The Mechanics of Destruction

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"Radioboy" is, of course, one of the several aliases of the genial Matthew Herbert, and while his eponymous incarnation may have sweeping dancefloors across Europe, it's pleasing to know that he's also been at work on this parallel project. While "The Mechanics of Destruction" isn't likely to be spinning on many DJs decks and certainly won't be topping any charts (due to its distribution methods - the CD is available entirely free of charge from http://www.themechanicsofdestruction.org), Mr. Herbert has been busy showing how it's done at festivals and art galleries worldwide for the last couple of years now. And how it's done is exactly its modus operandum: fourteen of its fifteen tracks are built up entirely from samples of the junk that surrounds in the modern world - Big Mac cartons, Hear'Say CDs, cigarette packets, television sets, video cassettes, Gap boxer shorts, Coke cans, Nike trainers and a Starbucks Frappuccino are (amongst other things) twisted, contorted, ripped up and banged against mikes then sampled and regurgitated back to us as 21st Century musique concrete.

While Herbert's source sounds are nearly always rendered entirely unrecognisable, or perhaps because of this very fact, what could have resulted in a forbidding academic exercise becomes surprisingly listenable, and if rarely as downright funky as anything off "Bodily Functions", often as pleasurable. "Manufactured Music", for example, built up out of sounds of unspeakable things being done to a Hear'Say CD almost makes the idea of Hear'Say CDs seem like a good idea, while "Hollywood" (video cassettes) has a rhythm as light and skittery as any of his other work. "McDonalds" on the other hand, starts with ambient sound from a McDonald's in Japan (though it could, of course, be in Germany or John O'Groats) before a thundering rhythm kicks in (making you wonder how on earth he managed that with a Big Mac box). "Starbucks", on the other hand, is spooky enough to put you off ever asking for that double latte ever again.

The closing track, "The Whisper of Friction", a relatively straight field recording of May Day protests in London, brings an air of menace and threat into what have up until then been the prank-ish carnivalesque atmosphere of the proceedings.

While it may be true that the stuff works better live - both in terms of seeing what exactly he does and as a fantastic piece of performance art - this CD is nonetheless a fine listen and a wonderful piece of politically-motivated art. Backed up with a genuine intent to undermine (in however small a way) global neo-liberal exploitative capitalism by setting up its own distribution networks and a cover which actually encourages you to copy and pass it on (or download the whole thing directly from the website), "The Mechanics of Destruction" is a fine addition to a fascinating artist's already major canon of work.

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