Nomadic Massive

For their second full-length, Montreal-based cross-cultural super-group Nomadic Massive spare no sonic, stylistic or linguistic ingredient in their uncanny quest to unite the Americas, and the result of this ambitious experiment will surely have your head spinning, when you're not busy back spinning. Mixing Haitian, Brazilian and North American raps with boisterous dancehall chatting and soaring R&B vocals, often on a single cut, the idealistic nine-member militia serve up intense stream-of-conscious verses that require an UN-certified translator to follow. Musically, the ride is no less complex, evident in the diverse rhythmic amalgams of cuts like the shape shifting "Nou La," the African-influenced "My Rhythm" or off-kilter Latin tune "Guaguancaso." The blend of live instruments and well-placed samples are prominently featured throughout, and if there's one knock against the crew's everything-on-the-shelf approach it's that, taking the disc as a whole, there may be a little too much going on in the hour-plus of music collected. However, as a preview to a no doubt insane live show, this record does exactly what it needs to.