Herbert - Complete

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  • 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. 
  • Tracklist
      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)
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