Average is Still Okay in My Book: Song of the Day
Song of the Day: Prefuse 73 featuring Ghostface and El-P "Hide Ya Face" from Surrounded by Silence (Warp Records)
Some people say the biggest impression you make is your first. If Scott Herren aka Prefuse 73 is trying to make his first full-on hip hop product in Surrounded by Silence, that first impression would undoubtedly be "Hide Ya Face".
The pieces are all there: the unimitable Ghostface, Def Jux's head honcho El-P and of course Mr. Herren on the beat. So what is so unimpressive?
First off, it's not that bad a song. The beat contains a Jux-esque hook, mixing a mechanical swagger with a space-lounge, chill-out vibe. But it's just dull. Can the humdrum be more evident in the fact that there is "reminder" version down on track 17? I've listened to the album five times and didn't even make the connection that the two tracks were related. In fact, everything about the song is static. Ghostface brings in a subpar performance, as engaging as he still is (sub par is still a B/B- grade), and El-P's best verses are becoming fewer and more far between, and it seems that we, by chance, landed on one of his misses.
Still, I passively enjoy the song. It somehow seems to fit right into the rest of the massively uneven hip hop lanscape that Herren has conjured up. Surrounded by Silence survives in its overall mediocrity and has its own shares of astonishing gems ("Pagina Dos" featuring The Books and "Morale Crusher" featuring the brilliant Beans) and grave disappointments in collabos I thought would slay ("We Got Our Way" featuring Kazu of Blonde Redhead tops the list, Aesop Rock and Wu-Tang royalty Masta Killa and Gza also turn in lame ducks). While backpackers and critics alike will debate Prefuse 73's hip hop production, the monotonous "Hide Ya Face" can link arms with its neighboring tracks and feel comfortable with just being ho-hum and unoffensive, which, last time I checked, is still better than being god fucking awful.
You think of what you've done then you can come out of the basement.
Prefuse 73: http://www.prefuse73.com
Some people say the biggest impression you make is your first. If Scott Herren aka Prefuse 73 is trying to make his first full-on hip hop product in Surrounded by Silence, that first impression would undoubtedly be "Hide Ya Face".
The pieces are all there: the unimitable Ghostface, Def Jux's head honcho El-P and of course Mr. Herren on the beat. So what is so unimpressive?
First off, it's not that bad a song. The beat contains a Jux-esque hook, mixing a mechanical swagger with a space-lounge, chill-out vibe. But it's just dull. Can the humdrum be more evident in the fact that there is "reminder" version down on track 17? I've listened to the album five times and didn't even make the connection that the two tracks were related. In fact, everything about the song is static. Ghostface brings in a subpar performance, as engaging as he still is (sub par is still a B/B- grade), and El-P's best verses are becoming fewer and more far between, and it seems that we, by chance, landed on one of his misses.
Still, I passively enjoy the song. It somehow seems to fit right into the rest of the massively uneven hip hop lanscape that Herren has conjured up. Surrounded by Silence survives in its overall mediocrity and has its own shares of astonishing gems ("Pagina Dos" featuring The Books and "Morale Crusher" featuring the brilliant Beans) and grave disappointments in collabos I thought would slay ("We Got Our Way" featuring Kazu of Blonde Redhead tops the list, Aesop Rock and Wu-Tang royalty Masta Killa and Gza also turn in lame ducks). While backpackers and critics alike will debate Prefuse 73's hip hop production, the monotonous "Hide Ya Face" can link arms with its neighboring tracks and feel comfortable with just being ho-hum and unoffensive, which, last time I checked, is still better than being god fucking awful.
You think of what you've done then you can come out of the basement.
Prefuse 73: http://www.prefuse73.com
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