Vocal Studies & Uprock Narratives

Amazing shift in the production of hip-hop music. Changed the way I see... existence. No, but truly, this album created the groundwork for much of contemporary hip hop production and other genres such as "glitch hop".

This CD is very uncanny! The mystical mixing of Hip Hop + Neo Soul sound bit's will captivate your attention throughout the ride of this sound adventure! If you are into music with a creative twist from the normative, my suggestion is to cop a copy!

Scott Herren,a DJ from Atlanta, put together something of a mission statement for glitch-hop with Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives. This record, I think, marks the beginning of age that will make it difficult to tell the difference between hip-hop and and an electronic scene that's been given it's first big shove in creativity in at least a few years.From the intro, a hip-hop station being tuned in and out, you'd expect this to be some underground rapper's record, but instead, the song turns out to be intrumental with fuzzy beats and ominous electonic sine waves that could've been taken from any Tigerbeat6 artist combined with tuned-in cut-up soul singers and indecipherable rapping. Why is it so indecipherable? Because Herren chops rhymes all the way down to the syllable into percussion-like sound effects. It's hard to figure out what just happened once it's over.The music of the aforementioned "Nuno" seems to be run by a machine that's being allowed to do it's own thing. There's a steady beat, but the sound effects over them seem triggered by other sound effects. Vocal snippets of Mary J. Blige-sounding singers gasping "Oh no..." and generally moaning and squealing are set off by certain beats. It's all very mathematic, but still more plain ...and urban than most of the other hip-hop you'll hear. Kraftwerk would love this stuff. Beats start and stop, vocals are slapped together for new melodies. Each song takes on unpredictable patterns that come like second nature once you get to know themAll this would seem to call for the death of the MC since every song seems to splice up all but the most important phrases in their raps. But instead, you'll find out that half the songs have steady rapping. One of the most surprising is "Last Light" which features a somewhat glitched-up Sam Prekop from The Sea and Cake. He raps gently over a slow ascending/desending melody. Aesop Rock represents hardcore on the staticy "Blacklist" with a rap that could've come off of Labor Days, but somehow he gets shown up by MF Doom who comes through with "I can stop anytime I want to / Famous last words that came back to haunt you / All your life like permanent dry tears," and my favorite line, "For all's I know we been black list / For as long as the Earth rotates on a 23 degree axis."I hope this record brings some communication between hip-hop, electronica and collage artists everywhere. It's amazing what you can do when you put your heads together. Luckily, Scott Herren has those dueling personas inside him.

Warp records paraded out an immensely impressive stable of artists over the past decade. Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher, and now Prefuse 73. The first four of the aforementioned artists have made indelible impressions on electronic music (and beyond). I predict Scott Herren, the man behind Prefuse 73, will as well.Herren has been making music under a variety of monikes since 1997. Most notably as Delarosa & Asora for the Schematic Label, and as Savath & Savalas for the Hefty label. These releases are mellow, almost atmospheric collections. Prefuse 73 material while containing similar gentle melodies is hip-hop, cut up an turned inside out.Many electronic artists have used record scratching from the outset and collaborations with MCs has been all the rage for a couple of years. Prefuse 73's efforts to combine 'glitch' and hip-hop really raises the bar. This release comes close to reconciling IDM with its hip-hop origins. Its an intoxicatingly fresh mix of sounds.This album is full of hot beats and cut up vocals. The sound has been labeled 'blip hop', which I find unfortunate as Prefuse 73 is anything but the intellectual, distant sounds that moniker evokes. Yes, theres a lot of programming trickery at work, but first and foremost this album is full of grooves, record scratching, and wicked break beats. Unlike many of his peers, Herren knows how to keep his songs succinct and the pace moving. Most of these tracks clock in around three minutes.This album is a natural extension for fans of Boards Of Canada and the like. I've even had a great deal of success getting some of my rap/hip-hop oriented friends into Prefuse 73. So if you like the stylings of such acts as Jurassic 5 and Del tha Funky Homosapien this release will also be pleasing. Jump on it now, I think Prefuse 73 will become a big name.

The freshest hip-hop to come down the line in a while. Prefuse 73's debut, VOCAL STUDIES + UPROCK NARRATIVES, uses cut-up MCs and glitch sounds to craft some of the funkiest tunes to come out of the ATL since the advent of crunk. They take not only bit of lyric, but the moments when the MCs take a breath -- making for a completely unexpected rhythm and flow. It's like anti-crunk. "Nuno" has such tremendous soul that you don't even notice how carefully chopped the track is. "Point to 8" shows that you can rock the mic even if you're not using whole words, and the horns in "Five Minutes Away" counterbalance the moodier sounds elsewhere in the track. "Last Light" is glitch soul at its best, even as it leads out on some country roots-rock guitar. Even when he gives MCs a chance to shine on "Blacklist," his tight beats keep them on track (it helps that it's Aesop Rock as well). "Afternoon Love-In" has that floaty sense of romance (the flutes help with this). Even the ridiculous telephone messages on "7th Message" get transformed into a rocking track. The future of hip-hop? I hope so.

Great classy Hip Hop

Amazing and beautiful album. A must for IDM, Trip-hop and Prefuse 73 fans.

this is a GREAT lp - i'd heard the buzz abt Prefuse some years ago say 2003 + only just bought this lp (in late 2008) long after the event, as it was going cheap + i'm a curious music nut and.. was instantly loving it. its mellow, urban,sunday afternoon not sat night going out hip-hop cut-up+produced by Scott Herren aka sample wizard :prefuse 73 and also savath + savalas). its a a long way fronm the fiery Public enemy, Ice cube type of hip-hop BUT it IS undeniably lovely, laid back digital cut+paste instrumental urban/hip-hop (sans the vocals) in the madlib, stonesthrow label vein, and a complete listening experience.Prefuse's later release Surrounded by Silence incorporated real + excellent femanle soulful additional as extrAlayers of melody to the cut up textures hip-hop guests+ sounds. also very good. kind of new style of cut-up lap-top hip-hop.. less dense + psychedelic than new man - Flying Lotus keeping closer to classic beats + rhymes on this excellent debut lp - Herren excels here.Vocal Studies here though is excellent hybrid samples,field recordings +hip-hop beats. highly recommended.

This album is very good indeed with perhaps only one weak track out of a total of seventeen.Heren has a very distinctive sound and approach to composing beats and this album certainly highlights his capabilities.Tasteful and enjoyable from start to finish.Standout tracks include Smile In Your Face, Back In Time, and 7th Message.This is worth buying even if you've yet to hear any Prefuse 73 - it's definitely one of the better releases in the Experimental/Hip-Hop/Beats genre.

最近出会った中でもっとも良い。自分のフィーリングにがっちりマッチするアルバムだった。都市生活、人の流れの中、現実と妄想の渦の狭間から切り取られたリズムと音像。このアルバムは精神の旅路そのものだ。