Prefuse 73, Music Hall of Williamsburg, NY

Performing under the name Prefuse 73, Scott Herren makes instrumental hip-hop beats out of skittering, choppy samples that push the limits of the usual notions of rhythm. On the decks at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Herren is accompanied by two other performers, one helping out on decks and the other playing a normal drum set. The live drummer adds to the complexity of the trapset percussion in Herren’s electronic beats, sometimes playing in tandem with them, other times begging to differ.

When Herren is performing, you rock out when he wants you to rock out, and you listen when he wants you to listen. Throughout the early stages of the performance, he seems to be intentionally, playfully, preventing the audience from getting into a groove. As soon as the audience catches his rhythm and starts to move with it, he begins a new musical idea, keeping everyone on their toes. This style is consistent with his recent work on the album ‘Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian’, which features many tracks under a minute long. All through this part of the concert, Herren is focused intently on his work.

The first time he throws his hands in the air to groove with the music a little, it is to the accompaniment of what seems like the least danceable beat of the show thus far. But then again, maybe it makes perfect sense, given Herren’s unique musical mind. From that point on, he starts to resolve the tension of his earlier rapid beat-switching, playing longer samples, letting rhythms establish themselves, and getting the crowd physically moving with the music. At the end of the set, he lays down three complete tracks from his 2003 album, ‘One Word Extinguisher’: ‘Perverted Undertone’, ‘The Color of Tempo’, and ‘Choking You’. The audience, finally, gets to dance.