'Prefuse'ly entertaining hip-hop

Tne Word Extinguisher is the album to listen to after experiencing the draining existence of far too many modern rock sluts. It will restore your faith in creative musicianship. Listening to this sort of thing really makes me want to rip out my eyebrows at the waste that makes that Top 40. Scott Herren, the man who is Prefuse 73, takes looping and beatmixing to some strange high on his second LP. Feeding from the Warp label (home of oddball, electronica-brother band Aphex Twin), Herren masters computer-age sounds and artificial beats to melodic and precise perfection. Extinguisher's mixture of beats, from piecemeal beat-boxing sounds to upright bass melodies to horns to pulsing electronic variations, is so intriguing it bears many repeat listens. Herren doesn't even bother to pander to your short attention span with MC lines -- the album features only three tracks with real vocals. Besides Mr. Lif's feature, the rest of the voices are chopped and manipulated to become part of the beat instead of the forefront. These vocal spins have substance -- in the mindset of quality MC's who know the values of honesty, love and respect. It's not quaint if you believe it.