- Buyer beware: what is being issued here is not the complete works of Matthew Herbert, who has recorded under numerous monikers throughout his career. That would be some set. Rather, it's the albums issued under his surname alone, between 1996 and 2006: 100lbs, Around the House, Bodily Functions and Scale, all remastered with added bonus tracks and remixes.
Also included is a collection of Herbert's early works, originally released on a series of long-lost 12-inches in the mid-'90s. Herbert had previously distanced himself from these productions, as they didn't meet the standards outlined in his Personal Manifesto for the Composition of Music, which he drew up in 2000 (no sampling the work of others, no replicating the sound of acoustic instruments). This would probably make them the clincher for Herbert completists wondering whether this "digital boxset" is worth their cash. As it happens, these early recordings are probably worth the price of admission alone: sturdy and timeless, they could have have been recorded yesterday, or even next year.
The bonus tracks on 100lbs are a near match in quality for the album itself, in particular the playful, scratchy Moog adventures of "The Puzzle" and "Back, Back, Back, Back," which cuts an ingeniously straight line, broken up only by Herbert's little signature jumps. The "Housey Housey Version" of "Mistakes" runs like clockwork, too, all clips and squelches marinated in a deep, spacey mix.
1998's superb Around the House, featuring former partner Dani Siciliano on vocals, benefits from the remastering inasmuch as it's significantly louder than the original (the original CD release was maddeningly low in volume). Among the bonus tracks, Herbert's own dizzy, dub remix of "Going Round" stands out. "Deep Inside of Me" leaps out and grabs you in a way the more demure material from the original album doesn't.
Bodily Functions, which had its own reissue at the end of last year, saw Herbert extend further his outlandishly strict sampling regime (body parts-related samples only), before in 2006, with Scale, he made the political nature of his methods abundantly clear in the sourcing of his samples (from a coffin lid closing to an arms trade fair), while the album displayed the full gamut of his talents from beatmaker to big band arranger. Best of the remixes is Jamie Lidell's raw, juicy, funky version of "Moving Like a Train." Bonus tracks include five purely orchestral takes on Scale recorded at Abbey Road. The pick of the litter is "Flames," whose latticed rhythms recall one of Herbert's earliest influences, Steve Reich.
The sheer quantity, as well as the quality of the extra material here makes this more than a workaday reissue. Think of it not as extra odds n sods but as full disclosure, one of Herbert's key principles.
トラックリストEarly Herbert
Part 1:
01. Touch Me
02. Birds
03. Here Tonight
04. Wake Up
05. Kinda Kickin (DJ Boom)
06. Boots
07. Got To Be Movin' (On The Dancefloor)
08. Housewife
09. Robot Radio (Antioch Step)
10. Fat King Fire
11. Move It
12. Love The DJ
13. Let's Go Lo-Fi
Part 2:
01. Skate House
02. Can Can
03. On Your Feet
04. Herbert's Touch
05. Robot Radio (Rattlesnake)
06. (The) Hunger
07. Gotta Find L
08. Gloops
09. Klunk 2 (Waiting For You)
10. Intro/ The Yeah
11. Make Five
12. The Beauty Of The Drea…
13. Acid Tracks
14. I Got The Music (Sir Henr….)
100lbs
Original:
01. Rude
02. Desire
03. Thinking of You
04. oo Licky
05. Friday They Dance
06. Pen
07. 100lbs
08. Take Me Back
09. Deeper
10. Resident
11. See You on Monday
Bonus material:
01. People that Make the Music
02. Back Back Back Back
03. Mistakes (housey housey version)
04. The Puzzle
05. No More Borders
06. Fishcoteque
07. Our Love (Has Got Me Movin)
08. Trafalger Road
09. Shuffler
10. UK Spring
11. Butt-Head
12. Come On And Find Me
13. Non-Stop
Remixes:
01. Our Love (From San Francisco mix)
02. Go With The Beat
03. Deeper (Pont Blank mix)
04. oo Licky (Strange Attractor mix)
05. Non-Stop (Motorbass mix)
06. Rude (Sensory Elements mix)
07. Take Me Back (Charles Webster mix)
Around the House
Original:
01. (-)
02. So Now…
03. Around the House
04. Close to Me
05. The Last Beat
06. Gong Round
07. This Time
08. We Still Have (the music)
09. In the Kitchen
10. Never Give Up
11. We Go Wrong
Bonus material:
01. We All Need Love
02. Got to Sing
03. I Hadn't Known (I Only Heard)
04. Going Round (hmmmmix)
05. Aerosoul
06. Dropped
07. I'll Do it
08. Deep Inside of Me
09. The Last Beat (house dub)
10. Going Round (herbert dub)
Bodily Functions
Original:
01. You're Unknown to Me
02. It's Only
03. Foreign Bodies
04. Suddenly
05. I Know
06. Leave Me Now
07. The Last Beat
08. You Saw it All
09. On Reflection
10. About This Time Each Day
11. Addiction
12. I Miss You
13. It's Only A Reprise
14. The Audience
Remixes:
01. Back to the Start (Mr.Oizo 'Non' Mix)
02. You Saw it All (DJ Koze Mix)
03. The Audience Vs Jamie Lidell and the Famous Szizlas (Music No Last)
04. Foreign Bodies (Plaid Mix)
05. Leave Me Now (Recloose Mix)
06. Foreign Bodies (Dave Aju Mix)
07. Back to the Start (Herbert)
08. Suddenly (Phil Parnell's Pianissimo Play Through)
09. Addiction (Nabukazu Takemura Mix)
10. Leave Me Now (Richard Devine Mix)
11. The Audience (Matmos Shifted My Tongue)
12. Addiction (Perry Farrel Mix)
13. It's Only (DJ Koze Mix)
14. The Last Beat (Herbert's House Dub)
15. The Last Beat (Emerson Kitamura Mix)
Scale
Original:
01. Something isn't Right
02. The Movers and the Shakers
03. Moving Like a Train
04. Harmonise
05. We're in Love
06. Birds of a Feather
07. Those Feelings
08. Down
09. Movie Star
10. Just Once
11. Wrong
Bonus material:
01. Moving Like a Train (Smith N Hack Remix)
02. Something isn't Right (Asshot Remix By Cassh)
03. Harmonise (Freaks Vocal)
04. Harmonise (A Cappella)
05. Moving Like A Train (Lidell's Radio Raw Hymn Remix)
06. Harmonise (Freaks Dub)
07. Harmonise (TNT's Elevate Mix)
08. The Movers and the Shakers (Instrumental)
09. The Movers and the Shakers (Green Velvet Remix)
10. The Movers and the Shakers (A Cappella)
Abbey Road Sessions:
01. Birds of a Feather
02. We're In Love
03. Movie Star
04. Down
05. Flames (instrumental)