Prefuse 73 MP3

PREFUSE73 MP3: For every dozen folktronic tracks that find a nice, lowkey, occasionally trippy melodious zone between laptop digital synthesis and old-tyme lackadaisical stringed instrumentation, there’s but one upbeat song like Prefuse 73‘s “Pagina Dos Featuring the Books,” which hones a digital equivalent to bluegrass’ caffeinated kick. This superb little cut, off P73’s Surrounded by Silence, due out on March 21, is built from the sparest of materials: a cycling pluck of guitar, a smattering of arid beats, and these candid spoken-word snippets that lend the cut the urban-stoop soul of something out of Tommy Guerrero’s catalog (or, for that matter, one of Terence Blanchard’s soundtrack’s for Spike Lee, albeit with an amateur hum in place of the trumpet). It’s a delectable cut, from an album that’ll feature Kazu (of Blonde Redhead), Aesop Rock, Gza and Masta Killa. (The just-out single, “Hideyaface,” features Ghostface and El-P.) So, why’s the MP3 available for free in the first place? Apparently the last newsletter from Bleep.com, the online music retailer run by the Warp Records label, suffered some technical trouble, and this track is being given away as an apology. The newsletter said the file’s for subscribers only, but now the spring 2005 edition of the newsletter is archived on the Bleep.com site, along with a link to the track. Get it while the offer lasts, at warprecords.com/bleep/newsletter.