14th July 11
REVIEW: 3:33 (Parallel Thought) – The First Thousand Days [Parallel Thought]
Posted in Reviews
Before beatmakers started taking influence from the emerging bass music scene, there was a pointed focus on big, lumbering, dirty great drum breaks and a moody cinematic atmosphere. Sixtoo’s Ninja Tune album, Chewing on Glass & Other Miracle Cures, was a standout of this kind of instrumental hip-hop, and it contributed to an explosion of similar artists pushing the grit, the complexity and the foreboding badass-ness of drums. MHE (later MRR ADM) was a favorite just before the style started becoming stale late in the last decade. The man’s drums were gigantic, live, manic and full of a distorted texture; pushing the idea that drums, when done right, were the heart of hip-hop and could stand out on their own. As I said, the style started going out of favor in the late 2000s as kinetic synths and deep bass emerged to supplant the focus on drums. However, Parallel Thought’s new project 3:33 has arrived to carry the mantle with complex productions that put the spotlight back on the static soaked drum break and drag the day-glo beats of today back down into the dark.
About half of The First Thousand Days harkens quite a bit to the MHE days, with sharp snares and bottom heavy kicks abounding on ‘A1’ and ‘B2,’ as well as a minimal textured atmosphere that doesn’t detract from the percussion. The ghost of John Bonham rides triumphantly on the crashes and frenetic pace of ‘C3’ with abandon, bringing the big rock drums to the forefront before getting meditative and ambient on ‘G4.’ This type of gritty feedback and texture is where 3:33 sets itself apart from the previous generation of drum maestros.
Not content to just loop up some live breaks and throw effects onto them, the producers excel at crafting short narratives around the drums as standout track ‘P9’ shows – those gorgeous waves of synths and pads hugging the drums and moving in tandem. There is progression, emotion, and a keen attempt to go beyond the beats on tracks like this one. Some of the most interesting moments on …Thousand Days come from semi-ambient mood pieces like ‘U7,’ with a heartbeat-like drum, reverb effect found sounds echoing and a glacial pace that doesn’t go for the obvious with a momentous finale. And indeed the proper album finale is ‘V8’ which continues the noisey fogged up quagmire and changes up the dirty breaks for a plodding beat not unlike that of Demdike Stare. It’s a curiously different composition in the face of the preceding tracks but works to send off the album in a pensive, tense mood – a glance to the future of using breaks in unique ways.
Words: Keith Pishnery // Out: Now via Bandcamp
