EP: Prefuse 73 - Security Screenings

Artist: Prefuse 73
Album: Security Screenings EP
Label: Warp Records
Release: February 2006

Review: I'm not really sure if this is an album-length EP or an EP-length album. Created while touring for the Surrounded by Silence album, Prefuse 73 gets back to his off-kilter cut-and-paste roots by creating a frenetic 19-track record that expresses the frustration of the road as much as the desire to just kick back and have a drink. Alternating from woozy melodies to split-beat sprints, Security Screenings never bores. Highlights include two versions of a danceable, spinnable short called "with dirt and two texts" and "creating cyclical headaches," a discomforting squawk-driven collaboration with Four Tet. One interstitial track features an interview conducted during P73's last tour where an I-try-too-hard-to-be-a-radio-personality fool expresses his dislike of the last album. Taking the interview process in laughable stride, P73 tries to explain the collaborative nature of 2005's Surrounded in Silence which proves futile in the wake of the interviewer's misplaced ego. No need to explain Prefuse! Security Screenings stands on it's own as a worthwhile aural experience and a welcome hold-over until the next album comes out.

Rating: 4 / 5

Buy a copy of Security Screenings from Amazon.com: Consume.