Prefuse 73 – Extinguished: Outtakes (Alternate Takes & Beats From One Word Extinguisher)

"Robot Snares Got No Cadence Or Balance" is a really exquisite track.

Sonically, this is an ok plate. Solid signal level and clean, but the dynamics and overall frequency response are not as nice as his 2x LPs.

Contextually, though, this disc is remarkable. Not only does it really underline any conversation about Scott Herren in 2001-2003 and how one man can get so in the groove that even a full length 23 track collection of b-side sketch throwaway cuts can come out world class quality. He truly was in the flow state here to a degree that few of us will ever feel.

And that's what makes the other main contextual note here so poignant. This record stands as a great lesson for young artists out there reading this in the future, illustrating just how much alcohol and drugs can take from you. I saw Scott in the basement of the Church here in Philly not long after this collection was released and it was one of the worst performances I have had the misfortune of paying for. He came on stage visibly intoxicated, carrying a fresh cold six-pack. Over the course of the set, he killed the entire six pack and was so drunk by the end that he couldn't even trigger his sampler on beat for whole notes starting on the 1 of the measure.

His career as a recording artist went steadily downhill after 2005 as the zeitgeist kind of absorbed his tasteful glitchy jazz lessons and moved on without him, but the fact that Warp sold thousands and thousands of this b-side/scrap collection shows just high he was actually flying at this moment in time.

For me it's simply his best album. Everything Prefuse 73 is about. Pure cut-up sampling madness, very versatile and funny but always with a genuine warm and organic touch. And all these small pieces and snippets are perfectly melt together, so it perfectly works as a whole.

Prefuse 73 Extinguished:Outakes (Abstract Hip Hop – UKLP/CD - Warp)

Razored-breaks meets the new digital abstract, in this alternative take on the ‘One Word Extinguisher’ album.
A new style always developing in the world of Prefuse 73, and the flavour’s strictly future. As dope as Hip Hop gets, yet totally different to that fake-ass bland talentless rap-spam spewed out by the should know better majors. In fact, Punk, Rock, NewWave & Soul have more in common –
Listen to this ; don’t look back / down....

Many people i've come across who like prefuse 73 have not actually listened to this. They really should. You should too.

Don't mistake this for things that weren't good enough for the album. These are simply things that did not fit in. When put together all these discards find themselves in their own harmony.

No time for rearviews, Vikings Invade the Mediterranean but don't leave & Whisper in my ear to tell me you hate me, are the most exceptional tracks this release has to offer, despite none of them being over 1:28 long.

EXTINGUISHED: OUTTAKES is a hot mess, one that only Prefuse 73 could present. Even though these bits were axed from his ONE WORD EXTINGUISHER album, he's managed to cobble them into semi-coherency. "Suite for the Ways Things Change" represents the whole, I think, the way it switches tracks, but still seems to be of a whole. The tracks are segued such that it's impossible to tell where one begins and another ends -- a benefit when dealing with such disparate elements. "Dubs That Don't Match" strangely does match, and "Between Man and Woman" begs for something beyond its short running time, as does "I Can't Get My Eyes Off." "3 Sounds from 94" sounds more current than the title would have you believe, while "Robot Snares Got No Cadence of Balance" similarly proves its title wrong. Cheeky Scott Herren... he really knows how to construct.

This is really an exceptional disc. Even though it's presented as outtakes and etc..., it works really well as a whole. It's just like this big soup of beats and all kinds of different styles. Great stuff.