single review: Kalabrese – Desperate (Matthew Herbert Mix)

Matthew Herbert's recent announcement that he's to bring out his first album in nearly a decade has got the electronica community rightly dizzy. Herbert has a way with percussion and sample manipulation that goes way beyond your average button pusher – you'll rarely hear a track he's involved in that doesn't pull off the tricky marriage between avant garde freakishness and straight up dancefloor banging with aplomb. Case in point – this remix of Kalabrese's 'Desperate Man'. Starting with a grating metallic percussive hit, Herbert works it into a tapestry of choral melodies, punchy bass and squawking sound effects, producing something that builds, brick by weird brick, into a tower of jaunty loveliness. We're also quite taken with the wonky house rendition Ray of Hope turns in of the same track – check out all versions below.

Buy on digital now here, and pre order the 12" from here