Search - Matthew Herbert :: Plat Du Jour

Energetic and Conceptual

C. R Bender | Toledo, OH United States | 09/27/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I admire Matthew Herbert. The man has a distinct style and, with this album especially, gets the listener involved. You really shouldn't listen to this without reading the liner notes for each track. When you read the liner notes while each song plays, you understand the whole idea behind this album. I can sum up the main idea in one word: Consumerism. I think Matthew's intention was to educate people on issues of consumerism. Issues such as teen dieting, food treatment and production, the environment, our screwed up government (i'm using too nice words), and celebrities endorsing products that make people fat. But you would probably never know that he wanted to bring these issues to your attention if you never read the liner notes. So read them! By reading the notes you'll also learn all the crazy things he used to make sounds: chicken coops, empty cans of Slimfast diet drinks, frying sausages, underground sewer sounds, a knife scraping toast, and I could go on and on and on. Again, most of these sounds you wouldn't even realize he used unless you read the notes. You would realize that the music here is energetic, playful, and unusual.



There is alot of statistics that deal with food and drink (i.e. there are 10 teaspoons of sugar in a can of coca cola) which made me think twice about what I eat, but then a few minutes go by and I go to the freezer for some ice cream. I know that soda is bad, and fried chicken is not exactly a healthy choice, but I consider myself to be health conscious and I see nothing wrong with moderation. But seriously, Herbert gets into more than just what's healthy and not healthy. He digs deeper and is much more cultured and politically minded than I'll ever be.



There's only ONE track with vocals (by vocals I mean, Dani, a female vocalist singing in the "Celebrity" track), so if you are wanting vocals you may be disappointed. If you are one who must have vocals I would highly recommend an album that M.H. produced: Roisen Murphy's "Ruby Blue." That one is more addicting than a tub of Ben & Jerry's."

PLAT DU JOUR IS HARD TO SWALLOW!!!

Darrell L. Lee | Jackson, MS | 11/10/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'll be the first one to say that I am the ultimate Matthew Herbert fan--admiring his uncanny ability to manipulate everyday sounds into beautiful and sometimes funky musical arrangements. I mean, the man took household sounds (dishes clanging and alarm clocks ringing) and bodily functions (baby girgles, flatulence and God knows what else) and created the impressive and enigmatic "Around the House" and "Bodily Functions". He also, from my understanding, took a notebook being banged on a microphone and created a song on Roisin Murphy's "Ruby Blue". But Plat Du Jour--I don't know--is a bit hard to swallow...First, I understand the concept...and it may actually be a good one--I do acquiese that a lot of stuff that we as consumers buy are bad for us and are highly overrated (Starbucks coffee does come to mind)...Only it's overdone throughout the entire release and not done in an easily accessible manner, one in which your average Slimfast, Coca-Cola or Dasani bottled water drinker would understand. C'mon, Herbert--where are the catchy basslines...the instruments...the hypnotic vocals (except, of course from Dani Siciliano on the egregiously sarcastic "Celebrity"--"Go, Beyonce--Go, Beyonce!!")? It sounds like everything here is done with some pedestrian, and in most cases, ridiculous sounds--i.e. farm animals...people biting apples...water bottles...coffee beans...sugar...etc. Plat Du Jour is supposed to address commercialism and the overuse and abuse of certain consumer products. Unfortunately, unless you read the liner notes, you aren't immediately aware of that. Perhaps segues or more vocals would have made this release more of a public service, unfortunately I'm left terribly unsatisfied and unconvinced that some products are bad for you based on this material. I will remain a loyal fan of Mr. Matthew Herbert with the hopes that in the future he releases something a little more "digestible!""

Disappointed but not Deterred

:: | Seattle, WA | 02/02/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not especially enjoying Plat Du Jour. After Bodily Functions and Goodbye Swingtime, I really feel disappointment when hearing the direction Matthew has gone in with this LP. Most of it feels like background electronica I might hear while viewing a musical documentary like a collage of scenes spliced together in an art film or something by Nils Peter Molvaer.



After hearing Roisin Murphy's new album I though for sure that Herbert's next LP would be revolutionary, something that set the stage for a new genre that fully mixed electronic music with the syncopation and sound of 20's & 30's ragtime/swing. Unfortunately (in his own work) Herbert no longer seems to be championing the sound that made his production immediately recognizeable.



It's every artist's right to evolve, even if it's not in the direction some of their fans hope for. For those of you who identify with the sound I alluded to above (and who loved Roisin's "Ruby Blue") there are a couple artists that i think exude qualities that make up the Herbert sound. Unfortunately they are listed only on Amazon's French site, but you can still have a listen (and have them imported): One of my favorites is an artist called Nôze. Their album "Craft Sounds and Voices" is awesome: www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00081TXTK/



For those of you that love smoother vocals in the forefront, try French singer Camille's album "le fil" she uses organic samples of her own voice throughout the CD with electronic and folk influences. www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007DAYBA/.







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