, with a hard-hitting kick keeping it grounded. The dissonant chords of "Lost Keys" gives a jazz touch to its four-to-the-floor disco-funk drums, with a change-up in percussion that slaps you just right. Parrish's percussive key playing style is further explored in "Dreamer," which features frequent collaborator Jerry The Cat on hand percussion. His swift beat glides over a deep bassline—the kind of bass you feel more than hear. The combination has a modern spiritual jazz vibe, taking full advantage of their unique collaboration. A taste of pitch-shifting pads over heavy low frequencies lets "Lost Angel" slowly open up for a lesson in deep house. Comprising four slow burning cuts of that deep and raw sound synonymous with the beatdown DJ, Smile is for patient selectors who understand the importance of the build-up in order to truly transport dancers away from their troubles.
  • Tracklist
      A Smile B Lost Keys C Dreamer's Blues feat. Jerry The Cat D Lost Angel
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