Track Of The Day: Theo Parrish - Falling Up (Carl Craig Remix) (Third Ear)

The original is a raw jazz jam that is characterised by a thumping bass drum, a handclap like squelch, rimshots and what sounds like a fluctuating electric bass. It’s this bass that Carl Craig mutates in order to provide the central motif of the remix, which isn’t that far removed at all, but ends up sounding like a new track in any case. After a while the keys enter the fray, which is the element of the original closest in tone to that of the remix. It seems to me that what Carl Craig has done is put Parrish’s composition through a process of electronic cleaning. The remix is much more pristine than the original and has more volume, clearly an advantage when playing in a packed club. The pitch clearly goes up a notch as well. That’s not to say the original isn’t equally groovy, it just occupies another level of syncopation. When I first heard it I imagined it having been a backing track on a Tom Waits song from one of his 80s albums, when he went all carny. A brilliant, timeless piece of reinvented jazz inflected techno.