16 October 2007 (gig)
21 October 2007
It was only after he quietly announced "we have a broken MPC machine, but I think we're ready to start,aiiight" that we realised the guy on stage testing equipment was not a sound engineer, but tonight's headline act. In a typically understated manner he did not leave the stage and come back for a grand entrance, instead just choosing to humbly address the audience in his thick Atlanta drawl and start the show. These were the only words we heard for the whole set, Guillermo Scott Herren (aka Prefuse 73) preferring to let his music do the talking.
On record, Prefuse 73's glitch style is a blend of multi-layered samples, rich acoustic textures and electronic bleeps. The live set started like this. Laptop, synth and a couple of samplers generating the hundreds of different elements that make up the complex sound. Herren's experimentation with structure and arrangement brings a refreshing unpredictability. The kaleidoscopic array of samples never became too much and were balanced well by nice simple breaks played by the excellent live drummer. During the first few tracks, while still impressive in the depth of sound, it felt a bit too much like they were trying to recreate the original recording too accurately. When the recordings are so intimate and subtle, everything carefully placed in a stereo mix, this can be difficult to realise in a live setting. I couldn't help wishing I was listening through headphones.
As the night went one the live set up made more sense. The sound became increasingly stripped down and coherent, the bass and the drums started to snap together, the band more animated. The sub base and synth leads got heads nodding as every track seemed to get bigger and better. This tour is to promote the brilliant new album Preparations but my personal highlight of tonight was a rocked-up version of Choking You from 2003 release One Word Extinguisher. The moody electro lead riding the hard beat superbly to produce a colossal sound I had never heard on any Prefuse album before.
Herren, both live and in the studio, continues to push the genres of Hip Hop and Electronica forward. An excellent performance overall, even without the broken MPC machine.
