Beardyman

I Done a Album Sunday Best****

Such has been Darren Foreman's ubiquity as a live act over the past few years, it's hard to believe this is his debut album. His live prowess is founded on a brilliant marriage of conveniece between his champion ability as a beatboxer, a dexterous use of loops and well-chosen, crafty speed-pop beats to keep the whole picture in focus. It's largely the same state of affairs on the album, with Foreman skilfully keeping the loops and beats on track as he roams from skittery electronica ( Game Oversounds pre-packaged for the Warp mart) to mischevious, poppy grooves such as Twist Your Ankal, which could have come from the Mr Scruff tea shop. It's even better when he combines these two sides of his musical personality on the Balkan fairground wobbler Vampire Skankor adds hip-hop crew Foreign Beggars to the mix on bhangra bone-shaker Oh. See beardyman.co.uk

Download tracks: Twist Your Ankal, Vampire Skank