Surrounded By Silence

Prefuse 73 | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 22, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warp Records
• ASIN: B0007QRAPU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,285 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Surrounded By Silence should have been re-titled Bedroom Producer Gone Wild. What’s not to adore about laptop sound alchemist Prefuse 73 (Scott Herren), who, like RJD2 and Diplo, crafts rare soundscapes that Bjork fans, backpack rap dukes and Pluto natives adore. But what happens when such sonic experiments go slightly awry? Unlike Vocal Studies, where there appeared to be some cohesive links between tracks, Prefuse goes a bit collabo crazy here, with over a dozen multi-genre guest vocalists and emcee’s, with mixed results. When the unlikely duo of Ghostface and El P jump on "Hideyaface", they sound unfocused over Herrens audio clutter, as does the Masta Killa and GZA fuelled "Just The Thought". Was Surrounded Herren’s license to indulge his inner RZA or Def Jux (Aesop Rock and Beans also guest)? Perhaps. But when Herren sticks to what he does best, that is, building brilliant found sound collages, and digitizing any thing he can get his hands on, the results are gorgeous; "Expressing Views Is Obviously Illegal" carries that distinctly Prefuse-esque boom bip, as does "Pagina Dos" with it’s seductive banjo playing parts. When he teams his beats up with New York electro indie rock scenesters Claudia and Alejandra Deheza from On!Air!Library! on "Pastel Assasins" or Blonde Redhead’s Kazu in "We Go Our Own Way", the tracks breathe much better. An uneven yet stimulating listen.-- Dalton Higgins

Product Description

Features guest artists such as GZA, Ghostface, Aesop Rock, Masta Killa, Beans , Broadcast & Cafe Tacuba. Warp. 2005.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars F*** the biters, March 23, 2005

By 

C. Flora-Tostado "gravitysoldier" (Lake Forest, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Surrounded By Silence (Audio CD)

I never expected to be saying this, but this is already my favorite GSH release. Even better than the delarosa+asora discs and vocal studies. May even be his least revolutionary step musically, however the energy felt from listening is unmatched in Scott's repertoire.

The strengths really occur during his collaborations with other artists. That really isn't an enlightening statement since almost the whole disc is collaborations, however, the energy and creativity that results when these brilliant artists come together propels this album into something truly special. When you're done with these 21 songs that's exactly what you'll know you're holding: something special.

I am afraid that this album isn't likely to get the cred it deserves though. The sad fact is that Scott has never had more eyes on him after his last Prefuse album got so much publicity. I know this album will be well received for those introduced to this style of music for the first time, but i dread the hardcore fan backlash that will cry Scott went pop. No not "pop" music, but the fact alone that this record will get huge exposure.

The reason for this lunacy is the fact that Scott uses the same hip-hop skeleton as his other Prefuse outings and those familiar with his work will recognize the Prefuse flavor immediately (there are even a few sounds in here borrowed from his earlier work). If you think this album is any less than One Word Extinguisher because the emotional weight is absent, you're just missing the whole point.
alright, i'm over that...

This is truly a remarkable album.

The artwork in the booklet is a nice metaphor for the album. On the outside the package almost looks like the dark back alley version of a jay-z video. The Hollywood production is cast in deep contrast and we're left with a creepy, almost menacing version of the flashy production we're used to in hip hop mainstream these days. That same contrasting light reveals the unevenness in the model's upper right arm and we're exposed to all the flaws (and a scar) that would normally be hidden.

Scott's barely visible in the pictures himself, but as a presence over the music he is the photographer - never seen, always present. In the music contained here he is woven into every nook and cranny, he is the contrasting flash, the lens focus, the head-chopping crop artist...

Scott develops his greatest snapshot portrait of hip hop here and in the process proves that all the mainstream music around him just adds up to silence.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A rather huge mixed bag, but ultimately rewarding, June 4, 2005

By 

Max (Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surrounded By Silence (Audio CD)

Ever since his first album "Vocal Studies & Uprock Narratives", Scott Herren, the man behind Prefuse 73, really sounded like the man that would change the way hip-hop music is perceived, mostly focusing on the musical aspects of it and merely using the MCs as a chopped and diced musical instrument part of his monster-like musical creations. When I heard One Word Extinguisher, I was blown away. Even though it was less complex than its precessor, it contained enough digital trickery and emotion to satisfy a programming nerd or just a well-minded music fan. It was definitely one of the top albums of 2003.

On this latest album, Prefuse 73 takes quite a different approach. Even though the track listing still bears the Prefuse 73 signature with that there are 21 tracks (with some of them being shorter interludes), where things mostly change is with the collaborative aspect of this album. While the previous albums had guest appearances (such as MF Doom, Sam Prekop, Diverse, Mr.Lif and others), there are guest appearances everywhere on this album, the most notable being Ghostface, El-P, Tyondai Brazton, Claudia Deheza, The Books, Aesop Rock, Masta Killa, GZA, DJ Nobody, Beans, Broadcast and... well, you get the picture. This makes for an eclectic, yet hard to stomach album. Mostly because there's so much music in there that it becomes dizzying. It really is impossible to get a proper opinion of that album on only one listen.

The cooperative aspect of the album, as said earlier, gives mixed results, but the collaborations that success here really do propel the album high upwards. "Pastel Assassins" is a wicked tune, featuring trailing loud snare accents all over the place enhanced by the vocals of the guest vocalists. "Pagina Dose", featuring the Books, is a quite entrancing little number, featuring exotic sounding guitars and some chopped vocals over Prefuse 73's signature drum beats. "Gratis" would be most likely Prefuse 73 at his best, mixing his trademark glitchy beats with nice melodies as well as some unexpected turns through its running time, such as the massive jazz workout happening near the middle of the piece whereas the closer song "And I'm Gone", which somehow managed to feature 3 guest appearances at the same time, is a terrific showcase of psychedelia mixed over some nifty jazz drumming.

However, the collaborative aspect do show it's failures mostly in the rap songs' department. Whereas Prefuse 73 did manage to make and produce some good straight-forward rap songs on his previous albums (Black List and Plastic being the most noteworthy picks), most of the songs here fall flat due to Herren trying to satisfy his guest vocalists rather than to satisfy himself. Hide Ya Face, for instance, is a rather annoying song in which neither Ghostface or El-P manage to stand out in a good way, delivering completely off-beat, insipid rhymes complemented by El-P shouting "Hi-hi-hide-hide ya face!" once in a while. Luckly, the instrumental remix that comes after sheds some better light on the rather ill single song. The other biggest offender would be "Just The Thought", which mostly suffer from a similar fate, having it's MCs spilling some really sloppy dialogue over the somewhat intriguing production.

"Now You're Leaving", featuring MC Camu on the vocals, almost sounds like a straight R&B tune that almost eschews Prefuse 73's glitchy approach altogether, but at least the vocals do add up to the song and this fellow has a quite pleasant voice, as well. Aesop Rock, who already appeared on Prefuse's first album, is back on "Sabbatical With Options", a quirky, yet fun tune that do feature some humor. "Moral Crusher" with Beans would have to be the better rap collaboration on the disc, with him delivering interesting rhymes and a rather charismatic voice. It's a shame that this song just acts like an interlude as it's just 1 minute long.

While Prefuse 73 might have been a bit over-ambitious with this album and certainly could have got removed some fat off his album to make it more packed and organised, removing some of the embarrasing moments and some of the songs where Prefuse 73 just recycles previous ideas of his former albums and do little else (such as Silence Interlude's use of One Word Extuinguisher's opening fanfare and his rewrite of his song "Detchibe" that results in the track "Ty Versus Detchibe" featuring Tyondai Braxton) would result in a great album. As it stands out now, it's a bit uneven, but there are enough great moments through this CD to keep you listening all the way through. If you're a Prefuse 73 fan, this album will sit nicely on your CD collection alongside your other CDs and newcomers might enjoy that album, as well.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely brilliant, October 16, 2006

By 

Zack Carpenter "Zaxang" (Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Surrounded By Silence (Audio CD)

I've owned this album for a long time and listen to it very, very often. I love it. The various songs on this album have changed the way I listen to music. A must-have.