CASA - the contemporary a cappella society - Matta Rages Against the Drum Machine

Matta Rages Against the Drum Machine

Written by Jonathan A Minkoff

Monday, 24 October 2005

Adam Matta’s self-produced CD-R “Rage Against the Drum Machine” is a live and nearly live-in-studio collection of jams from this machine-gun mouthed beatboxer. He’s occasionally joined by some instrumentalist friends, but Adam and his beats take center stage.

Mr. Matta displays outrageously dexterous mouth drumming, a little singing and some vocal trumpet while low-fi, Beastie Boy-like production values and an unapologetically experimental approach mark the tracks from start to finish. The raw production and liner notes indicating how many vocal drum tracks –usually one track done live- make this disc an excellent resource for vocal percussionist and beatboxer study. You won’t always believe it, but what you hear is pretty much what was performed.

Matta delivers the dirty, gritty, in your face sound that New York City beatboxers have become famous for. He’s true to the New York sound and true to himself, bringing his own unique tricks to the mix. And though rumor has it he had his start in U. Penn’s Off the Beat (a false rumor Matta says, "I think I auditioned for them and maybe jammed with them a couple times...I was tight with Gabe Rutman, though, and Pam Beecroft"), you’d be hard-pressed to hear any remnants of those days. For a cappella fans looking for a vocal band, stop; this ain’t it. “Rage” is largely a cappella, but harmony? Nope. On this release, Matta is all about the beats. To purchase,visit micism.com or contact adam@adammatta.com.