White producer
Prefuse 73
(Scott Herren), also active as post-rocker Savath & Savalas,
Miami-born, Atlanta-raised and Barcelona-resident,
heralded laptop-based hip-hop with
Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives (2001), a tour de force of fractured, warped, incoherent stream of consciousness that mixed glitch music, deconstructed vocals and jazzy patterns.
Radio Attack blends Brazilian-tinged percussion and traces of jazz, and then peppered them with lightnings of scratching.
Herren's creativity runs the gamut from
the spastic fanfare Smile in your Face to
the lysergic instrumental Five Minutes Away
via
the anthemic riff of Eve of Dextruction and the
rocking glitches of Hot Winter's Day.
Point to B shows off his
minimalist repetition applied to vocal fragments,
and
Living Life is typical of how he can construct a
grotesque dance out of vocal manipulation.
One Word Extinguisher (2003) is a less confrontational work of glitch-hop but more elegant overall, in particular how it manages to be more upbeat (Plastic, Detchibe) and also more dissonant (standout The Color of Tempo, 90% of My Mind Is With You).
The explosive production of Busy Signal (co-produced with Daedelus)
and
the vocal rage that rises from Styles That Fade Away With a Collonade Reprise
contrast with the
oddly calmly atmosphere of pieces like Uprock and Invigorate (featuring Dabrye),
Storm Returns (co-produced by Tommy Guerrero)
and Perverted Undertone.
One Word Extinguisher sounds like
a jazzy remix of vintage disco-music.
Choking You sounds like a robotic remix of vintage synth-pop.
Surrounded By Silence (2005) featured guests from white and black music
and further refined his multi-faceted compositional techniques at the
border between glitch electronica and hip-hop.
All in all, the singers detract more than they add to the project.
It is funny how he mocks country-rock (Pagina Dos),
soul balladry (We Go Our Own Way),
and so on.
And the
ecstatic chanting of And I'm Gone and Pastel Assassins
is positively disorienting;
but most vocals flatten rather than expand the music.
The most experimental vocal moments come in the
electronic poem Mantra Two, a collaboration with Tyondai Braxton,
and in
the languid bluesy La Correcion Exchange.
Ghostface Killah and El-P rap in Hide Ya Face, a relatively
straightforward song.
The real highlights are to be found in the instrumental compositions:
the strident industrial rhythm of Ty Versus Detchibe,
the funk-jazz deconstruction of Gratis,
the neurotic lounge muzak of Expressing Views Is Obviously Illegal,
and the chaotic dissonance of I've Said All I Need to Say About Them Intro (which is mostly instrumental).
The mini-album Security Screenings (Warp, 2006) focused on a hyper-fusion
of jazz, funk, glitch and hip-hop, an intriguing project but implemented in
a rather clumsy manner.
Preparations (2007) is a rather predictable continuation of the same
program, smoother and classier than ever
(I Knew You Were Gonna Go),
but hardly revolutionary.
Scott Herren's other project Savath & Savalas, that had debuted with the EP Folk Songs For Trains, Trees And Honey (Hefty, 2000), featured Eva Puyuelo Muns on vocals on the Latin-tinged Manana (Warp, 2004) and Apropa't (Warp, 2004).
Golden Pollen (Anti, 2007) was the first Savath & Savalas album on which Herren was the only singer.
Prefuse 73's fifth album
Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian (Warp, 2009) sounded a bit
too rough and amateurish, packing 29 tracks in less than 50 minutes.
Savath & Savalas' fourth album
La Llama (Stones Throw, 2009), featuring
vocalist Eva Puyuelo Muna, was Herren's most daring venture into easy-listening muzak, but more indulgent than creative.
Scott Herren also collaborated with
Zach Hill of
Hella
on
the Diamond Watch Wrists' Ice Capped at Both Ends (2009).
The best thing about
Prefuse 73's
The Only She Chapters (Warp, 2011)
is that it features guest vocalists such as Zola Jesus and Trish Keenan of Broadcast.
Meditation Upon Meditations (The Japanese Diaries)
(2009)
He returned with
Rivington No Rio
(2015)
and the EPs
Forsyth Gardens (2015) and Every Color of Darkness (2015).
He continued his electronic experiments with
Sacrifices (2018),
Fudge Beats (2019),
The Failing Institute of Tapes Upon Tapes (2020),
The Failing Institute of the Sampled Source (2020),
The Failing Institute of the Contras (2020),
The Failing Institute of the Human Voice (2021),
The Failing Institute of Drums & Other Percussion (2021),
The Failing Institute of Season No. 2 (2021),
New Strategies for Modern Crime Vol. 1 (2024),
New Strategies for Modern Crime Vol. 2 (2024),
etc.
