Prefuse 73, One Word Extinguisher (Warp) 9+
Scott Herren’s ambition to decentralize the delivery of hip hop and take the focus away from MC placing it squarely on the DJ as mastermind is accomplished yet again with One Word Extinguisher. Aside from forays into mediocre rhyming in cuts like “Plastic” where it appears Scott Herren (A.K.A. Prefuse73) allowed the MC to say for him what he’s typically brilliant at conveying through his own IDM textured beats and melodies; the album as a whole is filled with evocative flights where you can sit and rest in sound bit nostalgia while simultaneously being pinched and prodded into the future with blips and bleeps.
The album kicks off with “The End of Biters International” splashing through the headphones with sonic Kung- Fu that promises no sophomoric flop. What separates Prefuse73 from other IDM or “glitch hop” artists is his ability to veer from the straight narrative of his tune but still maintain continuity like a basketball player weaving in and out of the opposing team members and managing to bring the ball to the basket. This is most notably demonstrated on “The Color of Tempo” where he trips fancily into spliced soulful female vocals then brings it back to the more playfully driven primary beat. There’s definite gymnastics to the way his songs are engineered.
“Choking you”, my favorite, floats slowly through the last ¼ of the track list like an aural whale using sonar to remind us of the depth of hip hop history Herren had to swim though to bring us his flavor.
The work as a whole has a story that is unclear until we learn that Scott just went through a thang with his lady. The agony of romantic splits and his musings on relationships in general are pointed to not so indirectly in songs like “Why I love you”, “Female Demands” and in particular “90% of my mind is with you” with it’s old school R&B clips that disintegrate and collapse into fragmented fades. The story itself is broke up by interludes like Altoid Addiction that come off like a soundtrack to a Spike Lee film put through a blender.
Prefuse73’s technically evolved brand of hip hop leaves us a place to hang our hopes much like higher flow did in the early 90’s except the sounds are much smarter and accurate in provoking a push to the future.
-- Tomiiko M. Baker
