Prefuse 73 - Every Color of Darkness [VINYL]

If the first two releases of Prefuse 73's 2015 triptych could be considered the appetizer (Forsyth Gardens) and main course (Rivington Não Rio) of a meal, you'd expect Every Color of Darkness to be like a dessert or digestif, something sweet to complete the experience. Instead, it's more like the chef, Scott Herren, decided to sweep his arm across the counter and dump everything left into the mixing bowl. The result is an interesting, if jumbled, concoction of many clashing flavors served in bite-sized chunks.

The set starts out with the very jazzy 'Wasted (Intro)'. It has the usual airy vocals sliced and diced, but alternates those sections with smooth basslines. 'Search the Sky' is more standard Herren  fare, with jittery vocals layered on top of a stumbling beat. 'Night of Light' builds up to a chaotic middle section, sounding like a bunch of music equipment tumbling down a hillside before mellowing out with some smooth synths toward the end. 'The Contour of Every Pitch' has some sampled horns scattered throughout and some of the more interesting structures to be found here. There is some playing around with stringy synths in the last third that helps the track live up to its name.

'Prime Meridian Narcissism' tends more towards the clickety-clackety, with plinked and plucked strings making appearances here and there. 'The High Beams of Modern Survival' creates an interesting effect like water drops across a xylophone married to the tried and true clattering beats and chopped up vocal samples. 'Squares of the City' has more personality, with a bigger, more expansive synth sound giving the track a less claustrophobic feel. It's reminiscent of some songs on Autechre's Exai. The set concludes with the bass vocals of 'Skin (Outro)'.

This is a decent conclusion to the triple release, but honestly, it's not entirely clear why this little afterthought needed to be a separate item. It would have easily fit onto either of the other releases, and two albums instead of one album and two EPs would have been fine. Of the three, this would be the one to pass on, as it's even less cohesive than usual for Herren. Still, fans of Prefuse 73 should know by now what they're in for, and won't be disappointed.