Nosaj Thing
Parallels
Release Date: Sep 8, 2017
Genre(s): Electronic
Record label: Innovative Leisure
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Album Review: Parallels by Nosaj Thing
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 9/10
As Nosaj Thing, producer Jason Chung has worked with Kendrick Lamar, Chance The Rapper, BADBADNOTGOOD and many more. He's been a revered figure in the L.A. beat scene for years, but takes his time refining his approach. Chung has said he faced a personal and musical "identity crisis" during the making of this record, but was helped through it by the fruitful collaborations that went into it. Guest vocalists definitely add warmth and colour in their own ways, but Chung's true triumph is the resilience of his own original artistic voice ….
Based on rating 6.5/10
Parallels is Jason Chung’s fourth album as Nosaj Thing, and at this point he has a clear, unhurried confidence in his approach to making music. He gives ideas ample space to breathe and develop. The textures here are warmer and feel more lived-in than on his 2016 No Reality EP, though there is still a sense of deliberate detachment that allows listeners to feel the space between the synth lines and percussion to mostly positive ends. Because it’s a more abstract affair, Parallels lacks the intensity and edge of his debut, Drift, but it does have its share of attention-grabbing moments that show his utilitarian songcraft skills.
Based on rating 6.4/10
Los Angeles electronic producer Jason Chung was never necessarily a loner, but he’s spent the last few years using his Nosaj Thing moniker as a way to try on an extroverted lifestyle. For the first time in his career, Chung has said he decided to become more sociable, and his fourth album, Parallels, captures that change. The Parallels sessions were a chance to make opposites attract: beauty and dissonance, love and regret, soul and machine. With opener “Nowhere,” that means partnering meditative piano with a rushed phone call.
Opinion: Very Good
Los Angeles-based Jason Chung AKA Nosaj Thing’s fourth LP ‘Parallels’ signals a creative rebirth for the revered beatmaker. Following a self-proclaimed “identity crisis”, triggered after his gear was stolen while on tour, Chung took his time, unhurried in his approach to song craft, cultivating a record that manages to find a new sense of cordiality in collaboration, whilst retaining Nosaj Thing’s sense of abstract exploration. His past work under the Nosaj Thing moniker — pre-dating ‘Parallels’ — explored amorphous left-field, house and glitch-hop soundscapes, his eye and attention to every minuscule detail the reason he is so valued in the LA music scene.
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