Only four months ago Scott Herren a.k.a. Prefuse 73 released Golden Pollen under his other widely used moniker Savath & Savalas to little acclaim and rightfully so(Electronic artists and DJ's singing on their own records should be flogged). It's unfortunate that most of Herren's work since his 2003 Glitch-Hop breakthrough One Word Extinguisher as Prefuse 73 has been mediocre at best. Much maligned follow-up Surrounded By Silence with high profile guest appearances from greats such as Ghostface Killah, Aesop Rock and Blonde Redhead thudded on impact and everything since then has left Herren scratching his head for answers.

It's nice to see though that Herren's new Prefuse 73 project Preparations has him headed back to the path that once had him compared to Glitch greats such as Four Tet and Squarepusher. No major guest vocalists here is a nice start and having Battles' drummer John Stanier featured on the excellent "Smoking Red" is a good addition to the proceedings as well. Spaced out and hypnotic to the point of an induced coma, Preparations has Herren firmly back on the path and heading in the direction of the great things he promised almost a half decade ago.