A past-master of jarring turntable juxtapositions, the New York-born, Barcelona-based Rupture has taken years to arrive at this official studio debut via numerous mix-tape mash-ups. Special Gunpowder is a bold genre-fusing hybrid featuring an army of ragga MCs, rappers, avant-rockers, French and Arabic folk musicians and more. The collagist sensibility may derive from hip-hop, but Rupture appears to be aiming for something more jazzy and organic?he was, after all, once in a band with Norah Jones. As a consequence, the wild collisions and beat-driven energy of his past work are tamed a little. A rich and exotic ride, but uncharacteristically cerebral at times.
STEPHEN DALTON
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