Rob Swift: Ouvroir de Musique Potentielles (OuMuPo)

The Ablist: Turntablist Extraordinare Rob Swift

There is no doubt that Rob Swift (X-Men, X-ecutioners) is one of the best turntablists on the planet (check the clips below and listen to him scratch along to Charlie Parker's "Cheers" and cut up the mighty Biz Marke). Rob's amazing dexterity and highly musical scratching are instantly recognizable, much in the same way that the "drunken trumpet" technique and sound is unmistakably Kid Koala.

Unfortunately, I missed Rob when he was in Boston in May on the heels of the release of his DVD As the Tables Turn. As Scratch Magazine noted, the DVD is an "always engaging, intimate look at Rob Swift that mixes classic footage (90's DMC shots, the infamous X-ecutioners vs. Scratch Piklz battle) and new interviews." Check it out or purchase it from Rob's website.

I did, however, pick up a copy of Rob's French release in Ici d'Ailleurs' OuMuPo series while I was in Paris last month. More on that below. But first a bit more on Swift for the uninitiated.

Rob Swift started DJing with the turntablist supergroup X-ecutioners (originally the X-Men) in 1991, alongside Total Eclipse and the legendary Roc Raida. A year later Rob won the DMC East Coast Turntable Championship. But Swift started DJing as a preteen. Here's an excerpt from the Swift bio written by Doug Cohen on Rob's webpage, including an interview with Swift regarding his and upbringing and influences:

Swift educated himself with the classic turntable beats of the early '80s New York playground pioneers while listening to funk and jazz at home. "My dad was a salsa and meringue DJ," Rob says. "My brother learned how to scratch and do all the hip hop deejaying stuff on my dad's equipment (without his permission) and I'd sit there and watch him. My older brother exposed me to all that," Swift notes. "All the stuff I create as a DJ is rooted in the songs that I heard from Bob James, Herbie Hancock and James Brown to Quincy Jones and old DJs like Grandmaster Flash and Grandwizard Theodore. That's where my roots are."

In 1999 Swift released The Ablist, his phenomenal (and highly recommended) solo debut. AMG noted that The Ablist was "Swift's attempt to introduce the turntable as a virtuosic instrument capable of being played with the same feeling and skill as any other instrument," adding that it was "directly influenced by Herbie Hancock's "Rockit," an early melding of jazz and hip-hop." It's notable that DJ Logic released his own "turntablist as a jazz musician" debut, Project Logic in 1999, making it a watershed year for the resurgence of jazz infected hip hop -- at least from the perspective of the DJ. In 2001, Swift added scratches to Herbie Hancock's Future 2 Future album.


In 2004, Swift was asked to contribute the second installment of French label Ici d'Ailleurs' OuMuPo series. OuMuPo is short for Ouvroir de Musique Potentielles -- workshop for potential musics. The concept stems from the literary movement Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle (OuLiPo) initiated by French surrealists Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais in the 1960s.

For the OuMuPo series, Ici d'Ailleurs asked leading DJs (DJ Krush and Kid Loco were featured in subsequent installments) to construct a continuous mix, looped end-to-end, that included a theme and used tracks or samples from at least six artists on Ici d'Ailleurs' O1O1 imprint. Swift's construction is an intoxicating mix of jazzy soundscapes, dark, brooding downtempo, and funky hip hop featuring French rapper Gravité Zero and mixes of 0101 electronic and experimental artists Madrid, Micro:Mega, I N Fused, and Bästard. Oh, a final requirement for the mix was that Swift impose on himself at least one constraint. Rob's rules: "Never mix before midnight. Have my mother choose the titles [to mix]."

Here's a sample, including a tour de force statement featuring French rapper Gravité Zero and a Boards of Canada-like downtempo track "Annex 6" from Micro:Mega with scratches (rhythmic, melodic, and conversational) by Rob:

Gravité Zéro -- Infini V88 -- Rob Swift: OuMuPo Vol. 2

Micro:Mega -- Annex 6 -- " . . . " (2004)

"Rob once said "Artists like Stevie Wonder go in to cut records and they think, 'Well, we can get him on drums and him for guitars?' My thing is to get people to think, 'Who's gonna play the turntable?'"


BONUS: As promised above, here are two excerpts that demonstrate just how gifted, original, and musical Rob is on the ones and two, his chosen instrument.

Cheers (X-ecutioner's style) (edit) -- Rob Swift: Bird Up (2004)

Rob Gets Busy (edit) -- Rob Swift: The Return of the DJ Vol. 1 (1996)

au revoir. peace.
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