Prefuse 73

Scott Herren's recent work has drawn criticism for sounding too similar to his early breakthrough recordings (particularly Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives). He often uses the same melodies -- a soft, melodic arpeggio of keys -- on all of his recordings, a tendency that frequently appears on Security Screenings, his...

By Mosi Reeves

March 2, 2006

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Scott Herren's recent work has drawn criticism for sounding too similar to his early breakthrough recordings (particularly Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives). He often uses the same melodies -- a soft, melodic arpeggio of keys -- on all of his recordings, a tendency that frequently appears on Security Screenings, his latest effort as Prefuse 73, also. Herren is too good a producer to make a truly bad album. The chopped loops of Prodigy's diatribe on Mobb Deep's The Infamous through "Weight Watching," and the quirky bounce beat jumping underneath "With Dirt and Two Texts: Later Version With Love," are proof of his superior technical abilities. But nearly all of Security Screenings' tracks use a similar melodic scheme, buffing away at any legitimate innovations in his work. Only a few of the tracks -- the noisy sound mashing of "No Origin" in particular -- point toward a fresh, unexplored direction in his work.

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