The very prolific Scott Herren aka Prefuse73 busies himself with another set of releases. On the first, as Piano Overlord, he drops a collection of straight forward downtempo hip hop instrumentals glittering with electric keys. The trademark Prefuse73 spikey beats and sharp edged cuts are all there, but there is a less urgency that is more akin to the moods of his work as Savath & Savalas. Some of the tracks have already appeared on two vinyl only EPs – Tease and Torture – and on vinyl, in small doses, these are good, effective beats, and full of sweet cascading melodies but in one long sitting on CD the similarities between tracks become overpowering. So much so that by the time the heavily 80s-sounding electro of a Diplo remix comes along and radically shifts the mood beginning with its New Order synths, it is a relief.
On Security Screenings as Prefuse 73, his latest ‘mini-album’, following his last rather disappointing Prefuse73 album – Surrounded By Silence, Herren does little to shift his sound. With too many sketches and short on fresh ideas, Prefuse 73 has gone from futuristic hip hop innovator a few years ago to sounding almost regressive and dated. The interludes are annoying, and there are few standouts other than the elegant vibraphone loops on Matrimoniods. Security Screenings never settles into a much needed groove and as a result it is more than a little disappointing and soulless. The irresistible computer funk of his early releases is (still) missing, and his best work of recent times remains his lovely electronic/acoustic hybrids as Savath & Savalas.
