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No that sounds good to me but if you’ve read the Prefuse 73 interview in the latest edition of Electronic Beats magazine, you’ll have as much idea as a Franciscan monk as to what his latest album is about or sounds like, so here’s a Hectic update.

As you should know by now, Guillermo S. Herron (aka Prefuse 73 and member of Savath Y Savalas, with their latest album La Llama out at the same time) was formerly of LA beat community with Madlib et al, moved to Spain, did some albums for WARP and collaborations including Daedelus (notably on Exquisite Corpse) has got a new album out called Everything She Touched Turned To Ampexian.

Comprising a mere 28 tracks (the longest at 4.16 and the shortest at a mere 14 seconds) and with a menagerie of contrived track/song titles, in the hands of others, you’d expect a load of out-take crap; but as the Madlib of the Catalan, Heron provides a plethora of hip-hop beat sonic for our enjoyment (and frustration).

Why frustration? Well, even as a fan, it’s hard to say that as an album this is an easy listen or that there’s any real stand out tracks. Even, ‘Half Up Front’ starts rockin’ on a spaceways baseline but 37 seconds! That’s all you get.

At least ‘DEC. Machine Funk all ERAs’ starts strong but slips off into some ambient dreamscape. I flicked thorough the tracks on the Soul Jazz listening posts and it does sound great as a flick, but purchased and on the home Hi-Fi, even ‘Get ‘Em High’ is part 1 & 2 track in 48 seconds. I suspect I need to relax a little (or get on the re-edit)

‘Four Reels Collide’ has a touch of the Tunng about it and the Xmas chill out of ‘Yuletide’, the manic collaboration with Dimlite on ‘No Lights Still Rock’ and the 60s space funk of ‘Dgjan Lo’

So as an album it’s a strange one as, as such as it excites, the album frustrates with the track length. I know length isn’t everything but it helps; even at it picks up at the end with ‘Preperation’s Kids Choir’, the throb of ‘Pitch Pipe’ and the closing jazz-ambient track called ‘Formal Dedications’.

Roger Dean-esque prog artwork courtesy of Dan McPharlin tops it off and whilst it’s not going to sell bucket loads, it’s going to be as popular with his fans as his other albums.

Not sure exactly what juice Heron is on but the gossip of an album with Adrian Sherwood sort of overshadows Everything She Touched Turned To Ampexian as, whilst the good bits are very good, overall I’m left feeling a little short changed.

Reviewed: Prefuse 73 - Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian (Warp) Cat. No. WARPCD179 Release date: 20th April 2009
Tracklisting
1 Periodic Measurements Of Infrequent Smiles (0:51)
2 Hairy Faces (Stress) (0:36)
3 Parachute Parador (1:04)
4 NoNo (0:14)
5 Punish (1:19)
6 Half Up Front (0:37)
7 Sexual Fantasy Scale (0:45)
8 DEC. Machine Funk All ERA’s (3:48)
9 Get Em High (0:48)
10 Ampexian Tribe Of A Lesser Time (1:01)
11 When Is A Good Time? (0:47)
12 Fountains Of Spring (1:25)
13 Whipcream Eyepatch (1:12)
14 Regalo (3:41)
15 Rubber Stems (0:40)
16 Oh Is It (0:38)
17 Four Reels Collide (2:47)
18 Fingertip Trajectories (0:41)
19 Violent Bathroom Exchange (1:36)
20 Natures Uplifting Revenge (1:59)
21 Yuletide (1:29)
22 Simple Loop Choir (3:19)
23 No Lights Still Rock featuring Dimlite (3:36)
24 Gaslamp Killer Feedback Text (0:53)
25 Digan Lo (4:16)
26 Preperation’s Kids Choir (2:40)
27 Pitch Pipe (1:20)
28 Periodic Measurements Of Infrequent Frowns (0:36)
29 Formal Dedications (4:03)

Links:
www.prefuse73.com
www.myspace.com/prefusion1973
www.warprecords.com/prefuse73
Electronic Beats Issue 02/09 - The Escapist Issue www.electronicbeats.net p83 Drop Out - Prefuse 73, Ampexian Man by Gareth Owen & Hana Yanetski.