Herbert's Answering Machine

Dear All,

You are about to be given the opportunity for assisting Matthew Herbert with his latest album – due for release next year. You are also about to being the opportunity to feature on it!

Below, enclosed are the instructions. Follow carefully and then call the number to leave Matthew his message.

DEADLINE: 29.11.05

All the Best and Good Luck

!K7 Records

Matthew Herbert and his Answering Machine:

Matthew Herbert; renowned Jazz Musician, electro-acoustic legend, big band conductor, 90’s house warrior, soundtrack scorer extraordinaire, author of the highly influential ‘Personal Contract for the Composition of Music’, speaker for the anti-globalisation movement and the man responsible for the highly popular ‘Bodily Functions’ and ‘Plat du Jour’ albums is at it again…..

Matthew has a new album in the pipeline. Similar to his previous offerings Matthew does not intend to steer away from his dominating, God-like use of the sampler, and the rule to which his music is created; ‘the use of sounds that already exist is not allowed’. A rule, which has lead to his music being created through the sounds of food preparation and household appliances, for example, instead of the monotonous, processed, synthetic beats of standard drum machines. Thus manifesting itself into an entirely original amalgamation of music and sounds. His latest release, the critically acclaimed, ‘Plat du Jour’ was created over a period of 18 months, and consisted of 30,000 chickens, 3,255 people biting on an apple, and a cheiftan mk 10 battle tank – to list just a few of the ingredients making up this epic release.

So what has Matthew in store for us now….? To be honest I don’t think anyone will know until his new record is released, but for one of the up and coming tracks on this yet, untitled album, he requires your assistance. Yes. You!

At the !K7 office we have installed a separate phone line, the ‘Herbert Hotline’, if you will. Unfortunately there’s no-one at the other end to pick it up, just an answering machine. Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to call this number and leave a message consisting of a single sound. It could be organic, vocal, mechanical, natural – even bodily. Remember you’re dealing with a man who has created music from the recording of coffee cups and sewer systems, so the more original the better. These sounds will be collected on the answering machine and past on to the grand, musical conductor himself, who will fuse the sounds together to create a grand musical cacophony that only he knows will sound like.

To add extra intrigue to this task you must under no circumstances state, or give any indication as to what the sound is. Should you believe that your contribution is worthy enough of credit and acknowledgement then you should email us (dan@k7.com), and your musical contribution will be duly noted.

So go on, give the ‘Herbert Hotline’ a ring…..

+49 (0) 32 22 1918 394