MTV’s AMP

(Astralwerks/Caroline/MTV)
by Dan Electro

I never thought I’d see the day when anything bearing the logo of that basic-cable bete noire, M (“the M stands for ‘More Road Rules Marathons, Please!'”) TV, would be of any intrinsic value, but damned if it ain’t true in this case. AMP, for those not in the know of the now, hip to the new tip, or wasting their time watching TV at one a.m. on Saturday night, is their electronica showcase, the place to get up on a future that, for some, has been going on for over a decade. And this is the soundtrack, your one-stop breakbeat shop, the sampledelic sampler to buy if you’re buying only one. What else needs be said? It has the names that get dropped more than tabs of E-cut-with-K at a warehouse rave (Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Aphex Twin, Orbital, Prodigy, etc.), a bright orange cover, and heavy computer graphix. Don’t ask me to describe the music. Why? The same reason you can’t summarize an acid trip without flailing your arms around and using the word “man” a lot. It just don’t make sense ‘less’n you’re there already. And sure, the real drum-and-bass-heads will probably complain that there’s no tracks from DJ Rimjob, the Enuresis Triplets, and other purist sniffle-shit like that, but, hey, now they know what we alternafucks went through when they had the audacity to overlook Pointilistic Slutmeat when they put together their 120 Minutes comps. See? MTV’s egalitarian after all.