Here's a review I wrote over a year ago...
But I'd say it still applies......
Artist of the Week: Prefuse 73
All I've been rocking on my Ipod for the past month or so is Prefuse's entire catalogue, on shuffle, and let me tell you, it's bliss. Prefuse falls anywhere between the Hip Hop and Electronic genre's (I've seen it referred to as "GlitchHop" if that means anything), so if you like either, you'll be happy with Prefuse. It's predominantly instrumental beats, but way beyond your basic instrumental hip hop. Super abstract and artistic. But this is no protools cutup job (as I recently heard on the new Interpol single with the remix by New Order producer Arthur Baker - such high hopes, so disappointed!). Prefuse uses all sorts of different machines and devices to make wonderful sounds, and some of the best uses of sampling I've ever heard. There are occasional guest spots with actual spitting on the discs; most notably to me is MF Dooms track on the first album, Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives.
The music is real earthy and natural sounding with some wonderful jazzy horns in the background (hell, this one even has bird sounds. Any song with bird sounds is great in my book. Well, almost any song...). Doom's gravelly voice and amazing rhyme skills are always excellent, and over Prefuse's beats they reach perfection! But more importantly are the aforementioned beats.
On Prefuse's second disc, an ep called The 92 vs. 02 Collection, the beats are subtle, the tempo changes flow like water, and Prefuse includes one major musical quality missing from a lot of hip hop today: Actual Interesting Melody!!!! Whether it's the sound of bottles being tapped or a sweeping keyboard sound, Prefuse weaves the sounds together in a way that is downright RELAXING. Yes, that's right, this is hip hop to sooth as well as to groove. You can bump it loud in your car stereo to provide just the right ratio of headnoddin', or you can put it in the background of a candlelit dinner. Hell, you could meditate to it if you have the right mindset. The beats are consistent yet interesting, and one of the best parts of this 4 song ep are the vocal samples. Prefuse has a way of taking a breathy female vocal track, cutting it up and mixing it back in so eloquently it feels like a warm blanket on a cold night (or a dark twisted His Name is Alive song!). If there are words, you rarely hear them. The importance is put on the Vocal As Instrument! Too many music listeners seem to think that the vocal is separate from the music, even more important. But it is only one part of the overall picture, and should contribute equally without overpowering the song. (Remember Prodigy? Keith Flint I think his name is. Everyone got so mad at the live shows after Firestarter because the 'vocalist' did nothing but dance. Hello Folks, he wasn't the vocalist. He was a DANCER!!! This just illustrates my point - the music is just wallpaper for some pappy words. Remember Beethoven??? No vocals there!!!! Sorry, I digress into rant!) Prefuse knows this and acts accordingly. The final results are 4 amazing tracks that all work together perfectly. (note: this was the first Prefuse cd I bought, and I recommend doing the same!)
Speaking of Flow, one point I'd like to make is that the entire Prefuse catalogue works excellently together. As I said before, I put them all together and on shuffle, and it works seamlessly. I've even found songs flowing together as if they were on an album together, only to look and see that they were from two separate cd's. Not to say that there is no evolution in the music, because there most certainly is. But Prefuse's methods follow him through in a most satisfying way.
His third album, One Word Extinguisher does nothing to disappoint! The beats have only gotten better, the samples and scratches only more well placed. And the transitions, either between or within songs, go from hard-core hip hop into classical into anything you might imagine. And with 23 tracks on the album, there is a lot of room for possibility. I would almost go so far as to call this album flawless, but there are a few things that I could live without:
First, and Foremost, and this message should go out to all hip hop artists: NO MORE ANSWERING MACHINE MESSAGES IN HIP HOP!!!!!
Not only is there a bit of an over usage of answering machine messages as transitions here, but he even dedicates a whole track to a mix of at least 20 messages. On another track he takes an utterly annoying imbecile, plays the message, then cuts it up and turns it into a song. Its fun the first time around, but on repeated listens, I wish he had either left it out, or put it in the companion piece Extinguished Outtakes. Other than that, the all too brief cameo by Mr. Lif could be better, and probably would be if it were longer. Lif isn't the best MC I've heard, but he's damn good, and the first time I saw Prefuse, Lif guest-starred through the whole set. It was fantastic!
At the time of this rant/review, I have not digested the Extinguished Outtakes yet, but I hear they are fantastic and well worth getting. But, in summary, Prefuse 73 is more than worth checking out. His music is crossing boundaries that many who were either too afraid or too ignorant of other forms of music outside of their general spheres to attempt are now jumping over and mixing it up (see MF Dooms new release as Viktor Vaughn, with some excellent electronic beats behind him). Prefuse does things I've never heard before: merging the two camps of full on electronic music with full on hip hop. He does it well, and you all should know his work. It's worth the trip!
(NOTE: This article was written well before Surrounded by Silence was released. I won't even dignify that record with a paragraph, I'll just say that when I finally decide to bother listening to it again to find the 2 or 3 good songs that it contains, I’ll add that in)
Artist of the Week: Prefuse 73
All I've been rocking on my Ipod for the past month or so is Prefuse's entire catalogue, on shuffle, and let me tell you, it's bliss. Prefuse falls anywhere between the Hip Hop and Electronic genre's (I've seen it referred to as "GlitchHop" if that means anything), so if you like either, you'll be happy with Prefuse. It's predominantly instrumental beats, but way beyond your basic instrumental hip hop. Super abstract and artistic. But this is no protools cutup job (as I recently heard on the new Interpol single with the remix by New Order producer Arthur Baker - such high hopes, so disappointed!). Prefuse uses all sorts of different machines and devices to make wonderful sounds, and some of the best uses of sampling I've ever heard. There are occasional guest spots with actual spitting on the discs; most notably to me is MF Dooms track on the first album, Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives.
The music is real earthy and natural sounding with some wonderful jazzy horns in the background (hell, this one even has bird sounds. Any song with bird sounds is great in my book. Well, almost any song...). Doom's gravelly voice and amazing rhyme skills are always excellent, and over Prefuse's beats they reach perfection! But more importantly are the aforementioned beats.On Prefuse's second disc, an ep called The 92 vs. 02 Collection, the beats are subtle, the tempo changes flow like water, and Prefuse includes one major musical quality missing from a lot of hip hop today: Actual Interesting Melody!!!! Whether it's the sound of bottles being tapped or a sweeping keyboard sound, Prefuse weaves the sounds together in a way that is downright RELAXING. Yes, that's right, this is hip hop to sooth as well as to groove. You can bump it loud in your car stereo to provide just the right ratio of headnoddin', or you can put it in the background of a candlelit dinner. Hell, you could meditate to it if you have the right mindset. The beats are consistent yet interesting, and one of the best parts of this 4 song ep are the vocal samples. Prefuse has a way of taking a breathy female vocal track, cutting it up and mixing it back in so eloquently it feels like a warm blanket on a cold night (or a dark twisted His Name is Alive song!). If there are words, you rarely hear them. The importance is put on the Vocal As Instrument! Too many music listeners seem to think that the vocal is separate from the music, even more important. But it is only one part of the overall picture, and should contribute equally without overpowering the song. (Remember Prodigy? Keith Flint I think his name is. Everyone got so mad at the live shows after Firestarter because the 'vocalist' did nothing but dance. Hello Folks, he wasn't the vocalist. He was a DANCER!!! This just illustrates my point - the music is just wallpaper for some pappy words. Remember Beethoven??? No vocals there!!!! Sorry, I digress into rant!) Prefuse knows this and acts accordingly. The final results are 4 amazing tracks that all work together perfectly. (note: this was the first Prefuse cd I bought, and I recommend doing the same!)Speaking of Flow, one point I'd like to make is that the entire Prefuse catalogue works excellently together. As I said before, I put them all together and on shuffle, and it works seamlessly. I've even found songs flowing together as if they were on an album together, only to look and see that they were from two separate cd's. Not to say that there is no evolution in the music, because there most certainly is. But Prefuse's methods follow him through in a most satisfying way.
His third album, One Word Extinguisher does nothing to disappoint! The beats have only gotten better, the samples and scratches only more well placed. And the transitions, either between or within songs, go from hard-core hip hop into classical into anything you might imagine. And with 23 tracks on the album, there is a lot of room for possibility. I would almost go so far as to call this album flawless, but there are a few things that I could live without:First, and Foremost, and this message should go out to all hip hop artists: NO MORE ANSWERING MACHINE MESSAGES IN HIP HOP!!!!!
Not only is there a bit of an over usage of answering machine messages as transitions here, but he even dedicates a whole track to a mix of at least 20 messages. On another track he takes an utterly annoying imbecile, plays the message, then cuts it up and turns it into a song. Its fun the first time around, but on repeated listens, I wish he had either left it out, or put it in the companion piece Extinguished Outtakes. Other than that, the all too brief cameo by Mr. Lif could be better, and probably would be if it were longer. Lif isn't the best MC I've heard, but he's damn good, and the first time I saw Prefuse, Lif guest-starred through the whole set. It was fantastic!
At the time of this rant/review, I have not digested the Extinguished Outtakes yet, but I hear they are fantastic and well worth getting. But, in summary, Prefuse 73 is more than worth checking out. His music is crossing boundaries that many who were either too afraid or too ignorant of other forms of music outside of their general spheres to attempt are now jumping over and mixing it up (see MF Dooms new release as Viktor Vaughn, with some excellent electronic beats behind him). Prefuse does things I've never heard before: merging the two camps of full on electronic music with full on hip hop. He does it well, and you all should know his work. It's worth the trip!
(NOTE: This article was written well before Surrounded by Silence was released. I won't even dignify that record with a paragraph, I'll just say that when I finally decide to bother listening to it again to find the 2 or 3 good songs that it contains, I’ll add that in)
posted by Hobbs von Wackamole at 12:47 PM
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