Prefuse 73 is the future of hip-hop production. Group mastermind Scott Herren cuts up vocals, drums, guitars and countless other random sounds with razor-sharp precision, turning those sonic slivers into the most compelling instrumental hip-hop since DJ Shadow blew everyone away in the mid-’90s with the release of the groundbreaking album Endtroducing….

The alias-prone Herren, who has also released albums as Savath + Savalas and Delarosa and Asora, has enjoyed his greatest commercial success and critical acclaim with his three releases as Prefuse 73.

The producer’s shape-shifting blend of electronic experimentalism and raw hip-hop seamlessly incorporates stuttering glitches and break-beat jolts, ultimately sounding like the world’s coolest broken CD player. Oftentimes, though, even the most technically proficient studio technician can have trouble translating exact equalizing and precisely programmed samples into an engaging live performance where such perfectionism can easily turn into knob-twiddling boredom for the audience.