Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Radioboy. Doctor Rockit. Wishmountain. UK producer Mathew Herbert is nothing if not multi-faceted, once again braving the dance music category police with Bodily Functions, a breathtaking album that takes the concept of his PCCOM manifesto a step beyond 1998s Around The House. PCCOM, or the Personal Contract for the Composition of Music, is a self-penned 10 Commandments that bars the use of sampling other people's music or the use of keyboard presets in favour of the utilisation of found sounds alongside more traditional instrumentation. As the title hints, much of the album is built around audio culled from both friends and strangers, in practice this includes percussion created from the contents of vocalist Dani Siciliano's bag right through to the use of Matmos' medical exploratory microphone to record, amongst other things, the circulation of Martin Schmidt and the laser-eye surgery of an unknown accomplice. Thankfully, those of a squeamish dispossession need not tune out, as these sounds are assimilated into some seriously accomplished grooves that range from the boogie-down beats of "Foreign Bodies", shuffling house of "Suddenly" to the more traditional song structure of "I Know" and "You Saw It All". This is competent, confident and, most importantly, listenable stuff. --Kingsley Marshall
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Having read about the way that Matthew Herbert makes music out of anything that comes to hand, how he spent 15 minutes of a show in the Royal Albert Hall entertaining the audience by scrunching a crisp packet into a microphone, how this new album features percussion sounds from skin, bones and hair and extensively samples his newborn baby - I was prepared for the depth and variety of sound on the album and the detail and barmy brilliance of the composition...
What I wasn't prepared for was quite how purely melodic and emotionally captivating the songs on the album have proved to be... the vocals are hauntingly beautiful and the quality of playing on the piano and strings are also superb...
I can't recommend this album highly enough - I buy and listen to a LOT of music, and this is an album of the year for sure... combining the best of electronic music with some beautiful classical musicianship.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
"Dance" is a pretty strong word for this, but who's going to call it NuChillOut? ;-) naive female vocals, odd sounds and occasional clips of studio dialogue add a charming homemade feel to what is overall a very classy production. Even when the housey tempos and patterns kick in, clicky found sounds and kitchen drawer percussion keep the vibe more spacious. And over half the tracks, you'd no way ever dance to . they are full-on slow, subdued and ambient to the point of being . . . ponderous. lovely stand-up bass and real pianos lend a hyper-real smooth jazziness which - unless there is something wrong with my system - he then slurs and saturates, which seems kind of contrived to me. The musical ideas are excellent, but the instrumentation, "found" sounds, and avant garde audio-dogma-style manifesto I just read about above, are not fully integrated - contributing more conceptually than aesthetically i reckon. ahem. (The first track is mildly like Diana Krall with someone slurping and rattling a toaster in the background. you dig?) but hey, it's his album. In a year it might sound gimmicky - or timeless. above all this is MUSIC with rhythms, melodies and chords that will not disappoint. a crisp fresh fusion of dance, jazz, and pop with a hint Squarepusher / Aphex -type trickery without which it would actually be traditionally good anyway. recommended.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
There is only one way to describe Matthew Herbert, and that word is genius. I have always been one for experimental artists at the best of times, but occasionally few pull it off, but with 'Bodily Functions', Herbert has produced one of the best experimental lp's to date. Right from the off, Herbert manages to creat a vibe like no other, combining jazz, deep house, strange human created noises (including his recently new born baby) to amazing affect. For me, there is not a single track on the album which lets it down, it is so consistantly good from start to finish. Stand out tracks include 'I know', 'Addiction' and 'Leave Me Now'. I would recommend this lp to anyone who is willing to give experimental artists a listen, as trust me, you will not find a better example than 'Body Functions'. A true triumph
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Herbert at his innovative yet accessible best
Matthew Herbert is renowned for his innovation. This album still sounds fresh and avant garde almost eight years after its release, and nowhere since has Herbert managed to match... Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2008 by Ian Shine
Superb
Had this for a number of years now and I can't stop going back to it. In contrast with the fact that most dance music sounds a bit ropey a couple of years down the line, this is... Read more
Published on 20 July 2006 by Ditch
Jazz with an electronic backdrop
Apparently Matthew Herbert uses very particular ways of making certain sounds or beats, an avant-garde approach, but just listening to the album you would never know. Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2002
if you don't know your past, you don't know your future
astonishingly good! if you appreciate the jazz scene (be it coltrane, davis or something a little fresher like courtney pine), if you're into the likes of the cinematic orchestra,... Read more
Published on 8 Dec 2001
Essential
Matthew Herbert is one of the most talented and versatile (if not the most) producers in the dance/electronica arena. Read more
Published on 26 Nov 2001 by Hsin Hua Liu
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
