Prefuse 73Vocal Studies + Uprock NarrativesReview

The current wave of avant hip hop as exemplified by Anti Pop Consortium, Deep Puddle Dynamics, the sundry artists on Mush records and the like has dealt mostly with creating a more interesting sonic environment to drop rhymes into. Prefuse 73 (aka Atlantan electro-whiz Scott Herren) has gone one step further on this surprising release from the mighty Warp label, though this is by no means typical of the labels usual output.

Digitally messing with the contributions of various MCs, Herren's stated intention is to create a new 'mangled language'. This he does admirably, turning lyrical flow into abstraction, into something like Kurt Schwitters sound poetry or a malfunctioning speech synthesizer. Rhymes are reduced to a collection of plosives, vowels and half formed syllables where the power of the original delivery is left intact but the sense is all but removed; the rap becomes just another component of the music.

Herrens musical settings are equally offbeam - lush rhodes piano and horn samples are shredded and spat out over stunted beats in a datastream of glitches and pops, which nevertheless still maintain a level of funkiness. Taken as a whole the album is pretty relentless, though two tracks let up a little - the wistful "last light", a collaboration with Sea and Cake frontman Sam Prekop, and the luscious, sun kissed blissout that is "afternoon love in", which recalls Herrens outing as Savaath + Savalas on Hefty.

If you liked Funkstorung and Kid 606's forays into hip hop deconstruction, you'll like this. Best taken in small doses though...