Music Review

Minesweeper Suite (2002)

EW's GRADE
A-

Details Release Date: Aug 27, 2002; Lead Performance: DJ/Rupture

If Robert Rauschenberg were a DJ obsessed with the global black experience, his records would sound like this. Minesweeper flexes much like /rupture's bootleg-style MP3 hit from last year, Gold Teeth Thief, spinning Timbaland stutter snares, North African chants, ruffneck dance-hall reggae MCs, videogame drum 'n' bass rolls, and noise blasts into an ever-mutating mix. Even when things lurch into chaos, there's still something to hold onto -- a fractured rhythm inside the distortion, a steady vocal melody above the seasick beats. And remember: With /rupture, you always get more samples than you paid for. ONE FOR THE DIVAS Public-radio piano queen Norah Jones turns up, before morphing into Sade, Soul II Soul's Caryn Wheeler, and too many others to count.

Originally posted Sep 19, 2002 Published in issue #673 Sep 20, 2002 Order article reprints

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