Sound Event

Album Review

Turntablist Rob Swift gets a little help and inspiration aplenty from his friends and heroes on Sound Event, an explosive and intelligent collection of wicked scratching, in-the-pocket beats, startling imagery, and whiz-kid wordplay. Recalling his first impressive encounter with stream-of-conscious rapper Supernatural, Swift passes the mic over to the freestyling MC to herald the second coming (i.e., Swift's second solo release), tethering the titles of each track into a poetic diatribe. "2 3 Break" incorporates kinetic free jazz riffing atop a hypnotic drum loop that resonates with the rattle of a loose snare. With Bob James, D-Styles, and Swift's mom, Clara Aguilar, onboard, "Salsa Scratch" tears down the barrier between Latino tradition and hip-hop. "The Ghetto" introduces a Jimi Hendrix-like rhythm guitar motif punctuated by a legato horn solo as a canvass for a fierce dialogue detailing the hard truths of growing up on the wrong side of the tracks. Progressive and engaging, Sound Event is as important as its title suggests.