Prefuse 73 – Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian
Warp: 2009
Imagine putting a J Dilla beat into a blender and setting it on high. The outcome may be somewhat like what Prefuse 73 has concocted with his latest full-length album, the wildly sprawling Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian. Scott Herren, the man behind the moniker Prefuse 73 (among others), has been a critically acclaimed producer since 2001’s Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives. Since then, he has adapted his style to include a bit more of the “glitch” sound, although there is no one single term that can be used to categorize the music. Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian experiments with finely chopped up, and at times indistinguishable, elements of psychedelic rock, soul, techno (and IDM), and of course, hip-hop.
The majority of the beats, unlike many hip-hop albums, do not rely upon eardrum bursting drums, but instead are carried by quirky loops and grinding distortions, which allows to for the drums to place pacemaker for the album. What is especially unique about this album is not only the deep complexity of all the beats, some of which are littered with sci-fi-esque sound effects, but the manner in which the tracks are arranged. There is gapless transition between each track, and the content of each tracks flows so well that in listening to the album, there appears to be a story unfolding full of highs and lows, with various thematic elements to be picked up along the way.
Furthermore, when the album seems to cross the line into nonsense, Prefuse 73 throws in a steady dose of logic to prove there is a method to his madness. Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian is a forward moving, imaginative, and daring step towards the future of hip-hop.
4.5 out of 5
