Why You Should F***ing Love Beardyman

Beardyman

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Some musicians are impossible to forget. They leave an indelible imprint on your memory, permanently branding their art on your brain. For TMMP, Beardyman is that kind of artist – and here are a few reasons why you, the open-minded, intelligent, and no doubt deeply attractive regular reader and boundary-free music fan, are more than a little likely to feel the same way:

He’s more than just a beatboxer.

Beardyman was the first beatboxer to win the UK Beatbox Championships two years in a row, and spent the time between the 2006 and 2007 championships honing his skills to the point of Jedidom. He was also the guy behind the Kitchen Diaries YouTube video, through which Beardyman has taken over five million viewers step by step through the birth of a sick break:

But Beardyman is no one-trick pony. While a quick stroll around central London will quickly yield a bunch of Read more…

Posted on 24 August 2015

Lu’Ami [Interview]

Lu'Ami

With 2000 Trees 2015 almost upon us, it’s time to draw your attention to an artist who really sticks out from the rest of Trees’ beyond-epic lineup. Loopist extraordinaire Lu’Ami is due to bring a massive array of gear to the stage, and through it fill your ears with a brilliantly quirky and frankly uncategorizable sound. Think a chilled female Beardyman, and you’re at least in approximately the right ballpark. Kind of.

TMMP got in touch with Lu’Ami to talk 2000 Trees, creativity, and looping a cheering audience…

Your music is really intriguing. How would you describe your sound?

Well first of all, thank you kindly! I’ve had this conversation with so many people – everybody thinks differently!

To be quite honest I couldn’t decide on one genre. The way I see it, the vocals are percussive soul, most of the song structures are pop and the music is experimental, with a bit of electronic thrown in because of the sounds and equipment used. But I’ve just got back from playing at Fete de la Musique in Berlin and they described me as “synth pop”, so it’s definitely open to interpretation.

I’d like to think I’d created a new genre, but I guess all artists have their own little genre depending on where the influences come from.

You’re set to play a set at 2000 Trees 2015. How’re you feeling about it?

Im super excited, to say the least! Festivals are my favourite kind of gigs. I basically dress like Read more…

Posted on 07 July 2015

Beardyman – One Album Per Hour (The Dream Team Sessions) [Live Review – The Jazz Cafe, Camden, 21/4/2015]

Beardyman

Beneath iconic billboards broadcasting HD consumerism, Piccadilly Circus’s resident beatboxers are going through the motions.

While undoubtedly deserving of respect from anyone whose beatboxing repertoire is limited to repeating the phrase “boots, cats, boots, cats,” until the throat goes dry, these acts consist of Read more…

Posted on 24 April 2015

Portico (ft. Jono McCleery) / Sea Stacks / Matt Emery [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 13/3/15]

portico press shotThis past Friday night, Guildford’s residents were offered a prime opportunity to catch three fascinating acts in the act of creating incredible music. It’s rare to experience a gig crammed this full of uncategorizable music – but then, the Boileroom isn’t your average venue. Kudos first has to go to the booking brains behind this show; that kind of talent isn’t Read more…

Posted on 14 March 2015

Man Without Country / Princess Slayer / Tusks [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 1/3/2015]

man without countryThis show may have been a hard sell for a Sunday, but a sizeable portion of local music fans still made it down to the Boileroom for this show. Earlycomers were treated to Tusks (aka Emily Underhill), a recent discovery who is fast becoming Read more…

Posted on 03 March 2015

Naomi Scott / Fifi Rong / Geovarn / Princess Slayer / Jungle Doctors / Bella Figura [Live Review – Under The Bridge, London, 26/2/2015]

music week radarAs a music venue embedded into Stamford Bridge (the stadium called home by Chelsea F.C.), Under the Bridge was an appropriately unique venue for this unique show. An industry showcase set up by trade paper Music Week, networking hub MusicConnex, promoters ILUVLIVE, and south coast music school BIMM, it goes without saying that the high-profile nature of this show inevitably brought its own special set of performance pressures. A quality showcase set has the potential to push an act to the next level, while a duff performance can see a band crossed off “Ones To Watch” lists in the blink of an eye.

On top of the potential for mind-freezing attacks of performance anxiety, this was not Read more…

Posted on 27 February 2015

Beardyman [Interview]

beardyman press

Imagine you’re a beatboxer. You’re pretty good, so you enter the UK Beatbox Championships. You win. You eat, breathe, sleep and sweat beatboxing for a solid year before returning. You win again. Things get a bit crazy. A comedy video you made in a kitchen gets uploaded to YouTube (as freshly purchased by Google). In time, it will attract over 5 million views.

Over the next several years, you take solo beatboxing as far as it can possibly be taken. You play underground comedy clubs, TV shows, festivals. Your YouTube presence grows. You begin experimenting with live looping technology, battling not rival MCs but inefficient circuitry and user interfaces in the name of getting the ideas in your head into other people’s earholes. You find yourself in a studio, recording an eclectic collection of tracks that takes in everything from dubstep and hip-hop to almost every international folk music style recorded by history. Your debut album gets released; it sells nicely.

Finally, you hit on a pair of serious problems.  Read more…

Posted on 26 February 2015

Tusks – ‘Ink EP’ [Review]

tusks ink epSometimes, an EP is so good that you can’t quite get your head around it. So Read more…

Posted on 17 January 2015

Eliza Doolittle & THOS / Bat and Ball / Tweed & Hyenas / Tusks [Live Review – The Boileroom, Guildford, 9/1/15]

smile for hattiThe fact that this show even happened is a true testament to the strength and indomitable passion of its organisers. Few life experiences are as devastating as losing a friend or family member to cancer; when that happens, most of us would become too overwhelmed to function, and with good reason. Nobody would have blamed Tom Morley and the team behind Smile For Hatti (a campaign set up to support the courageous and inspiring Hatti Sandall, who sadly passed away only three days before this gig) had they rescheduled or cancelled this fundraiser – but they didn’t. For that, they deserve all the respect in the world – not to mention the sheer success of this awesome event, which raised over £2000 for Smile For Hatti (which is in the process of becoming a new charity, to which future donations will be directed) and Sarcoma UK.

As far as opening acts go, Read more…

Posted on 10 January 2015

TMMP’s Top Albums Of 2014

The “death of the album” has been declared many times in recent years – but nonetheless, musicians keep making them and are showing no signs of stopping (and thank God for that!). Almost a decade and a half into the twenty-first century, there still exist bands and artists capable of composing immersive, engaging, and fully satisfying collections of songs that stand up to repeated, unshuffled listens. Here are fifteen of them. Read more…

Posted on 29 December 2014

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