A perennial reminder to the raw-ass bluesy soul house stomp and wiggle of the GOATy debut album by Detroit/Chicago auteur Theo Parrish
Now of a 24 year vintage, the nine tracks of woodcut drums, burnished keys and soul-fired vibes in ‘First Floor’ (1998) have aged like a cask oak-steeped single malt whiskey. It’s now a contemporary classic touchstone for deep house at its earthiest and spirited, depicting Theo locked into signature offbeat grooves that have now buried themselves deep under the skin of all the deepest house players and soundtrack more soirées than anyone knows.
Future-proofed by its uniquely loose but taut knit of minimalist elements worked to maximal, hypnotic effect, one can practically taste the sweet smoke and tang in the air of each cut, spanning the lip-bitingly strong, heads-down hustle of ‘First Floor Metaphor’ at the front, thru the timeless deep house immanence of ’Sky Walking’ at the back. In between, ‘Sweet Sticky’ works nagging organ vamps and nattiest drums into a proper stank-face trample, next to the honeyed chords of ‘Paradise Architects’, classic sampler magick in ‘Love Is war For Miles’, a ‘JB’s Edit’ for the wall-bangers, and 10 mins of limb-unravelling tekkerz on ‘Dark Patterns’.
It’s one of those albums that’s truly transcended generic borders to influence heads of all stripes with its unmistakeable, soul-nuzzling texture and groove. One for the ages we tell thee.
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A perennial reminder to the raw-ass bluesy soul house stomp and wiggle of the GOATy debut album by Detroit/Chicago auteur Theo Parrish
Now of a 24 year vintage, the nine tracks of woodcut drums, burnished keys and soul-fired vibes in ‘First Floor’ (1998) have aged like a cask oak-steeped single malt whiskey. It’s now a contemporary classic touchstone for deep house at its earthiest and spirited, depicting Theo locked into signature offbeat grooves that have now buried themselves deep under the skin of all the deepest house players and soundtrack more soirées than anyone knows.
Future-proofed by its uniquely loose but taut knit of minimalist elements worked to maximal, hypnotic effect, one can practically taste the sweet smoke and tang in the air of each cut, spanning the lip-bitingly strong, heads-down hustle of ‘First Floor Metaphor’ at the front, thru the timeless deep house immanence of ’Sky Walking’ at the back. In between, ‘Sweet Sticky’ works nagging organ vamps and nattiest drums into a proper stank-face trample, next to the honeyed chords of ‘Paradise Architects’, classic sampler magick in ‘Love Is war For Miles’, a ‘JB’s Edit’ for the wall-bangers, and 10 mins of limb-unravelling tekkerz on ‘Dark Patterns’.
It’s one of those albums that’s truly transcended generic borders to influence heads of all stripes with its unmistakeable, soul-nuzzling texture and groove. One for the ages we tell thee.
A perennial reminder to the raw-ass bluesy soul house stomp and wiggle of the GOATy debut album by Detroit/Chicago auteur Theo Parrish
Now of a 24 year vintage, the nine tracks of woodcut drums, burnished keys and soul-fired vibes in ‘First Floor’ (1998) have aged like a cask oak-steeped single malt whiskey. It’s now a contemporary classic touchstone for deep house at its earthiest and spirited, depicting Theo locked into signature offbeat grooves that have now buried themselves deep under the skin of all the deepest house players and soundtrack more soirées than anyone knows.
Future-proofed by its uniquely loose but taut knit of minimalist elements worked to maximal, hypnotic effect, one can practically taste the sweet smoke and tang in the air of each cut, spanning the lip-bitingly strong, heads-down hustle of ‘First Floor Metaphor’ at the front, thru the timeless deep house immanence of ’Sky Walking’ at the back. In between, ‘Sweet Sticky’ works nagging organ vamps and nattiest drums into a proper stank-face trample, next to the honeyed chords of ‘Paradise Architects’, classic sampler magick in ‘Love Is war For Miles’, a ‘JB’s Edit’ for the wall-bangers, and 10 mins of limb-unravelling tekkerz on ‘Dark Patterns’.
It’s one of those albums that’s truly transcended generic borders to influence heads of all stripes with its unmistakeable, soul-nuzzling texture and groove. One for the ages we tell thee.