Herbert

For the bulk of this decade, Matthew Herbert has been among the most innovative artists in the electronic genre, continually pushing himself to find new sources for his beats and samples. He's also been a refreshing reminder that protest music and political consciousness aren't confined to a certain set of genres; on There's Me and There's You, he brings his welcome worldview and self-challenging work ethic to the brassy big band genre. It's a place he's been before with his Matthew Herbert Big Band; this time he's joined by the booming presence of British soul/jazz singer Eska Mtungwazi. The result is long on interesting ideas–but short on enjoyable music.

Even a lot of favorable press for There's Me and There's You has focused on the stories behind the songs rather than the songs themselves. The stories and the messages within make for one of the most compelling press kits or liner notes of 2008. "Knowing" stitches together single sung words from 100 remote collaborators. On the surface, "Battery" could be the zesty opening of some Broadway musical, but it takes its inspiration from Guantanamo Bay; Herbert used sound samples of everyday items that take on sinister meanings in the War on Terror (a battery charger, a Casio digital watch). Herbert never plugs his ears from the world of sound around him; "One Life" even incorporates the beep of his baby boy's neonatal special care unit, where each beep represents 100 people killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war. In some cases, the sheer act of creation was a protest act–like rattling matches inside of the House of Parliament as an ode to lives lost in the war (just as former Prime Minister John Major happened to mosey alongside Herbert, as it turned out).

Unfortunately, the music seldom holds up its end of the bargain in making for a powerful and provocative piece of work in whole. The layers are piled precariously high and songs are allowed to meander into big band bloat. Mtungwazi is an imposing vocalist, certainly, but despite her plentiful volume, she doesn't add much to the emotion and drama behind the conception of the tracks ("The Yesness" and "Breathe" are particularly abrasive on her part). "Heady" is perhaps the perfect word to describe Herbert's latest, as heady is a conflicted word–definitions include "intellectually stimulating" and "distinguished" as well as "domineering," "overbearing" and "suffering from a headache." There's Me and There's You fits that bill all around, for better and for worse.

—Adam McKibbin
12.07.08