Few people in the European electronic world have ever tapped into the groove and the BLUES inherent in deep house music as well as Matthew Herbert. For all his intellectualism, pranksterism and provocation this has always been the thing that give his music lasting power, and this was one of the most perfect statements of it. He’d already proved his worth with a slew of 12”s and the 1998 Around the House album (its sounds created from household objects), but this album — like its predecessor featuring his then wife Dani Sicilano on vocals — really transcended. It’s themed around, and created from sounds sampled from, human bodies and every part of it crackles with intimacy, curiosity, a blurring of the macro and the micro. But over and above its sonic uniqueness, it’s a collection of dreamy, sad and gorgeous songs, with jazz ensemble instrumentation and Siciliano’s voice perfectly melded into the electronics.

An album cataloguing the end of innocence, created from recordings of human bodily functions and the manipulation of body parts, could have ended up in any number of nightmare scenarios, but under the direction of UK producer Matthew Herbert resulted in a unique, audacious, expansive, and beautiful collection. Most of the songs are based on a house-via-jazz template, a musical marriage much-attempted but rarely satisfactorily accomplished in the dance music world, along with several contemporary torch songs and jazzy pieces, all of which showcase the powers of vocalist Dani Siciliano, who alternatively soars and beguiles throughout. 

Released a year after he wrote his manifesto Personal Contract for the Composition of Music which among other things encouraged mistakes and banned the use of drum machines or sampling other artists or instruments, Herbert’s academic rigour and classical training produced something that sounded genuinely unique, a house music album that authentically integrated jazz while continually offering novel takes on what you’d expect house music to do. Without the sleevenotes it’s unlikely that the provenance of many of the sounds would be apparent; instead, the listener would just receive a simmering, bewitching and memorable sonic experience.