Electronic wiz Scott Herren re-invents the wheels of steel.

Prefuse 73 - Preparations
Posted by Rachel Lux on 26-Feb-08 @ 01:32 PM

[4/5]
Preparations starts with the same digital chime glitch we've come to associate with other releases from Prefuse 73 mastermind Scott Herren. The signature no-reverb snare bips pop over the same tell-tale undulating basslines, lulling listeners into a sense of predictability, if not outright disappointment.

Here, as Superchunk might say, is where the strings come in-literally. Like a salty sea wave electrifying the air, a looped string crescendo rolls in the new regime. Slightly more aggressive, swapping the haunting coo of his landmark One Word Extinguisher for the occasional Autechre-style shin kick, Herren's latest brings a new urgency to the beats and instrumentation. Although he may eschew the label, Herren established himself as a producer years ago. Now, keeping structured vocals largely out of the picture, he's allowed his pastiche instrumentation and electro-orchestra compositions to take center stage, writing soundtracks for films more glacial and yet more moving than anything Gus Van Sant has dared. Like Van Sant, however, Herren seems obsessed with what eggheads call hyper-realism and your grandpop calls "tellin' it like it is." Stripping away the fake glamor and glitz along with a narrator's moral compass, the Prefuse lens just shoots what's there, using sound in lieu of celluloid. Whether its through a woodnymph chorus ("The Class Of 73 Bells") or powerhouse live drums courtesy of Battles' John Stanier ("Smoking Red"), Herren manages to deliver another dense, cinematic electronic record without repeating himself or-worse-the competition. (WARP) Mike McKee

Rocks Like:
Madvillain's Madvillainy
Caribou's The Milk Of Human Kindness
Gorillaz' Demon Days


Official Website: http://www.warprecords.com