Bonnaroo’s Small Stages: The Faces of The Festival Javier Dunn Chats About Signing To Red Parade Music And How Sara Bareilles Changed His Life Young Empires Bring Dance Rock to Seattle's Folky Tractor Tavern FM Radio Talks About Their OneRepublic and Sheryl Crow Pasts, Songwriting and What the Future Holds James Bay Clicks With the Troubadour on His First U.S. Tour Mixtape 28: Laura Marling, Father John Misty and more Northside Fest Day 1: Bennio Qwerty, A Place to Bury Strangers, and Iceage Album Review: Thundercat, Apocalypse Featured Artist: Local Natives Chrome Sparks Set The Echoplex Ablaze Album Review: Surfer Blood, Pythons Of Monsters and Men Are In Prime Form In Austin
Bonnaroo’s Small Stages: The Faces of The Festival
Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Jack Johnson, we adore you – we do. Today though, we’re taking a step back and spotlighting the new bands, the emerging musical progenies of the 21st century. All those - - - READ MORE
Javier Dunn Chats About Signing To Red Parade Music And How Sara Bareilles Changed His Life
It takes a fair amount of dedication and passion to step out from behind the shadow of a star and make a name for yourself. Many musicians make incredible livings playing in studio or touring bands, but - - - READ MORE
Young Empires Bring Dance Rock to Seattle's Folky Tractor Tavern
The Tractor Tavern is typically the home of Seattle’s local and travelling folk and blues groups. The relatively small club has hosted acts such as Langhorne Slim and The Proclaimers. In the past few - - - READ MORE
FM Radio Talks About Their OneRepublic and Sheryl Crow Pasts, Songwriting and What the Future Holds
The mainstream is polluted with pop-leaning hooks and melodies, and sometimes, it takes a bit of digging to uncover an artist to really strike a chord with listeners. For Schuyler Fisk and Tim Myers - - - READ MORE
James Bay Clicks With the Troubadour on His First U.S. Tour
It’s tough going for singer-songwriters. If you’re not a natural poet or have some truly unique angle, you better have one hell of a voice and a perfect live act. At this point, the guitar-toting James Bay out of - - - READ MORE
Mixtape 28: Laura Marling, Father John Misty and more
This week's mix is a combination of old and new tracks, because discoveries are fun, but sometimes re-discoveries are just what we need. Best Coast is on because Kristen saw them at The - - - READ MORE
Northside Fest Day 1: Bennio Qwerty, A Place to Bury Strangers, and Iceage
Northside Music Festival has commenced in northern Brooklyn, and it’s bigger and heavier than ever. Last night was the first night of the music portion, and I already feel like I barely made it out alive - - - READ MORE
Album Review: Thundercat, Apocalypse
Sometimes great music comes from obscure places. Other times it’s so obvious that the music is overwhelmingly amazing that impossible to put your finger on the pulse of why that’s the - - - READ MORE
Featured Artist: Local Natives
With Bonnaroo around the corner, there are so many awesome new bands that are playing at the extravaganza in deep in the heart of Tennessee. We’re proud to say that a fair share of site alumni - - - READ MORE
Chrome Sparks Set The Echoplex Ablaze
On Tuesday night Check Yo Ponytail 2 hosted a dance party, and even though headliners Anamanaguchi weren’t slated to play until midnight, the room was full by 9:45 pm with fans anticipating a - - - READ MORE
Album Review: Surfer Blood, Pythons
Surfer Blood might have set all future expectations a bit high for themselves with their 2010 debut album Astro Coast. The band’s immediate knack for hypnotizing hooks (“Floating Vibes” has been - - - READ MORE
Of Monsters and Men Are In Prime Form In Austin
Of Monsters and Men have made significant strides. In a short three years, the Icelandic masterminds released debut album My Head Is An Animal to critical acclaim (Photo By Carlos Legarreta) - - - READ MORE
Bonnaroo’s Small Stages: The Faces of The Festival

Bonnaroo’s Small Stages: The Faces of The Festival

18 June 2013

Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Jack Johnson, we adore you – we do. You have given the listening community fulfilling tunes for decades and to...

Javier Dunn Chats About Signing To Red Parade Music And How Sara Bareilles Changed His Life

Javier Dunn Chats About Signing To Red Parade Music And...

17 June 2013

It takes a fair amount of dedication and passion to step out from behind the shadow of a star and make a name for...

Album Review: Thundercat, Apocalypse

Album Review: Thundercat, Apocalypse

12 June 2013

Sometimes great music comes from obscure places. Other times it’s so obvious that the music is overwhelmingly amazing that impossible to put your finger...

Features

Mixtape 28: Laura Marling, Father John Misty and more

Mixtape 28: Laura Marling, Father John Misty and more

14 June 2013

  This week's mix is a combination of old and new tracks, because discoveries are fun, but sometimes re-discoveries are just what we need. Best Coast is on because Kristen saw them at The Mohawk, and also because it’s summertime. There's also an older track from Shilpa Ray,...

Featured Artist: Local Natives

Featured Artist: Local Natives

12 June 2013

With Bonnaroo literally around the corner, there are so many awesome new bands that are playing at the extravaganza in deep in the heart of Tennessee. We’re proud to say that a fair share of site alumni are at the event, in fact way too many too...

Grouplove Unveils The First Single From Their Upcoming Album

Grouplove Unveils The First Single From Their Upcoming Album

10 June 2013

Canvasback Music/Atlantic recording group Grouplove has announced early details of their much-anticipated new album. Produced by the band’s own Ryan Rabin, “SPREADING RUMOURS” arrives in stores and at all online retailers on September 17th. “SPREADING RUMOURS” – which follows Grouplove’s acclaimed 2011 debut, “NEVER TRUST A HAPPY SONG”...

Mixtape 27: Crystal Fighters - DIIV - Michael Kiwanuka and more

Mixtape 27: Crystal Fighters - DIIV - Michael Kiwanuka and more

05 June 2013

 Summer is already starting to feel like it’s blowing up, as we’ve had a busy week with new breezy tunes to chill in your beach chair by, as well as some fresh jams to sweat it out to. In live reviews, Zach Klassen was up at Sasquatch!...

Featured Artist: Bleached

Featured Artist: Bleached

05 June 2013

  Today’s styling of punk music is harder to find than before. This can be attributed to the watered down version of pop punk that nearly destroyed the genre and turned punk from a lifestyle and attitude into just another cash cow. While bands we won’t mention did...

Mixtape 26: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Cayucas and More

Mixtape 26: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Cayucas and More

02 June 2013

After a short hiatus, we’re back with a new mix, summing up our best new coverage, plus the new tunes that really struck me during the week of May 19-25. Kristen hung out at Hangout Festival in Alabama, citing The Kingston Springs as the band that topped...

Featured Artist: Laura Marling

Featured Artist: Laura Marling

30 May 2013

If you were to tell someone in, oh let’s say 1995, that Britpop would be kaput and West End British folk would be on top of the world nearly 20 years later, many people would have laugh and likely think that you should be institutionalized. Yet here...

New Trixie Whitley Video: Breathe You In My Dreams

New Trixie Whitley Video: Breathe You In My Dreams

29 May 2013

  Trixie Whitley has premiered her new video. The video is for the deep and soulful stunner, "Breathe You In My Dreams," one of the centerpieces from her debut, Fourth Corner (Strong Blood). Matthu Placek, who also directed the gorgeous video for "A Thousand Thieves", directed the clip.  "The way Matthew expressed the...

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Parallels' Visionaries: For Generations and Chromosomes X and Y

Written by  Published in Album Reviews Friday, 22 October 2010 09:00
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Everytime I think I've lost interest in electro pop, a band like Parallels comes along and sucks me back into a world where perfect beats and sweeping synths rule supreme. There's such a difference between good electronic dance music and bad, and there seems to be little in between. Then there's the dichotomy between the old school (analog) and new school (digital), and of course those in favor of using vocal effects and those in favor of the real thing.  The point at which these separate but related styles (never) intersect is Parallels' Visionaries; it is a divinely fresh fusion of old and new. Fans of Depeche Mode will rejoice in the usage of vintage synths by Cameron Findlay, former drummer of the ultra hip Crystal Castles. Lovers of Cyndi Lauper, old school Madonna, and School of Seven Bells will be delighted by Holly Dodson's girlish, sparkling vocals. But despite the fact that the group sounds just as polished as the countless other electro pop groups, their album is not populated by happy-go-lucky beeps and boops or sappy lyrics that tend to elicit groans. Parallels coaxed me into the dark as frequently as they lead me into the light, leaving me pondering the simultaneous urge to suss out the song's meaning and just dance it all out. It was confusing, but in a rather glorious way.


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I was first hooked by the fat, wavering bass line and hard-hitting drum sounds of 'Find the Fire'. Holly's crystalline vocals are filled with conviction and emotion, complimented by an echoing bell part that rings on into silence once the song is over. 'Ultralight' is pure disco (see music video below): full of syncopated synth sounds and the ever-present sixteenth notes tapped out on the cymbals. I couldn't get the devilish chorus out of my head:

Ooh tell me are you falling for me

I release my hands, and I'll let you go

Electric lights are shining in me

I was falling in before I let you go

I usually desest vocal effects like vocoders, but there's something about the way it combines with the ominous bass and bell parts of 'Dried Blood' and hyphy synths of 'Magnetics' that made me rethink my stance. 'Nightmares' was chilling, which I suppose is apropos for the title. The lyrics are far more Thriller than electro pop:

To a mirror, a mistake

Endings no escape

The taste of blood in my mouth

A knife hanging from above

'Vienna' was my favorite track out of the twelve, but it was so hard to choose. The constant yet subdued drum part at the beginning is pure sex, and the addition of pulsing  distorted synth textures add that much-needed meat to the middle of the song between the sky-high vocals and the kind of bass you can feel in the pit of your stomach. They close the album with 'All We'll Ever Know', a midtempo ebb and flow of synths and echoing vocals that is dreamy bordering on trance-inducing. When the music stops, it's impossible not to still hear the shadow of the relentless bass drum, urging you to continue listening. That's the true beauty of this record: Visionaries will keep you going for hours on end, whether you're at the gym, stuck in traffic, or pregaming for a party or bar outing. This is the music that they should be playing in dance clubs, daring you to try and keep up.

Visionaries is now available on iTunes. For all you vinyl junkies, the physical record is available as well in either black or clear blue (shown above). It also comes with a digital download of the album and is available for purchase here. Parallels will be performing Sunday, October 31st at The Raleigh Hotel in Miami. For more information about their upcoming tour dates, click here.

Last modified on Saturday, 23 April 2011 20:07
Laurel Kathleen

Laurel was born in the great state of Texas but grew up in the slightly backwards state of Minnesota. As soon as she was old enough to hitchhike safely, she thumbed it back to good ol' Texas, enrolling in the University of North Texas. While there, her mind was blown by the incredibly rich and diverse musical landscape of Denton which prompted her to begin writing about her concert-going adventures. She now resides in LA, where her life's goal is to spread the good word about good music. That, and becoming best friends with Chelsea Handler (whichever comes first).

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