Prefuse is back. Did he go anywhere? Yes and no. Of course he kept up his schedule of crowd-rocking from Moscow to Mexico City, but most importantly he went back into the lab…by himself. Crafting a water-tight set of masterfully composed instrumental tracks, Guillermo Scott Herren’s managed to not only conjure the Prefuse 73 sounds that first hit you (kicks, snares, murky textures, edits, samples, screaming, etc.), but he’s also managed to refine his sound, again.
By focusing on the foundation of his creative process and less on the intricacies of his trademark editing and chopping magic, he’s emerged with an album that will give fans a subtle taste of every Prefuse 73 record that has come before and will give the haters a deserved shake-up. 2002’s One Word Extinguisher and Extinguished Outtakes were landmarks, rippling with production that’s since been infinitely copied. 2005’s Surrounded By Silence was a collaborative milestone teaming Prefuse with Ghostface, GZA, Battles’ Tyondai Braxton and The Books, a lofty, exciting musical foray that sailed over many listeners heads. Now here’s another Prefuse 73 specialty, the sure shot.
With a sunny acoustic guitar riding the beat, “Girlfriend Boyfriend” will recall the hazy breezes of hastily ending summer days long after they’re gone. Seething with ominous strings and synth tones, “Prog Version Slowly Crushed” not only sounds ready for the fiery delivery of a certain top-tier G-Unit member, but also manages to simultaneously look to Ennio Morricone and classic Autechre while “Aborted Hugs” takes a vaguely crunk approach to skewering free-jazz.
While Preparations is definitively a solo-thinking Prefuse 73 album, there are still collaborations to be heard. The first features New York wall-of-psych band School Of Seven Bells, fronted by twin sisters Claudia and Alejandra Deheza, who manage to create the same air of allure and impending danger as the Sirens of Lorelei. Their turn with Guillermo is a centerpiece of the album, “Class of 73 Bells” swirls with undeniable melodies grounded by Prefuse’s stereo-rattling low-end. Speaking of low-end, if you’ve been to a Battles gig in the last couple of years, you’ve heard the punishing kick drum of one John Stanier, professor in the Helmet and Tomahawk schools of relentless rocking. On “Red Smoking” the front-and-center Battles drummer offers a bugged-out barrage of James Brown-meets-Boris percussion, which Prefuse proceeds to slice and edit at breakneck pace, adding white-hot samples at will.
You don’t have to forget everything you’ve learned about Prefuse 73 because Preparations is just going to teach you some new things. With records this steadfastly solid in such short supply these days, Preparations seems supremely needed right now. Prefuse 73 says more with an MPC than most artists can on the microphone, listen up.
