- There are two sides to Matthew Herbert. On the one hand, you've got his dense, politically minded productions, records that sample, among other things, pigs being slaughtered, the World Trade Center collapsing and a bomb being dropped on Libya. And then there's his more dance floor-focussed material, the kind of simple, striking house tracks that work best at woozy afterhours. Even at his straightest, Herbert champions aesthetics above all else. This was on plain show at Village Underground last month, where Herbert performed live for the first time in more than a decade as part of London's Convergence series.
Taking to the stage just after 9 PM, Herbert and his eight piece band benefitted from a well-judged warm up set from K15. The Wild Oats affiliate flitted through a tasteful range of sounds and styles, treating the slowly swelling room to music from Nuyorican Soul, Azymuth and Tony Allen.
And what a room. Village Underground's cavernous arches proved, if not acoustically perfect, then certainly of a fitting scale and grandeur for such a landmark occasion. Filled with well-dressed 20-somethings, the experience felt closer to the opening of an experimental exhibition than a house and techno party.
After a brassy opening number, Herbert revealed some of the dry British wit that he's known for. "Now some of you may be expecting this," he said into a microphone, as five-second bursts of classic Herbert gear blasted out of his bandmate's MPC. "But you may not be expecting this," he continued, as samples of his One Pig project, Prince William stubbing his toe, and David Cameron ominously repeating “stuffing our pockets” rang out across the venue. Later, he unravelled an enormous extendable microphone to add some crowd noise to his 2001 classic "The Audience," only to promptly smash it into a lighting rig. "You know, first gig and all that."
The set centered largely around his newer material and forthcoming LP The Shakes, with his earlier productions taking a back seat. It would've been nice to hear more stuff from Bodily Functions, Around The House or any of his EPs from the '90s, but you understand Herbert wanting to focus on the here and now. The rich jazziness of his current output sounded much more appealing in a live setting, with vocalists Ade Omotayo and Rahel Debebe-Dessalegne proving particularly adept. All the same, one overheard conversation summed it up nicely: "this is sweet, but there's no chance we're hearing any of the old Parts." Still, it was tight, enjoyable, and, as Herbert always is, provocative and unpredictable.
Photo credit: Dan Davies