Posted on 07/22/2005

 

Prefuse 73: Reads the Books finds everyone's favorite expatriate DJ at it again: it meaning hating bass, liking obscure loops and loving the vosotros verb form. The eight-track conceptual EP, however, doesn't feature any of the embedded, minimized verses or intrepid scratching that has experimental hip-hop purists drooling like corrupt boxing promoters to extol Prefuse (Scott Herren) the next great heavyweight champ (which is just a nice way of saying the next DJ Shadow). This time around, Herren's muse is enigmatic Massachusetts act The Books. Consisting of guitarist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong, The Books piece music together through sampling and found sounds in addition to playing instruments. It's not exactly clear what category The Books file themselves under; one writer calls them "glitchy, electro–acoustic sound–collage–folktronica". (?) Fortunately, since they are self-important enough to allow the description of "sound sculptors" without objection, Herren has no qualms with making their music even more complicated. Peas in an effin' pod.

"Pagina Dos", the Surrounded by Silence track that became the impetus for Reads the Books as well as the EP's opener, finds Herren juxtaposing lilting acoustic plucking with a slow-fizz backing track. Devotees will be able to recognize Herren's sparse but piercing rhythm sections even though they are a shrouded in a sound devoid of any hip-hop stimuli. But then again, the source of Prefuse's production strength has never been reliant on whatever artist is commandeering the track; listeners are inevitably drawn to his intricate, almost idiosyncratic percussion technique. As Reads the Books unfolds, it sounds like Herren is robbing the elementary school's band room in the dark; building a noisy arsenal of castanets, claves and guiros (the fish-shaped things) as he rummages. While the description sounds chaotic, it makes much more sense if you read said Book front to back, track by track.

One characteristic of Herren's music that is not lost amidst the genre-blending fray is his knack for creating seamless and exciting transitions. "Pagina Cuatro" literally sounds like running water—an atmospheric clump of warped sounds drip as the seconds elapse. That succinct aside is the perfect lead-in for "Pagina Cinco," the EP's longest and most compelling song. A haunting guitar part complements a stretching string solo reminiscent of some epic stuff off the Hero soundtrack. It's here that Herren finally pays equal attention to both instruments on a singular track; The Books finally sound like they're in the same room playing together. Herren is in this room too, and he is serving both musicians fresh bread from the local panaderia and sangria punch spiked with barbiturates.

"Pagina Seis" features Herren doing his best Badly Drawn Boy impression, which is not a bad thing. "Pagina Ocho" features the now-signature Prefuse 73 Distortion Static™ riding shotgun between each of his precise cuts and samples. Guest vocals by Claudia Deheza (On! Air! Library!) end the music beautifully.

Since this was essentially a "remix" project for Herron, he was limited to definable sonic boundaries. While his lauded Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives and the recent Surrounded By Silence drew from a myriad of sources, using The Books as a backdrop forced a decidedly more folksy and finite end product. On past efforts, Herren is guilty of distorting sounds to the point where the revolutionary rots into the repetitive. Luckily, those that dislike the DJ's occasional tangents into complete aural abstraction will prize this record above his others. Herren establishes his approach early and makes sure that the same feeling pervades subsequent tracks. By definition, this is not a "Prefuse 73" record; it's a staid, almost pastoral departure from the avant-garde traffic jams Herren often unleashes in the name of Spain. And hip hop.