Preparations

Released on the 23rd of October, 2007, Prefuse’s fourth studio album, Preperations continues the measured shift from his prior records, with a now routine palette of layered synths and tones in place of the scattered production and biting guest features comprising earlier projects. (A continuing trend suggested by the make-up of Prefuse’s previous EP, Security Screenings).

This more fixed formula pays off in the obvious ways; The tracklist is no longer cluttered by guest spots, giving the production a time to shine, and a less haphazard makeup means a more fixed project as a whole. Prefuse’s debut studio album (As well as it’s follow-up, One Word Extinguisher) banked on a multitude of styles, with each track as diverse in composition as the last. They were in a word, refreshing.

The uniformity of Preperations is definitely lacking something in terms of variety.

Prefuse speaks on the construction of Preperations in a 2008 interview with Hip Hop Core.

I mean, obviously from everybody that recently heard the record it is less focused on the structure than the last LP’s, but it was more like a concentration on the structure…
I tried to avoid doing the tricks I know. I think it’s a cool concept to try to recreate what you are sampling from or the sources you are sampling from.

Preperations garnered favorable reviews upon its release, though drew some flak for the sameyness of the cuts. Pitchfork described the album as having a ‘Relentless mid-tempo ambivalence’, while Prefix Magazine laments Prefuse’s sound, which ‘doesn’t excite as it once did’.