Around The House

Around the House is a really nice record of loungey, fresh house music with somewhat glitchy instrumentation. A lot of glitchy stuff can be kind of clinical and alienating, this however is very human and inviting due to Dani's excellent, soulful vocals.Some criticisms I have with this album are that the mastered level is very quiet and the tracks have a lot of noise... not really a big deal but if you put any of these songs on a mix tape they'd be practically drowned out by any other song.Overall, a great album, very good music to chill out to or perhaps fold your laundry.

if i could give it 10 stars, i would. great album. AMAZING artist. brilliant man. dani's voice is angelic. buy it.

I like this album because it can be listen easily and somebody also can dance on it... very free to choose. It's very important to have this choice, and Herbert did it. It's natural, to few people that it does not sound a bit bouncing (maybe because not enough sensitive about the rythm). The bass frequencies of few songs like inside 'Going Round' (or inside 'this time') are very deep. It creates a very 'smart' house sound. The rythm is coming smoothly... perfect to use with candles ;)ps : sorry i am frenchie, very bad English rite ?

I first bought Herbert's Bodily Functions CD. If you like ambient or downtempo music and you like jazz (i.e. Coltrane, not Kenny G)then run out and buy Bodily Functions immediately. It is really a great CD. It is intelligent and sometimes transporting music made with sequencers(and rounded out with more traditional instruments). Often a song will start with a simple electronic beat, but as it progresses it is layered with vocals and jazz chords, until it has acheived a real musicality often not present in electronic music.So I was excited to hear AroundTheHouse, but wound up being disappointed. It has none of the beautiful jazz improv present in Bodily Functions, and the sequencing just doesn't reach the same heights. I suggest avoiding this earlier effort. Also check out Herbert's Secondhand Sounds- it has great Herbert remixes of other artist's songs. It is also highly recomended.

Around the House finds Herbert embracing his own oddness and the quivering voice of Dani Siciliano. It also demonstrates what a singular musician he is. Melding house with more abstract techniques (cut-ups, overdubbing, layering), he paved the way for more recent practitioners such as Akufen and the roster of the Playhouse label. But he doesn't stray far from his house roots: "So Now..." is a gorgeous, heartbreaking track. "Close to Me" is more upbeat, but "The Last Beat" brings things back to torch-song sadness. "Going Round" is a spinning, dizzy house track, while "This Time" and "We Still Have the Music" are more abstract. "In the Kitchen" is even more abstract and ambient, with its skittering sounds and low, throbbing rhythm, but "Never Give Up" returns to deep house territory. An astounding album, one that's sure to become a landmark.

I've been a Matthew Herbert fan for probably five years, and now that I'm familiar with all of his work, I feel qualified to judge: "Around the House" and "Bodily Functions" are by far his best CDs."Around the House" goes from ambient to downtempo, shifting from microhouse toward the glitchy Italian style of Luomo. It's almost background- or cocktail-party or Sunday-morning cappuccino music, which makes it a great addition to your library. Some of the songs blend into the background, almost like a film soundtrack, but at least a couple have great vocals. At almost 70 minutes long it goes through some wonderful moods, and it's a great bargain.All of Matthew Herbert's output is fascinating, and some is brilliant. Of all his work, though, "Around the House" and "Bodily Functions" are the ones you'll play the most.

I have listened to COUNTLESS electronic albums, and rarely, if ever, do i feel the groove as hard as i do on this album. If any of you are familiar with the Avalon in Hollywood (where sasha is a resident) this is for you. What is strange about this album is that i do not like (except MAYBE 5) like tracks 5-11. That is how strong the first 4 tracks are. Trust me.

This is one of the best albums I've ever heard - an outstanding elaboration of house beats, jazz textures and electronic sounds. The songs move along with a sure house tempo - you can dance to them. The electronics alone make this a great album in the Kruder & Dorfmeister, Verve Remixed, Thievery vein. Dani Siciliano's voice is a perfect vocal instrument for this jazz music. The album has depths that make songs sound new when you hear them again. Bodily Functions, a later album, is also excellent, but more abstract, more jazz; the house tempos of this one obviously tap into a deep vein in Mr. Herbert's psyche. And Goodbye Swingtime, his latest and also very good, is a more cerebral deconstruction of his swingtime roots. But this one is hot! Absolutely breathtaking.

Such strange entrancing eroticism.