The Matthew Herbert Big Band - "The Process [Album Version]". Taken from the Big Band's first single, The Process, the Parts, the Many and the Few, "The Process" is the culmination of Matthew Herbert's demanding composition methods, some of which are sampled on the record. Over the course of three tracks, Herbert moves from a solitary piano sketch to a naff MIDI arrangement for bass, winds, and brass to the recording session with his Abbey Road crew. In the album version [which, incidentally, is not included in Goodbye Swingtime], the richness of his technique comes into full view—an catty vocal from Jamie Lidell; organic rythms culled from Herbert's sacrosanct soundbank; and enoughs cuts, clicks and buzzes to rival smalltown barber shop on a Saturday afternoon.

Other previously unreleased material featured on the disc are pieces of "Fiction" [a twenty-second section excised from the album version and in true Herbert form, a recording of the band playing their individual parts by rapping on their music stands] and half-tempo and half-tempo/octave down trials of "Everything's Changed," both from Goodbye Swingtime. There's also a Big Band arrangement of a favorite from Doctor Rockit [one of Herbert's alter egos], "Café de Flore."

The Process, The Parts is a must-listen for any Eavesdropping-Tom interested in the empirical idiosyncracy of Matthew Herbert—one that serves to arouse the anticipatory ear and palate for his next solo album, which should be quite tasty. Appropriate, considering its subject—food.

Label: Accidental Records 006
Format: 12"
Web: Matthew Herbert's Magic and Accident