I chose this song as I thought it would only be fair to review their first single, as I reviewed their most recent "I Believe" on Friday. "Parallel Worlds" was written by Alex Davies and Ed Minton and is about supernatural ghosts in a room, as when they were at school an attic flat was believed to have been haunted according to Alex. This song got to number 31 in it's original release, but a year later it got re-released, scoring the band's 3rd best charting single at 21, following "Still Figuring Out" which got to 17 and "Jessica" which got to 19. The UK chart was being dominated by rock bands, but now there is no successful charting positions for them, hence why teenage memories of famous bands is just a past-time (for the moment, I have a feeling the rock age will swing around again at some point).
This is not the original music video since I have been struggling to find the original. I'm sure if I was pushed I'd eventually find it, but for now we have the re-released version, which is a lot better nonetheless.
There is both a narrative and a performance, but surprisingly it's all rolled into one. The band are ghosts and so are their instruments (funnily enough), but they can still manipulate real-life objects, scaring the people eating at the dinner time, if only they knew how lucky they were to have Elliot Minor performing in front of them.
On paper this sounds amazing, in the music video... It's just as good, it's engaging, clever and different to other videos, therefore making it stand out. The only critique I have is that I think the editing has made the scenes short and quick, I had to watch it twice to see if I missed anything the first time round as it's speedy and you don't realise what is happening until too far in, and then it all clicks.
Overall a catchy song that deserves that 21 charting position, however nowadays it would have no chance. The music video is hauntingly creepy and shocking, I can't help but laugh at the wine glass, definitely my favourite scene. Apart from the speedy cuts of the camera shots, I have nothing else negative to say, and I'm willing to let the camera cuts slide, so here's a very deserving rating.
Here's an excerpt from The Music Producer's Handbook regarding a checklist for overdubs. If you want your overdubs to go fast and easy, follow this list. It works every time.
Motown's James Jamerson is ones of the giants of the bass world, so it's always a pleasure when we can get to closely study his work. Here's a video of his isolated bass in The Four Tops hit "I Can't Help Myself (Suger Pie Honey Bunch)." As you listen, take notice to a few things:
Although Muzak has been a company since 1934, it's also become one of those words like "Kleenex" that's become so widespread that the name identifies the product. In the case of Muzak, that means elevator music or the music we hear in grocery stores and shopping malls. It's the dumbed down hits of the yesterday and today.
Today getting paid adequately for your services is one of the most difficult tasks facing a producer. It used to be that there was plenty of money for an advance, and the sort of sales that could eventually lead to a substantial reward for a producer's participation in a project. Of course, that was during the heyday of the music industry when the power of the major record labels was at its peak.