Matthew Herbert makes for an unlikely figurehead of underground house music.
But it’s his oddities and singular approach to the creative process which have made his 20-year career so compelling, whether he is arranging big band jazz, weird bedroom electronic or producing long-time collaborator and kindred spirit Roisin Murphy.
Performing under his surname in a nod to his 1990s house roots, he brought a pair of immaculate soul singers and a three piece brass section, as well as a DJ, guitarist and plenty of his own gadgets.
Incorporating showmanship, costumes and theatrical stage design, the show was so far beyond expectations of a typical electronic performance he put his peers utterly to shame.
It’s hard to think of anyone who can manipulate the orthodox four/four 125bpm beat with as much wild creativity.
Maybe it’s because he uses real recorded sounds – the audience’s shooshes, his own tooth being extracted, Prince William cleaning a toilet – that his percussion felt so alive.
But it would be nothing but a gimmick if the beats didn’t have so much bounce, heart and soul.
Once the band had swung into life, a huge uplift roused a whole spectrum of emotional moods, joining joyous jump-up exuberance, with unhinged circus swing, and sensuous, intimate moments with nightmarish woolly techno.
Five stars
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