thirdeyecomics

Reviews:

The ever-expanding genre of genre-less electronic music is quickly becoming an intellectual graveyard of destination-less drivel and high concept, art school miasma. With no real culture of their own to draw from (or at least none they'd pony up to), pasty, kitchen sink producers roam the hipster highways for oh-so-clever confluences of favela funk, off-key hip hop, East London grime and every other flavor de jour. Simply put, they're long on lofty ideas and short on rhythmic fundamentals. As such, the great thing about London-by-way-of-Georgia pomo allstar Scott Heron (aka Prefuse 73 aka Savath & Savalas) is not the novelty of his music but his heightened attention to craft and ability to bring guest artists into the fold. Prefuse doesn't so much flip his samples as strip them bare, razing their original context only to solder them onto new, strange sounds - songs that inhabit the spirit of Stockhausen and John Cage but filtered through the intricate sample shredder of DJ Premier. Detuned cellos vie for space with digital noise on "Gratis." Tickling vibes peer outside the backwards beep-and-click that is "Expressing Views is Obviously Illegal." And on top of the worldly, postmodern potpourri, a dash of old fashioned hip-hop is thrown into the mix. Aesop Rock's cubist word-diorama provides a nice anchor to the loose, pastoral ambience of "Sabbatical With Options," while Shaolin's finest--the Wu Tang Clan's Masta Killa, GZA and Ghostface --pop up elsewhere. To its benefit, Surrounded By Silence leans heavily on its guest appearances. Blonde Redhead vocalist Kasu lends her lilting, Cocteau Twins-inflected vocals to the shuffling atmospherics of "We Go Our Own Way," while the Books infuse the dreamy "Pagina" with plucking, back-to-the-country banjo samples. Prefuse's jet-setting peers should take note.