He’s starred on national television (well, a fruit pastilles advert), penned a track for FIFA, and brought the world of beatboxing down on unsuspecting indie fans heads for the best part of a decade. And staggeringly, ‘Amplified’ marks his 9th studio release as Killa, aka Lee Potter, has marketed himself as much more than a man with a particularly adept mouth. In the same way a DMC champion might transcend the technicality of turntablism and turn party DJ, Killa Kela has pretty much worked his bollocks off to transcend, and add longevity to, what’s essentially a quite brilliant party trick. However, as a live show, his act is staggering, jaw dropping stuff, but translating the replication was always going to be the challenge. And we shouldn’t forget that his honed beat boxing skills are constantly being demanded of – here, he hurls bass, drums, synth, scratches, samples and his snappy MC-ing across hip hop, drum n bass, breaks, electro and ragged rave – it’s a testament to his craft when you’re busy guessing what sounds were man made…
Impressive it might be, but Amplified, for all its invention, comes with its fair share of error, human or otherwise. Roping in a stellar, genre straddling cast – French-electro maestro, Alan Braxe, Human League producer Martin Rushent, and ally Does it Offend You, Yeah?’s James Rushent, there are genuine flashes of power and excitement. Take the sparse, languid Maxi Jazz flow of ‘Came with Me, pinned against lurching, crunching guitar interludes or the grinding synth of ’This One’s Dynamite’ and you can feel that Kela’s in no mood to tease.
Fuelled by a similar brutality to that of The Prodigy, it’s an album that pulls few punches and rarely settles, characterised by tracks like ’The Situation’ with it’s Just Blaze-style bump that easing into a 20-inch rim aesthetic, with some Spiritualized flourishes. Somewhat less successful, ‘Cards and Cheques’ tries to bring its boisterous A-game, but the bravado and MC-come-vocals fall contritely flat under distorted Pendulum rave stabs while ‘Get a Rise’ similarly extends into disorientated breakbeat, Hadouken! reducing the feral animosity to the faux-angst of an ASBO-ridden Bomfunk MCs. Relentlessly, ‘Couple of Wasters’ continues to plough the dirge and exemplifies Amplified’s inconsistencies – loud, brash and aggressive, it may be, but it’s anything but a Killa showcase.