Holy spit! Beatboxer Kid Beyond (A.K.A Andrew Chaikin) is a 600-pound groovin’ gorilla raising bars of expectation and breaking bell curves of normality all over the place.
What impresses me most about this album is that no matter how many times I’ve listened to this album I always hear something new. I don’t mean the cliché about how an album can be continually refreshing and not get dull, although it is, but I mean it literally. Each time, at some point, I’ve said, “wait, what was that?” There are so many intricate layers working independently and interdependently that it’s difficult to appreciate an entire song in one, three, or ten listens but that’s part of its appeal.
This album is also deeply and disguisedly spiritual. I would say blatantly but unless one knows what to listen and look for, (certain themes about the connectedness of all things, the richness inherent in having no attachments, and certain names in the liner notes) it’s just really cool music. I’m refraining from saying exactly how because I’m not sure that KB intended to advertise Amplivate as such, so I’ll leave the labeling to him.
“Wandering Star” opens the album with a slower but driven groove supported by soothing and slightly ethereal harmonies fading in and out of focus. It also highlights KB’s ridiculous vocal harmonica. The next three tracks, “Mothership”, “Deep Inside” and “I Shall Be Free” are all originals by the Kid. “Mothership” is the only song that could be called high energy because of its tempo but there is no shortage of intensity here. The only thing that I would have added to “Mothership” was tons of overdubbed “Yeah!”s in the chorus. It’s an energy builder with a call and response section without much response. “Deep Inside” slows down again with deep feeling of introspection and a groove that is still stuck in my head. “I Shall Be Free” is a personal pledge, an anthem of spiritual liberation, and one damn good song. It blew my ears open the first time I heard it and still does to this day.
What’s unfortunate about this album is that while there are eight tracks, the second four are remixes of the first four by what I’m assuming are DJ friends of Kid Beyond. The remixes are alright but the sad thing is that the DJs tried to stamp their signature onto something that was unquestionably and inalterably Kid Beyond’s style. They’re OK as background music but when I want to feel a real connection with the music, I let Kid sing it.
Beatboxers, vocal percussionists, arrangers, songwriters and singers…buy this album. It will open your eyes to how much is attainable with just one voice. Just remember to pay attention to traffic while you’re listening to this on your iPod for the fiftieth time.
