Beardyman // I Done a Album

When I first heard Beardyman many years back I thought to myself that really is a rubbish name – but not one to ever openly judge a book by its cover I listened to his material and was impressed, not blown away, but suitably impressed nonetheless.  Probably the hardest element to tackle in beatboxing is the longevity of interest, as this often seems to wane after the initial admiration of skill / talent is overcome… which in layman’s terms essentially means the listener quickly becomes bored after a few minutes of squelchy mouth sounds.  However, what presently sets Beardyman aside from others alike is his creativity, resourcefulness and mastering of the Korg Kaoss Pad (a touchpad MIDI controller, sampler and effects processor).  It would be misleading to say Beardyman has revolutionised beatboxing, but he has certainly become a driving force, utilising external instruments to test the limits of his own vocal capacity.  His album, ‘I Done A Album’, superficially appears mostly electro based due to the strong Korg influence, but should not be pigeonholed as it is nicely complimented with a colourful array of different genres including African, Balkan, drum and bass, house, and hiphop beats.  However, there is much more to the album aside from the overall genre mix as interest is maintained throughout with a combination of old and new beatboxing styles; 'Vampire Skank' and 'Big Man' retain the tongue and cheek humour often synonymous with beatboxing, whilst ‘Sativa Steps’ demonstrates the more progressive sounds Beardyman has added to his armoury.  Overall, the album is a fantastic piece of work even my mum could enjoy.