Back in the mid-’90s, the conceptual glitch auteur Matthew Herbert released his house-leaning Part One through Part Six EPs. Just like Part 6, there’s an inverse relationship between the prosaic title of Matthew Herbert’s next EP and the high levels of inventiveness on display.
The most immediate of the quartet, “Bumps,” shows the value of repetition. Once again featuring the sugary voice of Hejira vocalist Rahel, it embarks on a seemingly endless lap of simplistic keys, taut, woody percussion and fluttering, low-register bass. The clockwork techno of “Sucker” is closer in feel to the stark, angular sounds of the One trilogy that Herbert released at the turn of the decade, while “Pretty Daddy” is almost as uncompromising. It grabs a sliver of accordion and loops…
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…it into a throbbing siren, accompanied by a chipmunk-ish voice and jarring rhythm that steadily raise the clamor. But it’s “Get Strong” that’s worth the entrance fee on its own. A techno march built from tribal rhythms, pizzicato strings and arrhythmic thuds, it pulls off that typically Herbert trick of meshing disparate, near-discordant elements into a cohesive, addictive dance floor entity.
Matthew Herbert’s reactivation of the Parts series he started in 1995 has been one of the highlights of 2014. Part 8 is third EP, and it’s the final one in the series, for now at least. A new Herbert album is slated for release in early 2015, and this EP is yet another reason to look forward to it, and to be thankful for him unexpectedly reviving his house-focused guise.
The first thing that strikes you about Part 8 is what a departure its second track is. “Remembering Ken” is a simple piano and percussion vehicle for the melancholy guest vocals of Ade Omotayo, who appears on the new Kindness record and was a backing singer for Amy Winehouse.
More familiar sounds await elsewhere, from the stuttering, serrated synth pop of “The Wrong Place,” to “Ticket”‘s submerged techno clatter. “Her Face” ends things on a wonky but pretty note, with a throbbing rhythmic spine overlain with cascading, tinkling melodies. The EP achieves what it set out to do with characteristic effortlessness.
Part 7 EP
01. Bumps [5:40]
02. Sucker [6:18]
03. Get Strong [7:05]
04. Pretty Daddy [4:52]
Part 8 EP
1. The Wrong Place [5:46]
2. Remember Ken [6:57]
3. Ticket [4:57]
4. Her Face [6:53]