Bold Parade is the latest project from London based, Belfast born producer Paul McMahon. Paul has been making music for over 20 years under the name Crashdaddy. He has also worked with Mark Bell as part of the group Bellcrash. Together and separately with Mark, Paul has released through Sunshine Recordings, Seventh Sign, Illicit, Island Hopper and Freebooter Lounge, among others. Paul’s signature sound combines cool beats with jazz styled musicians to blend modern production with classic rhythmic jazz overtones. Paul is currently putting the finishing touches together on his debut Bold Parade studio album, which is set for release in 2023. As his first release from the new project, ‘Flowers In The Dirt EP’, drops on Suzume Recordings, DMCWorld goes back to mine with Bold Parade.
Nick Drake- River Man
Such a beautiful melancholy track. It’s amazing that in my lifetime he’s gone from cult classic to a widely respected genius who was not recognised in his time, along the lines of Van Gogh. He made this before he was 21. Unreal. In his lifetime none of his releases ever sold more than five thousand copies.
Van Morrison – Sweet Thing
A titan of Northern Irish music and the creator of my favourite album of all time, Astral Weeks. Maybe there are better tracks on it, but this track just captures the feeling of the hopeful excitement of finding love after being down and it contains one of my favourite lines ever – “And I will never, never, never grow so old again.”
David Holmes – My Mate Paul
Masterfully chopping up Smokey Jo’s La La, this track was a game changer for me from highly influential Belfast producer, David Holmes. I love his stuff and the way he’s constantly growing and changing and looking for new ways to express his creativity. I think I prefer 69 Police but this track had a bigger impact on me.
Bold Parade – Cutting Room Floor
One of mine, with a blistering horn arrangement from Alex Saxon. The great thing about incorporating live elements into your productions is that instead of focusing on the minutiae of the production of the final version, you can let yourself get carried away by the artistry of the musicians you worked with. So many great performances, I couldn’t cut any of them out.
Stevie Wonder – Another Star
Songs in the Key of Life is a genius at the height of his powers and this epic is the cornerstone. He did the drums himself and George Benson’s in there too. Everything about it is perfect., instrumentation, vocal, lyrics.
Robbie Basho – Blue Crystal Fire
I only got introduced to this in the last few years or so. Ethereal, spiritual, an incredible vocal performance. I play it to everyone who hasn’t heard of the artist before.
Sébastien Tellier – La Ritournelle
Beautiful melancholic, wistful chords and strings, the power of repetition. Then a short burst of passion with a killer bassline and back to the chords again. Incredible drumming from Tony Allen, the master. A modern masterpiece made more perfect by the YouTube comments on the video where people lay out the emotions the track brings out or the memories or long lost love. Just beautiful.
Jazzanova – Fedime’s Flight
Such a great production unit, everything they do is just quality. I love the Brazilian rhythm on this, I used to play the hell out of it back in the day. They never put a foot wrong as far as I’m concerned. This track in particular was very influential for me and it still sounds fresh to this day.
Sunda Arc – Everything At Once
I love this band. I find it hard to put into words the emotions this track bring out in me. There’s something highly spiritual in it. Such a simple yet effective chord sequence with a lovely little change up in the middle.
Members of the Lifestyle – Ferris Wheel
An absolute banger from my Bellcrash bandmate Mark Bell’s solo project. Incredible musicianship and masterful programming, just great stuff. I play this to anyone I can. His debut solo album is coming out later this year.
Bold Parade ‘Flowers In The Dirt EP’ is out now on Suzume Recordings.
https://www.beatport.com/release/flowers-in-the-dirt/4073766
