After an enjoyable set
from mathrock support Battles, followed by a lengthy
hiatus to set up their equipment, Prefuse 73 take the
stage. Given both Kieran Hebden (named as support on
tickets though only contributing a DJ set) and Scott
Herren’s elusiveness in press photographs, there’s
been some confusion as to who’s playing, but the
music’s heavy beats lead to a swift and undeniable
conclusion. Until the latest album Surrounded By
Silence with its gaggle of guest rappers, Prefuse
73’s output has generally been the preserve of
Herren, but live he gathers a band around himself. Scott
stands to the left, hat covering his curls, bent intently
over his instruments. Two colleagues strike similar
poses centre and right stage over their decks while
a burly, bearded bass player stands towards the back.
The crowd tightens round the stage, little pockets of
space quickly disappear in the urge to get close to
the reason most everybody’s here. The bands’
heads nod to the big, meaty beats rendered pleasingly
effective by the venue’s efficient P.A. while
the crowd responds enthusiastically, camera phones raised
aloft and bodies moving as much as the limited space
allows.
Prefuse 73’s music is sometimes referred to as
abstract hip-hop. The description is apposite: the group’s
abstractions act like rust on the rock steady bedrock
of hip-hop’s all important breaks. Should the
corrosion become too intense, the music’s grounding
in the real might evaporate in a pungent, but short-lived
cloud of steam. That the real is up for debate now that
hip-hop is a worldwide, catholic church that stretches
from Clouddead to Mr P. Diddy is no matter: the (heart)beat
persists. Prefuse 73’s temporal deconstruction
is limited to breakdowns and occasional pauses: rhythms
are established and then either persist or are quickly
terminated, subsumed in the next attack, to become fleeting
memories. Meanwhile ambient sounds and analogue noises
seethe and skate overhead forming a second, ultimately
more interesting line of attack. Unfortunately catching
this action is difficult: the P.A. inevitably privileges
the bass over the upper registers. Perhaps it’s
our sonic vantage point near the stage. In hindsight
it might have been better to have sacrificed some of
the atmosphere and retreated further back. Instead,
the mid-tempo barrage becomes monotonous and the other
levels of the music are too hard to spy, too low in
the mix. Prefuse 73 climax with a barrage of beatless
noise, but this listener’s gone before the encores.
Colin Buttimer |
