In recent years beat boxing has exploded in popularity, with the likes of Beardyman, Flute Box Lee and Mc Xander really warping what was thought possible with the voice, kicking off the novelty chains and leading to the vocal style taking its rightful place amongst other acts as a serious musical style.
Release date: February 2011
Format: CD/digital
Label: Without One
By Will Poole
Xander crafts songs using a Kaoss pad and a loop station. This allows him to record live segments on the fly and loop them. Through this he creates layers of sound using purely his voice – a truly stunning and mesmerising live performance to behold. But does it sound any good on CD? The difference in watching beatboxing live and listening to it through speakers at home is huge, especially when half the interest is purely in watching the performance. So, maybe a little pessimistically, I load the disk and hit ‘play’.

Mc Xander’s album, from start to finish, is a force to be reckoned with. It makes a case for being an excellent album in any case, but most importantly it proves that it can all be done with the human voice alone – an impressive feat by any standard. His style is hard to put your finger on, as it combines a mix of hip hop, dub, drum n’ bass and other notable electronic sub genres, mixed up for an original sound.

Notable tracks on the album are ‘White Light’ with its progressive and cinematic introduction, ‘Message In The Rose’ for its atmospheric moodiness, and ‘Save A Bit Of Light’ which gives Xander a chance to show his playful side – a really nice contrast to the rest of the album.

It’s worth noting that not only is Xander an excellent MC and poet, but a bloody good singer to boot. ‘Eyeopeness’ is quite a collection of songs. MC Xander’s ability to combine so many elements and make them work and work well is something that can now be truly appreciated at home. If only all MCs sounded this good.