Amplivate

Kid Beyond – Amplivate (Love-Million)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/17/06
Human beatboxing taken to the Nth, layered and distorted, dubbed, and then sung over. The lyrics tend to the hippie-ish, but the beats are rock solid.
FCC? It sounds like he may be saying “shit” a couple times on track 2, but I think it’s just “ship” as in Mothership…
I like 2 and the remix on 6 best, but it’s all pretty goddamn good.
1. 3:56 ***soft, ethereal electronics intro, beat hits much louder after about 20 secs. Some clearly human beatbox sounds, slow groove, pretty male vocals.
2. 3:13 ****spaceship lifting intro, midtempo hardcore beat, fun vocals. Metal hip hop beatbox – call me Fred, but I love this sound.
3. 5:05 **starts with panting noises, then somewhat relaxed and swingy groove.
4. 6:13 ***beat builds slowly, sort of a slow blues, hippie lyrics. Some really cool harmonies as well.
5. 3:53 ***remix of track 1, more sci-fi soundtrack noises and dubbed up vocals. Music cuts out in middle and there are vocal harmonies and a second or two of silence.
6. 4:45 ****remix of track 2 with different intro, lots of echo and reverb, beat comes in after quite a while.
7. 5:06 ***remix of track 3, odd noises intro, then downtempo dub reggae beat, a bit subdued. Vocals mostly cut out and dub pumped up, which makes this MUCH better than the original track.
8. 4:01 **another remix of track 1, intro seems like strings here, beat is much more subdued.